Burn the burr: General Industry Coverage

END USER: Danfoss Power Solutions, (515) 239-6000, www.danfoss.com.
CHALLENGE: Efficiently deburr machined hydraulic manifolds.
SOLUTION: A machine that deburrs via thermal energy.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: Kennametal Inc., (800) 835-3668, www.kennametal.com.

Removing burrs from intersecting and cross-sectional holes while ensuring no microcontamination is an ongoing challenge for part manufacturers. A deburring method that consumes too much time leads to production bottlenecks, increased costs and a longer time to market.

Danfoss Power Solutions, Ames, Iowa, experienced those problems when manually deburring hydraulic manifolds for hydrostatic pumps, according to Operation Manager Lubos Hanulik. Made of ductile iron, the company produces about 50,000 hydraulic manifolds a year. Manually removing the 0.2mm- to 0.3mm-high (0.008 ” to 0.012 “) burrs using brushes and pencils consumed 6 to 7 minutes per manifold. In addition, manual methods can result in the formation of secondary burrs and pose the risk of scratching critical part areas.

Hanulik noted the company has a cutting tool life management program in place to avoid generating larger burrs by ensuring it doesn’t apply tools with too much wear, but Danfoss needed to find a more efficient deburring method. The company tested waterjet deburring, but the technique wasn’t effective for its application. “The parts were washed but they weren’t deburred,” he said. In addition, a waterjet can fold a burr onto the part by pushing it.

After further investigation, including an examination of the best practices at other Danfoss plants in North America and Europe, the company chose an Extrude Hone TEM (thermal energy method) machine from Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, Pa.

Danfoss Power Solutions removes burrs from hydraulic manifolds, such as this one, using an Extrude Hone TEM machine (below) from Kennametal. Top image courtesy Danfoss Power Solutions. Image below courtesy Kennametal.