Mini Tender for the Supply and Installation of a Cryogenic Coolant Delivery System for Machining Operations - UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Tender description

This project is funded by the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) and the procurement is dependent on the final funding agreement. The University of Birmingham invites tenders to supply a cryogenic coolant delivery system for machining / metal cutting operations. The coolant delivery system will be employed to complement and enhance part of a physical demonstrator, i.e. facilities created as part of the ESIF project, which will be used to facilitate/support the take-up of high impact manufacturing technologies by SMEs in the West Midlands region. In this context, the cryogenic coolant delivery system will be used in tandem with various advanced machining centres to develop new applications in collaboration with technology providers and undertake feasibility studies and pilot projects to address the specific requirements of local SMEs. The cryogenic coolant delivery system should be capable of supplying extremely low temperature media in the dry condition in order to substantially cool / remove heat from the cutting zone when machining (in particular milling and drilling) a range of workpiece materials including hard/brittle/abrasive materials such as ceramics, hardened alloys and composites. It is expected that the heat removal capability of the cryogenic coolant will significantly exceed that of conventional high pressure cutting fluid environments. The system should be sufficiently flexible to enable easy connection to different machining centres. It should also be capable of supplying the cryogenic coolant both externally as well as internally through the spindle / tool. In addition to the cryogenic media, it would be desirable for the system to also be capable of delivering a stream of oil droplets together with the cryogenic coolant in order to improve lubrication at the tool chip interface.