The aims of the center for ACTT are to enable member companies:
- To use not only private resources but also federal and state support to fund high risk technologies
- To utilize leading research universities as their reliable and cost-effective R&D wings
- To achieve more technology deliverables with less research investment through financial leveraging
- To develop human resources early by tapping into the pools of the best and brightest minds among university students
- To team up with technology and market partners in a non-competitive environment
The Advanced Cutting Tool Technology Center strives to:
- Provide a consortium of manufacturing and cutting tool industries to address new challenges.
- Improve existing machining processes with better cutting tools, (better coolants, alloys, & machines)
- Develop new innovative processes such as Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) & Dry machining with advanced cutting tools.
- Develop the technologies necessary to select optimum tool and to design and process advanced cutting tools
- Conduct projects in collaboration with industry and transfer the results to the member companies.
- Train future engineers with the fundamentals and practice of metal cutting science and technology
- Help members to find an optimum machining strategy
- Understand the causes of wear in order to improve machining operations
- Provide the technologies that will enable industry to deal with new
trends (e.g. new work materials such as titanium alloys and new cutting
tool coatings
- Act as a consortium where issues affecting the cutting tool and
machining industries can be openly discussed and effective solutions
can be determined.
- Develop advanced cutting tools & provide experimental trials of new cutting tools
- Promote knowledge sharing and development cost sharing
- Offer collaborative R&D projects (group sponsored projects)
- Improve competitiveness of U.S. industry with high-tech solutions
Motivation for ACTT Center:
- Lack of Fundamental Knowledge
- Complex phenomenon affected by many factors (Work material, Tools, Machine tool, Cutting Conditions)
- Wear Mechanisms
- Applications
- As ‘simple' as, right tools by sharing experiences
- Process development by sharing experiences
- Customized Tooling
- Development of Advanced Cutting Tools
- New alloys and materials
- New Processes - Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) and Dry Machining
- Design & Fabrication of Advanced Cutting Tools such new coatings and Multi-layer cutting tools
- Rotary tools