Orbital milling machines, (sometimes referred to as ‘circular mills’), are portable machines used for large in-situ machining tasks in various industrial sectors. Their configuration is not unlike the larger flange facers in the Mirage product line-up, with some using heavy duty and high precision bearings, mounting legs, and a radial arm with integral leadscrew for mounting the cutting tool. The key differences to a flange facer are that they use a milling head instead of a single point cutting tool, and operate with a much slower rotation speed (up to 3.5ft per minute). 

Below we describe 7 applications for where Mirage orbital milling machines were used successfully to solve some very challenging on-site machining problems.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) the total world power generation capacity for the sector is now fast approaching 500GW.

The recent surge in installation is illustrated by the statistic that 241GW (nearly half of the world’s capacity), has been commissioned within the past five years.

Recently, the Paris Agreement was officially ratified by the 55 countries, confirming a global push to reduce global warming over the next century.  Wind power is going to play a huge part in achieving this goal, which will bring plenty of opportunities for wind turbine manufacturers and equipment suppliers such as Mirage Machines. 

Mirage has provided orbital milling machines, used for wind turbine blades and towers for many years. (Full technical specifications can be found in the orbital milling buyers guide download and on the Mirage Machines website).

You can watch videos of the machines in action by clicking on the button below.

Although slightly down on the previous year, 2016 was a strong year for the wind power sector, with just under 55GW of new capacity installed worldwide. 

So which countries were the busiest in 2016 and what is their total capacity?

Using data from a recently published GWEC report, we’re able to bring you a summary of information in a simple read infographic format. For a quick snapshot view the image below, or for a clearer and closer look we recommend you click here to download the illustration in Pdf format.

The windmill has been with us for centuries, used initially for milling grain and for pumping water. The first wind turbines used to generate electricity date back to the late 19^th century, thanks to the innovation of engineers in Denmark the United States and Scotland.

Advances in technology have resulted in the creation of many offshore and onshore wind farms throughout the world which now generate more than 432,000 kw of electricity.

The infographic below (courtesy of Visual Capitalist) provides a great visual guide as to how they work.

If you're a regular reader of the Mirage Machines Portable Performance Blog, no doubt you'll be aware of our orbital milling machines used by wind turbine manufacturers for machining turbine blades and towers. Demand for these products has been very strong during 2016, so we decided to take a look at the biggest turbine supply contracts awarded this year.

Using data from EIC Datastream  (The Energy Industries Council), we've listed the top 20 contracts based on the project value in US$.

Above: An Azimuth Thruster. Image source: Wikipedia  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=397859

Mirage orbital milling machines are used across a variety of industry sectors, especially those involving the manufacture of large circular components. The shipbuilding industry is a good example of this and one particular application which has cropped up several times is the machining of ship thruster flanges.