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METALLICS I MACHINING
FURTHER S
TAKING TITANIUM
At its recent Titanium Technology Days event milling specialist StarragHeckert reiterated its commitment to a titanium future with the introduction of several new machines for the manufacture of aerospace components. Simon Lott reports.
peaking at the opening of StarragHeckert’s customer event last June, Group CEO Dr Frank
Brinken described the company’s mantra as ‘precisely productive’. While its products are by no means exclusive to the aerospace industry, the company prides itself on its strength in titanium milling and as such, a large amount of product development is focused around the industry, especially in the milling of large and complex components. “If you look at the main trends in
the aerospace industry one thing is absolutely clear – Six Sigma compliance,” explains Brinken. “We have seen increasing titanium content first in military applications but now also in civil aircraft and we are also seeing a move to larger complex 5-axis integrated structures and a definite globalisation of the supply chain. In particular, countries that are aiming for a significant increase in air travel will also increase their share in the aerospace supply chain. Six Sigma is definitely a game changer
for the aero industry, but how do you build a reliable, compliant machine? The solution as far as StarragHeckert
is concerned, is quality through core machine design, and both of the company’s latest products to hit the market; the SPC (Super Precision Centre) 7120, the first conventional mill to be produced under the
SIP (Société d’Instruments de Precision) brand; and the huge BTP 5000/2 5-axis profiler exhibit its typical attention to detail.
Best of both worlds The SPC 7120 is the first in a new line of products to come from the rejuvenated SIP brand, which was purchased by the StarragHeckert group in 2006. Best known for its long history of ‘ultra precision’ jig boring machines, the SPC range is very much a cross between its own machine building expertise and StarragHeckert’s milling know-how, and
is specifically designed to deliver minimal compromise between precision and speed. Therefore, where SIP’s traditional range can achieve accuracies of under 2.5µm and typical Starrag machines are around the 6-7µm mark, SPC machines can achieve 4µm from its conventional mill design. However, a variable 50kW main drive motor allowing for speeds of 15,000rpm means that working feed and rapid traverse rates of 40m/min in X, Y and Z can be achieved. “We have seen in the last 4-5 years
that even in the aerospace sector, particularly civil, customers are looking
The SPC 7140: The first machine developed through the StarragHeckert/SIP partnership
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