Control of Uncertainty in High Precision Cutting Processes: Reaming of Valve Guides in a Cylinder Head of a Combustion Engine

Abstract

In production processes uncertainty has a great impact on the product quality as well as production costs. In automotive industry the reaming of valve guides in a cylinder head of a combustion engine is a quality determining process. Due to the force fitting of the valve guides into the cylinder head the final reaming process has to deal with increased uncertainty. On the other hand, the finished hole is closely tolerated. To ensure the process reliability the admissible tolerance must be strictly met even in case of uncertainty. This paper presents a possibility to achieve process reliability by a modified process chain with an additional pilot reaming tool. Thereby, the effect of different cutting edge preparation is also analyzed. Further, the influence of the pilot reamer geometry on the final hole quality is investigated.