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The high-precision ECHO cooling system developed at the Regional Technological Institute (RTI) of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň was awarded the Gold Medal 2022 in the category of Innovative Components in Engineering at the Brno International Engineering Fair (MSV).

The Gold Medal competition, announced by the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic together with the Brno University of Technology, gives awards to the most innovative and interesting MSV exhibits. There were 26 entries in seven categories this year. In the category of Innovative Components in Mechanical Engineering, the winner was a high-precision cooling system for machine tools from the RTI Research Centre of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of ZČU. It is a specific cooling system based on the current trend of the precise supply of fluid to the desired cutting point. The system increases tool life by tens of percentage points and helps ensure the stability of the entire machining process thanks to the gradual and uniform wear of the tool edge.

The ECHO high-precision cooling system is based on standard machine tools, which are suitably complemented by additive manufacturing elements. By using additive manufacturing only for specific parts of the tool, an increase in efficiency of 15-40% was achieved at a low tool modification cost, while increasing tool life by up to 350%.

 “Current process fluid supply solutions still only work with modification of the basic tool body or complete production using 3D printing. Our design combines the advantages of 3D printing with economically viable conventional production and, compared to all the current solutions on the market, is able to deliver coolant accurately and with the right orientation directly to the cutting point, from a very short distance. At the same time, the system can be integrated into almost any machine tool with replaceable inserts,” says Jindřich Sýkora, one of the designers of the system from the RTI Research Centre. “A great advantage of the system is the cooling of the entire cutting edge used, and this at the spine from a distance approximately three times shorter than that of competing tools,” adds Luboš Kroft, co-designer of the system.

The announcement of the competition results took place on Tuesday, October 4, at the MSV opening ceremony attended by the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Jozef Sikely, the President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Jaroslav Hanák, and other distinguished guests.