Solar Energy
5Pages

Edited by Matthew T. Grasson, Senior Editor Boring one of the many precisely located holes on the Inconel header for a solar power plant occurs at Taylor Forge’s facility on a Haas VF11 4-axis mill. GibbsCAM Hole Manager facilitates speedy programming of hole-making operations, and a 4-axis machine tool is necessary for single set-up machining, which enables repeatability and holding true position tolerances. he global initiative toward green energy has opened doors for entrepreneurs, spawned new companies, and provided opportunities for manufacturing companies looking for growth. However, not every manufacturer has had the expertise required to take advantage of the new opportunities. Nevertheless, when a new technology requires components similar to those already used in other applications, a good marriage is possible. Such is the case with a new solar project and a company that has been serving the energy industry for more than one hundred years. Taylor Forge Engineered Systems, a unique design and manufacturing organization, has traditionally served the petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear power industries with three manufacturing facilities in Kansas. The company uses proprietary processes, and some CNC machine tools to manufacture parts from carbon steels and super alloys, typically Inconel - a tough nickel-

software chromium alloy known for its anti-oxidation and anti-corrosive properties under heat and pressure. In late 2011, the company found an opportunity to enter solar energy as a supplier to a power plant in production in the United States. The plant will generate more than 100 MW of electricity, using thousands of heliostats, (suntracking mirrors), to concentrate solar energy onto a tower more than 500 feet high. Solar radiation will heat and melt salt, which will circulate through pipes and headers, into storage, where the hot salt will supply heat to drive a steam generator on demand....

software Without internal expertise in programming machine tools, the company would frequently no-bid jobs or forfeit opportunities because they were unable to determine manufacturability or delivery, Stevens explains. TOP: The Automatic Feature Recognition in GibbsCAM that Kirt Stevens uses frequently is Hole Manager, which allows isolating holes and hole-like features by common characteristics, and programming hundreds of holes with as few as three mouse clicks. BOTTOM: Engineers Poe and Stevens rely on GibbsCAM’s Cut Part Rendering, which displays toolpath, material removal, and material...

software says. “Post-processors are another great feature. In my experience with various CAD/CAM packages, I have been highly critical of their post-processors. In contrast, I have never had a problem with GibbsCAM post-processors for any machines.” ADVANCING OPERATIONS Aside from enabling difficult parts, GibbsCAM has allowed Stevens to introduce machining operations that were not previously in use at Taylor Forge. Among the several examples he cites, one included his first use of GibbsCAM's helical milling routine. It was used to program threads for holes on alloy parts where tapping...

GibbsCAM CNC Programming Solutions For thirty years, Gibbs and Associates has been a leader in providing cutting edge CAM technology, while maintaining its signature ease-ofuse and productivity. No matter where your CAD files come from, GibbsCAM provides tools that are naturally intuitive, graphically interactive, fully associative, and just plain enjoyable to use. GibbsCAM is a total quality solution with the service and support successful customers need. GibbsCAM’s graphical user interface is easy to learn and use, getting you up and running in no time. GibbsCAM Capabilities and Benefits •...