The customer: Equipment manufacturer for producers of digital mobile devices
The challenge: Manufacturing a tool from a powder metallurgical material for welding housing parts on high-quality tablet computers with an invisible weld seam
Our solution: Precise matching of tools and machining process to the properties of the material X80CrCoMoVNb 06.03.03.01.01. The selection of the right tool geometries, cutting materials and the design of the step speed and feed rate determine the quality of the resulting part. In addition, the part must not be clamped with excessive clamping force in order to avoid distortion and deformation during the process.
Who would have thought that important tools for the production of the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Note are manufactured in the middle of the Heuberg? But it's true: The tools for the "invisible weld seam" of these devices are manufactured by Rees Zerspanungstechnik. This weld seam is invisible because the front and back of the tablets are joined in a complex welding process so that no weld seam is visible. The process used for this is known as "stir-friction welding", which is carried out by mobile robots.
In this process, components are joined together by spot and linear heating until the material melts, without any filler material. When smoothing this joint, the material used for the corresponding tool is a particular challenge: it is a powder metallurgical steel. The material is patented and is only produced in Europe by a single steelworks in France. The analysis designation X80CrCoMoVNb 06.03.03.01.01 (chromium / cobalt / molybdenum / vanadium and niobium) signals to every machinist that they are dealing with something truly exceptional.