With the influx of clean energy, there has been a large push towards wind power and other energy alternatives. Wind power got its start in the United States in the 1930s with the onset of wind turbine towers. Similar to what is seen today, the towers were 80 feet high with three large rotor blades that would turn with the wind. When the blades rotate they activate a generator that turns the motion into storable electricity. Wind farms in the United States became popular in the 1970s when the demand for new and clean renewable energies started to increase.

Republic Lagun Machine Tool Company was founded in 1968 and is located in Harbor City, California. Our Sales, Manufacturing and Distribution Plant occupies over 30,000 square feet, with 50 employees. Republic Lagun’s manual and CNC milling machines, lathes and CNC machining centers have been supplied to the aerospace, U.S. government, defense, earthmoving, diesel engine, die and mold, shipbuilding and power generation industries. We provide our customers with superior manufacturing solutions, having a 70,000-installed machine base and stock over $3,000,000 in parts and accessories.

Republic Lagun is also a member of the Goratu Group, which is headquartered in Spain. Members of the Goratu Group consist of Goratu, Zayer, Maquinaria Lagun, GMTK and our latest addition, Bermaq. Starting in the late 1960s, the Goratu Group began supplying machines for various components of wind turbines to Europe’s major manufacturers. Some of the components of wind turbines that have been machined on the Goratu Group machines are the nacelle frame, low and high-speed shafts, gearbox, yaw mechanism, rotor hub and the blades.

Goratu, Spain’s premier builder of heavy duty CNC turning centers, has been supplying the Geminis heavy duty turning centers to turn the rotor shafts of the wind turbines. The Goratu Group has supplied many Geminis lathes to not only turn the rotor shafts, but to provide complete machining of all features on the rotor shafts in two setups which including drilling, tapping, boring and milling. Goratu has also supplied dual carriage lathes to the wind turbine industry. On this machine, one carriage performs all the machining operations on the rotor shaft, while the other carriage does the finish grinding of the journal diameters on the rotor shaft.

GMTK, our vertical turning and grinding partner, processes the large gears, housings, bearing races and gearbox housing. GMTK’s vertical turning centers with turning, machining and grinding capabilities, provides a complete solution for processing the components in the nacelle.

The Lagun and Zayer brands have been supplying both bed type and moving column machining centers to machine various components of the nacelle, including the hub, the gearbox and even the nacelle itself. The hub’s function is to hold the blades and extenders of the wind turbine. The hub is attached to the nacelle through the shafts and has the ability to rotate freely. The hub is manufactured out of iron and machined on the Lagun and Zayer moving column machining centers. With the complex shape of the hub, both Lagun and Zayer employ their unique 45° articulating universal head to machine the hub without additional setups or complex fixtures. With the Lagun and Zayer vertical travel exceeding 120 inches, these products provide the reach and rigidity required for the most demanding machining requirements.

Since the Lagun and Zayer moving column design has such a large work envelop, the overall machining times have been dramatically reduced. This is largely due to the fact that the loading and unloading is internal to the machining cycle. With the growing demand for wind turbines, reduced machining time is essential for increasing productivity.

The curvatures of the wind turbine blades are machined on the Bermaq five-axes gantry machines. Bermaq is one of the leading pioneers in the 5 axes technology and has the experience to help manufacture the composite wind turbine blades.

Due to the materials the blades are manufactured from, the machining area is completely enclosed with the airborne particles being evacuated and collected to comply with environmental safety requirements. The completely enclosed five-axes gantry milling machines combine the robustness of its structure with the agility of operation. All of the transmission guides are well protected against dust and chips. The blades are fixed in place for machining with vacuum clamping.

Republic Lagun’s products are of the highest quality structures with heavily ribbed construction for superior rigidity, strength, dimensional stability, and enhanced wear characteristics. Our machines are modular in design, specifically developed to perform a full range of machining operations in a single setup, on a wide variety of materials, ranging from aluminum to steel, cast iron, and titanium. Virtually unlimited capacity is combined with the ability to manage large parts profitably, delivering the versatility and flexibility for large part machining, never before achieved. Truly, Republic Lagun and the Goratu Group products are universal precision production centers.

For more information on this story, please contact:

REPUBLIC LAGUN MACHINE TOOL CO.

Jennifer Masten, Marketing Director
801 Sprucelake Dr.
Harbor City, CA 90710
Phone: 310-518-1100 ext. 6025
Email: jenniferm@lagun.com
Web: www.lagun.com