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ADVANCED MANUFACTURING NOW Bill Malanche


Balancing Productivity and Predictability a M


any of us spend our days tweaking machine tool designs, cutting tools, components, devices and software to continually improve and evolve to a new


sweet spot between predictability and productivity for our aerospace customers. When one aspect of the overall sys- tem evolves in a new direction, it impacts all the rest, nudg- ing the other elements to come up to speed, and sometimes that means literally, which is where we are now: boosting the speed of the predictable processes in place. For example, one of our large aerospace customers has set a goal to double production in the same amount of fl oor space, both in assembly and titanium machining operations. With regard to machining structural compo- nents, that means they would need to have a machine tool capable of getting 2000 ft-lb. (2711 N•m) of torque at 500 rpm compared with today’s 2000 ft-lb at 100 rpm on a geared spindle machine. We at Mitsui Seiki are developing totally new machine tool designs to provide torque within the 300–500 rpm range at high-torque values like 2000 ft-lb or more. Cutting edges are getting better, but new cutting tools will have to be developed. Coolant volumes that are running as high as 50 gpm (189 L/min) through the spindle at 1500 psi (10 MPa) will also need to be improved. New machine designs must consider the volume of chips that have to be evacuated, as they will be increased a factor or two or three.


In titanium IBR blade machining the OEMs and Tier 1 and 2 suppliers are aiming for running at 90 ipm (2.2 m/min) and hold blade to blade profi les to 0.001" (0.03-mm) tolerance over the blade surfaces, blade to blade, and leading edge to trailing edge. They are pushing 120 ipm (3.0 m/min) and would like to get to 160–180 ipm (4–4.5 m/min). Again, cut- ting tools are improving, however titanium is tough on end mills in aerospace-type parts so there is a lot of development occurring with the cutting tool manufacturers right now. To- day, we’re getting 60–90 minutes per cutting edge. Ten years ago it was only 10 minutes. Great strides have been made in machine tool design and construction, better spindle con-


10 AdvancedManufacturing.org | February 2016


nections, new CAD/CAM cutting toolpath strategies such as the new constant chip load approaches, and CNC controls with tool point center control with smoothing algorithms. Since demand for certain commercial jets has in some cases more than doubled over the past few years, it’s no surprise that aerospace OEMs are demanding double the productivity on the same amount of manufacturing fl oor space. By defi ning “fl oor space” as the goal, it forces technology enhancements instead of adding more plants, machines and people—as was the case in the ramp up in WWII to build up to 50,000 planes a year. About fi ve to seven years ago, the mandate was to develop predictable, accurate, and cost-effective processes to produce titanium engine and structural components. Our company was involved at the beginning of this research to discover the requirements for machining these super hard metals, and it has taken several years of development to get to today’s satisfactory results.


Aerospace OEMs are demanding double the productivity on the same amount of fl oor space, which forces technology enhancements.


Subsequently, the industry revisited its manufacturing


approach and implemented a model akin to automobile manufacturing; they want just the right parts at just the right time to assemble a certain number of aircraft each month. Now that those manufacturing systems and manufacturing strategies are dialed in, the natural progression is to push for increasing the volume. Once we help them get the capac- ity up, there will be improvements in perhaps part design or material nuances that will demand we focus on consistency again. And so it goes, back and forth, getting to a predict- able process and then pumping up the volume. For those of us providing manufacturing solutions to the


aerospace industry, it’s an interesting balance that provides us with rewarding challenges to address each and every day.


Vice President


Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. www.mitsuiseiki.com


MODERN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES, SOLUTIONS & STRATEGIES


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