WELDING & FABRICATION
Starrag Tech Days Demonstrate Machines and Technologies That Push Up Customers’ Productivity
Push Your Productivity was the theme this year of Starrag’s Tech Days – a manufacturing extravaganza open house at the company’s headquarters in Switzerland. Numerous machines and complementary manufacturing technology demonstrations highlighted how customers can benefit with shorter lead times and lower piece part costs from Starrag’s world supremacy in the machining of aero components such as blades, blisks, impellers, casings and structural parts.
The 250 plus visitors from 17 countries witnessed a seemingly endless flow of manufacturing expertise to help them achieve bottom line savings in the production of such workpieces, and not least:
• The launch of the new ultra-rigid and robust titanium-cutting horizontal machining centre, the STC 1250 HD, the first machine in its class with hydrostatic guideways boasting zero friction/non-stick/slip in the X axis. The result is unmatched roughing times and dynamic, precise finishing of parts - reducing roughing times by over 50% in some instances. In addition, the machine’s higher acceleration and jerk rates lead to more dynamic finishes and frictionless/no micro-vibration in the guideways leads to more precise parts.
• An Ecospeed F machining centre – the latest addition to the machines in the facility’s Aerospace Competence Centre
26
www.sosmagazine.biz October 2023
Inside the STC 1250 HD’s working zone
The new STC 1250 HD
– with integrated Sprint Z3 parallel kinematic machining head which, for example, contributes to savings in machining time for an interior aerostructure part from 14 hours to just three hours and 40 minutes.
• Simultaneous five-/six-axis machining of landing gear parts on large-capacity mills, focusing not only on improved cutting of complex shapes in difficult materials but also on the challenges of producing higher volumes (using automation) often in new materials (in response to the impact of ReAcH regulations) and, as always, under extreme price constraints.
There were presentations of how Starrag machines can improve productivity including how a Droop + Rein FOGS machining centre is meeting the challenges of machining and matching aluminium alloys and carbon fibre parts to an accuracy of 55 microns over a machining envelope of 22 m3, and of a 65 mm bar-fed LX 021 machining centre producing variable guide vane blades measuring 115 mm long and having aerofoil lengths of 70 mm and chords up to 21 mm wide. The machine was
performing, facing, profiling, mill finishing and groove turning in a cycle time of just 21 mins, and it featured milling force monitoring via a ProMicron system.
Also, a TTL software animation showed how the software can effect a blade repair at 20%-30% the cost of a new blade, plus details of a new spindle drive unit, an 18,000 revs/min HSK-100 for all-round metals machining – complemented by an array of complementary technologies being demonstrated by the companies which ‘partnered’ Starrag for the event.
Siemens demonstrated its Sinumeriuk CNC system with Digital Twin software which effectively creates a closed loop between digital design, machining simulation, CAD/CAM and post-processing to not only minimise the programming of complex parts but also to eliminate costly material test cuts.
Caron Engineering showed how its Tool Adaptive Control system can run tools at up to 25% higher rates and extend tool life by up to 25% by process monitoring via sensors for power usage, vibration, and coolant pressure and flow, for example.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
