Activity Blog

Kickoff Meeting of MachStack research project (Manunet 2019)

October 27th, 2020

The kickoff meeting of MachStack research project (Manunet 2019) took place on Wednesday October 7th, 2020 by webconference due to COVID-19.

MachStack project is dedicated to the Optimization of the machining of composites stacks with a 6-axis robot and new cutting tools.

This European project involves the Machine Design and Production Engineering Lab of UMONS, the companies Sobelcomp (Walloon Region) and Zubiola (Basque Country) and the University of Mondragon. The project duration is 24 months and allows me to hire a full-time researcher, Thomas BEUSCART.

Thomas graduated from UMONS in September 2020 as a Mechanical Engineer. In parallel to his job as researcher on the project, he will carry out a PhD Thesis on the modelling of compsites and stacks machining.

The main objectives are

  • Improve the comprehension of phenomena involved in the drilling of composites and stacks, with a focus on parts integrity.

  • Implement a new generation of cutting tools for stacks drilling.

  • Numerical modelling of the cutting process to guide its optimisation.

  • Improve the quality of the parts manufactured by a machining robot.

The project will lead to the participation, with publication, to international conferences and to publications in international journals.

We acknowledge the Région Wallonne (Belgium) for funding under Convention N° 1910097.