Customized Cylindrical Grinder for Transmission Shafts

To meet the demands of manufacturing components with complex geometric details with the highest precision, the EMAG Group has individualized grinding solutions for the shafts integrated into complete production lines.

Technological advances in automotive engineering are rapidly changing the demands for production technology. The grinding specialists from the EMAG Group have developed the perfect solution for this environment: the HG 208 horizontal cylindrical grinder for the precision machining of shafts in series production.

Why customization is necessary

Off-the-shelf grinding solutions are virtually impossible for many applications: Drive shafts for electric motors, complex camshafts or crankshafts as well as transmission shafts all require very different processes. “It is these very different demands that characterize the development of the HG 208 horizontal cylindrical grinder,” explains Guido Hegener, Managing Director of EMAG Maschinenfabrik headquartered in Salach, Germany.

“We offer our customers a wide range of different technology modules that can be easily integrated into a standardized machine. For instance, the HG 208 can be equipped with one or two compound slides, on each of which different external and internal grinding spindles can be fitted. By using a B-axis or a center drive, for example, we can provide the perfect solution for each customer-specific application.” With its modular design principle, these machines can be adapted to a wide variety of machining tasks and integrated into EMAG production lines.

Meeting today’s requirements

The central or primary CVT transmission shaft represents a real grinding challenge in the production process: On the one hand, the control wheel surface is precisely machined by an angle plunge. On the other hand, axial ball track grooves have to be machined. With EMAG, both processes are performed in a single clamping operation in order to avoid reclamping errors and to achieve increased precision. For machining the grooves, the grinder is equipped with a dressable ceramic CBN grinding wheel.

With its perfect dressing system, the quality of the ball track stays high. For machining the taper face on the primary shaft (and similar surfaces on other shafts), EMAG has recently expanded its HG modular system: A corundum grinding wheel with a maximum diameter of 750 mm (29.5 in.) is used for this task.

Complete production lines from EMAG

Another important factor for production planners in the automotive industry is the holistic approach from EMAG. The mechanical engineering company masters all processes for soft and hard machining and has extensive experience in the establishment of complete production solutions. For example, a transmission shaft is pre-processed on EMAG VTC (vertical turning centers) and finished on HG series grinders. With the associated line automation, EMAG completely adapts itself to customer requirements. “The HG 208 has been on the market for around 15 years already – this means customers benefit from a technology that is well established, but which continues to intelligently expand in order to cover a variety of fields of application,” summarizes Hegener.

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