Five-axis

  Five-axis machine, also known as five-axis linkage machine, refers to a machine tool with at least three linear coordinates and two rotary coordinates. To meet the needs of processing complex parts, sometimes the five axes are further extended to seven axes, eleven axes, thirteen axes, etc., whose basic principles are roughly the same, and sometimes they are all classified under the category of five-axis machine tools.

  So-called linear coordinates refer to the three-dimensional coordinates of up and down, left and right, and front and back. Traditional machine tools can achieve this, for example, some milling machines move the workpiece forward and backward during processing, while the milling cutter moves up and down, thus forming two coordinate axes.

  Rotating coordinates are a bit more complicated, meaning that the workpiece or tool rotates around a certain axis during processing, so as to process specific curved surfaces on the workpiece.

  In fact, the human hand is a typical five-axis machining system. It can move forward and backward, left and right, up and down, and also rotate around each joint to some extent. Therefore, the human hand can perform various complex operations. The operation of a craftsman carving flowers on wood is a multi-axis machining process, which cannot be achieved with traditional machine tools.

  With the development of computer technology, developed countries have developed five-axis machine tools that can use computers to control the relationship between each axis, thereby completing operations similar to those of human hands.

  In the 1980s, five-axis machine tools were a high-tech product restricted for export from Western developed countries to Eastern countries. The famous Toshiba incident in military history was due to Japan's Toshiba Corporation secretly exporting several five-axis machine tools to the Soviet Union, which used them to process submarine propellers, greatly reducing the noise of submarines. After this matter was exposed, Toshiba Corporation suffered severe sanctions from the United States.

  Apart from the military field, in the civilian sector, whether to have five-axis machining capability is also an important indicator for measuring industrial level. Complex molds, engine cylinder blocks, marine crankshafts and so on all need to be processed using a five-axis machine tool. China did not begin to gradually form its own five-axis machine tool design and production capacity until the early 21st century, and by around 2010, a large number of Chinese-made five-axis equipment had already been able to achieve import substitution, and were also exported to Western developed countries.

  At this point in the early 1980s, Hu Yang was able to simulate the effect of five-axis machining on an ordinary machine tool through mathematical modeling, what a commendable thing.

  Lin Zhenhua couldn't help but want to shout out loud: What kind of spirit is this? This is the greatest mountain stronghold spirit!

  With this understanding, Lin Zhenhua readily agreed to Hu Yang's experimental requirements and immediately put them into practice.

  The first step of the Poplar experiment is to modify the original machine tool, from two axes to four axes. The linkage between several axes needs to be controlled by a computer chip. The workpiece designed by Poplar has a large volume and cannot be processed with an ordinary universal milling machine, so it must use a gantry milling machine.

  The factory naturally cannot allow Lin Zhenhua and others to dismantle the dragon gate milling machine for CNC transformation. Hu Yang's design did not attempt to do so either. The approach he took was not to change the original structure of the machine, but only to add fixtures on the original structure. The object manipulated by the control chip is the fixture. After removing the fixture, the machine is still in its original state, which does not conflict with the factory's regulations.

  Wei Jingwen was also very interested in this research project. Although he was an electronics expert, he also understood the significance of five-axis machine tools for the industrial system. At that time, it was the last semester before the college entrance examination, and Wei Jingwen's work at school was extremely busy. However, whenever he could spare some time, he would ride his bicycle to Hanhua Factory, where he would discuss with Lin Zhenhua and Hu Yang, and even roll up his sleeves to explore the machine tools together with them.

  These three people form a nearly perfect combination, Lin Zhenhua has advanced ideas, Hu Yang has a solid foundation in mechanics, and Wei Jingwen is an outstanding electronic engineer. The three stinky craftsmen gathered together, pondering for several months, and finally, a new era of wooden cow and flowing horse was initially formed.

  Peng Gang and several other senior technicians were also invited to participate in this research group. They put forward many valuable opinions on the design of the simulated five-axis system from their own practical experience. When it came to the final stage of converting the design drawings into physical objects, the role of these old workers became even more prominent. Many extremely precise control components could only be processed with their technology.

  The equipment renovation is complete, Lin Zhenhua led a few old workers to install the fixtures and other accessories on the gantry milling machine, and Wei Jingwen personally connected and debugged the circuit. Zhao Yongqun carried the roughcast of the workpiece from the sanding workshop, which was made by Hu Yang himself making a wooden mold, and then cast by the sanding worker in the sanding workshop.

  "Alright, let's get started." Hu Yang announced.

  Three old workers stepped forward, facing the drawings, and installed the blanks on the fixtures. Then, Peng Gang was in charge of the operation, with Turner Zhou Houcheng and Pliers Worker Sun Changyuan assisting on the side.

  The motor hummed to life, the workpiece moved slowly forward under the push of the fixture, the milling cutter rotated rapidly, cutting off small chips from the surface of the blank, the cutting fluid flowed out of the nozzle and splashed onto the cutting surface, carrying the chips into the waste liquid box.

  A wonderful scene appeared, the chuck began to make various incredible movements under the guidance of the instructions issued by the Z80 chip. The milling cutter was supposed to cut to a certain position, but unexpectedly, the workpiece automatically rotated and brought another position to the knife port of the milling cutter, a beautiful arc-shaped machining surface slowly unfolded before everyone's eyes.

  "Too awesome!" Zhou Houcheng and Sun Changyuan applauded and cheered, while Peng Gang's face was full of tension and seriousness, but a strange joyous expression, clearly also flowing in his eyes.

  "Okay, switch to the next position!" Hu Yang shouted.

  His words had barely fallen when Sun Changyuan walked up and skillfully loosened the hexagon screw on the fixture, adjusting the workpiece to a new position. Several workers busied themselves with calipers, feeler gauges and other tools, ensuring that the workpiece was perfectly aligned before stepping back and allowing Peng Gang to resume milling operations.

  The processing work lasted for six hours, and everyone was so excited that they didn't feel a bit tired. Yang Xin and Qin Ying took charge of the logistics, bringing delicious food to everyone. The technical personnel and workers ate while discussing this epoch-making processing experiment with great enthusiasm.

  "How's it going? Did you succeed?" Zhu Tiejun appeared behind the crowd at some point, and asked with a smile.

  Lin Zhenhua and others' breakthrough this time, of course, was to report to the factory first. Since this experiment had no visible benefits for the factory, the factory indicated that all experimental expenses, including workers' overtime pay, could not be reimbursed. Lin Zhenhua didn't care about this at all. He included this experiment in the R&D plan of Labor Service Company and all expenses were listed under Labor Service Company.

  Although he couldn't contribute financially, Zhu Tiejun still provided spiritual support for the experiment. He didn't understand what five-axis linkage meant, but since it could make Lin Zhenhua and Hu Yang so obsessed, it must have some significance. Seeing everyone gathered around a finished workpiece with joy and excitement, he couldn't help but walk up to share in their delight.

  "Director Zhu, take a look, this is the workpiece we just processed." Peng Gang excitedly reported to Zhu Tiejun.

  "What is this for?" Zhu Tiejun didn't recognize this thing either, it looked really strange.

  Lin Zhenhua smiled and said: "This is just a toy, just to test whether our simulated five-axis system is effective. Now it seems that our experiment has achieved complete success."

  "This thing is crafted very finely." Zhu Tiejun stroked the surface of the workpiece, feeling its wonderful streamline shape. "What you said about five-axis linkage, can it really process such a complex surface?"

  "If we have enough time, we can use this machine tool to make a Venus statue." Lin Zhenhua said with a smile.

  "That's right, Director Zhu. You don't know, if it were in the past, to process a surface like this, we could only do it by hand. Now it's easy, with Xiao Lin's machine, we're much more relaxed." Zhou Houcheng was also equally excited, as a worker, he knew too well the difficulty of processing such complex curved surfaces, and he had never thought that such a curve could be produced in his own hands.

  "Hmm, it's not bad." Zhu Tiejun also understood some of it, but he still had to ask: "Such technology, is there any help for our production? Xiao Lin, are you planning to produce some complex parts?"

  Lin Zhenhua shook his head awkwardly and said, "For now, it shouldn't be of much help. This can only be considered as a technical reserve, who knows, maybe one day, if..."

  Poplar said gloomily: "This technology is one of the most advanced processing technologies in the world at present, but for now, our factory really can't use it. But hopefully, there will be a day when it will come in handy."

  Zhu Tiejun nodded and said, "Well, it's always good to be prepared. Otherwise, this workpiece will be placed in the office of your Labor Service Company as an honor for you."