Virtual reality is quickly evolving technology which is starting to push not only in entertainment but also in other disciplines like an automotive, machine or aircraft industry. Due to ever higher teaching demands of these problematics virtual reality is one of the ways how to increase teaching efficiency. This paper aims to create a virtual laboratory with an interactive model of a machine tool. Head-mounted display and controllers from Oculus were used for the visualization and interaction with the machine tool. The interactivity of model lies in the opportunity of assembling and disassembling basic parts of the machine tool to elementary construction parts. This enables to the interested person better and faster understanding of construction problematics of machine tools which contribute to the improvement of the teaching effectiveness.

The technology of cold wire drawing belongs to an ancient class of technologies, but their use lasts for centuries. Today, special forming machines, advanced tool materials and effective lubricants are used. In this paper, a progressive physical vapour technology (PVD) of coating for inner surfaces is used which resulted in significant prolongation of tool life. The technology of HiPIMS (High-power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering) exhibited excellent performance in protective (Al,Ti)N coating of whole inner surfaces that are in contact with the drawn wire which is impossible to do with other coating techniques. The increase in production of the drawn steel spring wire by the coated die by more than 100% was excellent, and it opens new horizons to some similar technological applications.

The work deals with a machinability of Inconel® 718 construction material (hereafter referred to as “INC 718”). This chromium-nickel alloy has an austenitic structure, which in conjunction with its low thermal conductivity is one of the causes of a worse machinability. The aim of the work was to increase the productivity of the roughing turning process. There are more ways to improve the machinability of the INC 718, starting from the heat treatment of the material and ending with the application of process fluids. This work is based on real requirements of a company and therefore the possibilities of elimination of the worse machinability were limited by economic and technological aspects. For this reason, the main tool for increasing the productivity of the machining process was changing the material of the cutting tool and fine-tuning of the cutting conditions. In another part of the work, an evaluation of the experimentally determined force ratios of the reference and newly designed technology, which is the basis for the stress-strain analysis, have been made. The conclusion of the research highlights the newly designed process in terms of machining times and the volume of material achieved per unit of the cutting edge durability.

The paper deals with a CNC grooving of hardened low-alloyed steel in flood and dry cutting conditions. A new generation of nanocomposite PVD coatings (Ti,Al)N and (Ti0.4,Al0.6)N deposited on WC-Co carbide when cutting at high cutting speed was characterized and compared. The statistical analysis of force time series acting during the machining, wear and tool life of the cutting tools have been assessed. Grooving with the coated tools and flood cooling showed to be successful and the quality of machined surface was high. The dry machining conditions were proven as disadvantageous and not recommended for any industrial practise, because the life time of the cutting tools was more than 85% shorter compared to the grooving with flood cooling.

The theory and practice in engineering industry is not the same. Durability of cutting tools is defined in standard ISO 3685. In standard ISO 3685 is defined T-vc dependence for different cutting materials and standard included process evaluation of tool durability for cutting materials made of high speed steel, sintered carbide and cutting ceramic. Standard ISO 3685 contains instructions how to create T-vc dependence for cutting tools made of cutting ceramic. In this standard are only instructions how to create T-vc dependence according to Taylor. The article compares T-vc dependencies for various cutting ceramics (Al2O3, Al2O3+ZrO2, Al2O3+TiCN) with T-vc dependence defined in standard ISO 3685, because this standard describes T-vc dependence for all entered cutting materials together.