Alpine F1 Team’s recent investment in eight Mikron MILL P 500U 5-axis machining centres has had a dramatic and positive impact on the productivity and efficiency of its manufacturing operations and processes.
If you’re fortunate enough to take a tour of Alpine F1 Team’s design and manufacturing facility in Enstone, Oxfordshire you can’t fail to notice the number of high-performance 5-axis machining centres the Team has at its disposal.
Those with eagle-eyes will also notice that a significant number of these machines are advanced Mikron 5-axis machining centres supplied by GF Machining Solutions, the 3- and 5-axis milling, EDM, laser texturing and additive manufacturing (AM) machine tool specialist and automation systems provider.
Alpine F1 Team currently has 11 Mikron 5-axis machines for machining a range of high-precision, and often highly-complex, metal components for its state-of-the-art racing cars and, by October 2021, will have a further 10 Mikron 5-axis machines dedicated to machining composite components.
The investment in advanced machine tool technologies from GF Machining Solutions is nothing new and reflects the close, longstanding ‘Technical Partnership’ arrangement that exists between the two companies.
This relationship, the longest in the Team’s history has, over recent years, seen GF Machining Solutions supply, not only a significant number of Mikron 5-axis machines to the Enstone facility, but also a range of its latest, high-performance AgieCharmilles EDM wire and die-sink machines.
Following a recent investment to upgrade and strengthen its EDM capabilities, Alpine F1 Team’s EDM machines now comprise – 4 x CUT P 550 (wire) and 1 x FORM 350 (die-sink).
Almost two years ago GF Machining Solutions supplied the Enstone-based Formula One Team with eight new Mikron MILL P 500U (5-axis) machining centres.
The machines – four with integrated automatic pallet changers and four without, were installed at the F1 Team’s manufacturing facility in Enstone in the Summer of 2019 timed, to a large extent, to coincide with F1’s summer break and the Team’s two week August shutdown.
The eight new MILL P 500Us replaced six, older Mikron HPM 450U 5-axis machines that were acquired in 2016.
However, whilst still performing satisfactorily the HPM 450U’s days were numbered.
Explains Ian Pearce, Alpine F1 Team’s Head of Supply Chain:
“The Mikron HPM 450Us are good machines but changing situations and circumstances, within our own manufacturing operations, dictated that they needed to be replaced…as a matter of some urgency.”
Prior to the arrival of the new MILL P 500U machines the Team was machining front suspension uprights on its two, larger Mikron MILL P 800U machines.
“It wasn’t ideal,” remembers Ian Pearce. “Unfortunately the HPM 450U machines’ working envelopes were too small to accommodate the uprights so we had to machine them on the larger MILL P 800U machines instead.
“This created a problem and a production headache for us because work designated for the larger machines was backing up. It seemed as though every component needed to be machined on a MILL P 800U!
“As a consequence bottlenecks affecting all aspects of design, development and production were the result.”
Bottlenecks and F1 are two things that do not easily sit together and to alleviate pressure on its MILL P 800U machines the decision was taken to replace its HPM 450Us with a number of larger capacity, high-performance 5-axis machines.
Although a Technical Partnership with GF Machining Solutions existed, the Team did investigate the market to identify the most appropriate 5-axis machine tool replacements.
Says Bruce Foster, Alpine F1 Teams’ Metallics Production Manager:
“At the start of the process GF Machining Solutions, to be fair, was in the box seat for a number of reasons – and not just because of the historical links between us.
”The most important of these include the after-sales service we receive (and continue to receive) from GF Machining Solutions….its first-class technical back-up and applications support…and, of course, the depth and breadth of its innovative and high-performance machine tool range.”
It is worth mentioning here the importance of the two Mikron MILL P 800U (5-axis) machining centres acquired, in 2017, to machine a range of high-performance, mission-critical parts to exacting geometric tolerances and surface finishes (i.e. gear inserts, roll hoops, rear suspension uprights etc.), to name but a few.
Says Ian Pearce:
“They are brilliant machines. They are universally liked by operators, programmers and designers and, since installation, haven’t missed a beat.
“When we investigated the market to replace the HPM 450U machines we were, in effect, ideally looking for a smaller version of the Mikron MILL P 800U.
The Mikron MILL P 500U is a smaller version of the HPM 800U and, according to Ian Pearce, “has a number of distinct advantages over the HPM 450U machines.”
The MILL P 500U is a larger, faster, more stable and more rigidly designed and built 5-axis machine than the Mikron 450U.
The arrival of the new machines has enabled Alpine F1 Team to take advantage of the following:
Fast rapids (61m/min) and 1.0G acceleration/deceleration rates enable the machines to get down to business fast…helping to reduce part cycle times and improving machine shop productivity.
A gantry-type construction and a trunnion rotary tilting table (with tandem support on its tilt axis) deliver increased rigidity and thermal stability which in turn deliver improved and repeatable accuracies and longer tool life etc.
The MILL P 500U and MILL P 800U have the same construction, architecture, CNC control (advanced Heidenhain) and kinematics enabling programs to be transferred between them increasing flexibility.
The larger work envelope the MILL P 500U, in addition to compact build and relatively small footprint, enables it to machine workpieces up to 700mm diameter which again improves flexibility.
The larger working envelopes enabled the front uprights to be machined on the MILL P 500U machining centres – taking pressure off the Team’s MILL P 800U machines.
Says Bruce Foster:
“The uprights are primarily 3 + 2 machined from solid aluminium on the MILL P 500U machining centres – with full simultaneous 5-axis machining taking place when and where appropriate and beneficial.
“Cycle times are about 12 hours (per upright), geometric tolerances across the part are 10 microns or better and the surface finish achieved is Ra 0.2µm.”
In addition to the front uprights the MILL P 500U machines, since installation, have been used to machine a range of complex, high-precision parts. One of these is the racing cars’ hydraulic manifold, a high-precision component used to regulate fluid flow in a racing car’s hydraulic system, thereby controlling the transfer of power between actuators and pumps.
Alpine F1 Team’s hydraulic manifolds are machined from (solid) aerospace-grade aluminium to exacting tolerances. Over 85% of the material is removed during the roughing process leaving a complex part exhibiting a number of delicate and intricate features (i.e. holes and bores, cross holes etc.).
Over a season 12 of these parts will be machined for each car (i.e. 24 in total), and the total machining time per part is well over 100 hours making hydraulic manifolds an extremely valuable component…in more ways than one.
The investment in eight MILL P 500U machines, replacing six HPM 450U machines, has provided Alpine F1 Team with more machining capacity (as well as improved capabilities).
The acquisition of eight high-performance machines including four with 7-station automatic pallet changers (APCs) has given the Team the necessary capacity to fulfil its twin machining requirements – i) to machine upgrades and/or replacement parts required for the current season, and ii) to machine prototypes and parts, and their numerous reiterations for the new cars required for the new F1 season.
It was against this backdrop of continuous use and operation that the arrival and installation of the new MILL P 500U machines (and the decommissioning and removal of the six HPM 450Us) occurred.
Remembers Ian Pearce:“We had to minimise machine downtime and any disruption to our production schedules, as much as possible.
“We worked with GF Machining Solutions to develop an installation programme that would optimise spindle uptime.
“The arrival of the new machines also gave us the opportunity to re-imagine and re-visualise the layout of our manufacturing facility…making it (and us) more efficient.”
“In effect we have now created (four) machining cells. Each cell comprises a MILL P 500U with a pallet changer and one without. Each cell is run by one operator and, the investment in four machines with automated pallet changers, has given us (virtually) 24/7 manufacturing capability, allowing us (where feasible) to run the machines unmanned – during the day and overnight too.”
The investment in new 5-axis machine tools and their subsequent impact on Alpine F1 Team’s productivity and efficiency is good news in terms of the new Financial Regulations coming into force next season which will limit the amount of money any Team can spend on its race cars and on improving their performance during a calendar year.
Says Bruce Foster:
“These are big changes. But, if there are to be limits imposed, it makes sense to make your manufacturing operations and production processes as efficient and effective as possible.
“Our advanced 5-axis machine tools from GF Machining Solutions are helping us machine parts faster, better and more economically.
“The accuracies and finishes we get from the MILL P 500U machines means that parts are coming off them – right first time. There is less scrap and re-working involved. A real win: win situation.”
It is often quoted in F1 circles that “at the end of a racing season, a F1 Team expects its cars to be running in excess of one second a lap quicker than at the beginning.” Although this may be somewhat apocryphal it is true that F1 Teams expect their Technical Partners to pull out all the stops to help improve their performance, on and off the track.
Alpine F1 Team’s use of GF Machining Solutions’ machine tools over many years and, more recently, its investment in eight MILL P 500U machining centres in 2019, is delivering real productivity and efficiency benefits that will sand them in good stead in the future.
Concludes Ian Pearce:
“GF Machining Solutions is proactive and attentive. The company has put in the time and effort to really know and understand our business and they are a valuable partner.
“We are delighted with the (eight) MILL P 500U and two MILL P 800U machining centres we acquired in 2019 and 2017 respectively. So much so in fact that we have already invested in a third MILL P 800U (for machining metallic parts), and will be acquiring a number of new MILL P 800U machines by October 2021 for machining composites.”
