Abrasives

Metal 3D printing enables space companies to manufacture key components on an industrial scale

Aluminum, with its many advantageous properties, is used in a wide spectrum of industries to manufacture a vast, and growing, range of products. As the use of aluminum is so varied, so are its' traceability requirements.

Starrag, a manufacturer of CNC metalworking machinery and Amorphology, a developer of advanced amorphous metals, established a laboratory where customers of both companies can observe real-time precision engineering and machining of complex gears using amorphous metals.

Founded in 1976 by George McNab to serve the growing demand for precision aerospace components, Mac Machine Company Inc. has since expanded its manufacturing capabilities to serve the defense, commercial aircraft, and medical diagnostics and implant industries. Mac Machine provides clients like Honeywell, Northrup Grummon, Sandia National Laboratories, and Zimmer Medical with a variety of precision parts, assemblies and weldments, all designed and produced at its 20,000-sq-ft facility in Baltimore, Maryland.

Global Shop Solutions' ERP software provides information to all areas of King Machine's business by giving every employee the tools they need to do their jobs efficiently and accurately.

Omni Aerospace needed to produce large, flight-ready parts within strict design tolerances and surface finishes in a time-sensitive manner. Starrag's Ecospeed F1540 machining centers fit the bill.

The F-35 Lightning is one of the most complex and lethal combat fighter jets in the world, and this machine is constructed with thousands of precision components. Starrag machinery are used to produce some of the most complex components on these precision jets.

The Bell Helicopter Drive Systems Center (DSC) in Arlington, Texas, can never be confused with anything “little.” It’s a huge facility, filled with the latest milling, drilling, and boring technologies. In fact, some newly installed equipment is making some of the company's biggest components in its history. 

Schunk, a premium tooling and resharpening company in Germany, utilizes state-of-the-art grinding systems and an ANCA workflow RFID system to finish job packets in a chaotic fashion driven by production needs rather than by job order.

Chicago Jet Group retrofitting a Dassault Falcons plane turned to a leading metrology provider for help in recreating a replica of a cockpit panel to ensure it would fit snugly in the cockpit.. 

Tooling manufacturers must machine tools to cut an evolving array of materials from exotic metals to composites and meet ever-more exacting tolerances and produce more complex shapes and radii.

NEEDHAM, MA – Open Mind Technologies USA Inc., a developer of CAD/CAM software solutions worldwide, has announced that Ramco Machine LLC (Rowley, MA) is helping to impact the future of space exploration by using hyperMILL CAM software and five-axis machining to make parts for an advanced NASA satellite mission.

Boeing Co. has begun a sweeping transformation of its quality system, including the use of smart tools and automation. It also will eliminate thousands of quality checks because they are no longer necessary. The company told its union that it will cut about 450 quality inspector positions this year and potentially a similar number next year.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association expresses optimism about the industry’s prospects for 2019. Also, increased third-quarter 2018 aircraft delivery figures were seen across all aircraft segments.

Texas could be in line to land thousands of additional aerospace-related manufacturing and engineering jobs if companies in the fast-growing sector heed a new ranking of the most competitive places for them to operate. The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers lists Texas behind only Washington state as the top location in the United States for “aerospace manufacturing attractiveness.”

President Trump signaled what could become a vigorous return to space exploration by the United States when he reconstituted the National Space Council. Dormant since the end of the George H.W. Bush administration, the council’s chairman, Vice President Mike Pence, and its executive secretary, Dr. Scott Pace, have vowed to build a manned space program to reach the moon and beyond to Mars. As with the two previous boom cycles of aerospace development, in World War II and the Apollo program, one of the main beneficiaries of the aggressive effort will be the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Earlier this week we shared the conclusions of the McKinsey Report, which concluded that it may be possible for U.S. manufacturing to grow by 20 percent and add more than 2 million jobs by 2025. That was the good news. It can only happen, however, if manufacturers embrace Industry 4.0 technology. The Integr8 conference in Detroit showed how to get started.

Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, tested NASA's first 3-D printed rocket engine prototype part made of two different metal alloys through an innovative advanced manufacturing process. NASA has been making and evaluating durable 3-D printed rocket parts made of one metal, but the technique of 3-D printing with more than one metal is more difficult.

Pratt & Whitney’s new 93,000 square-foot facility adds to an already existing GTF fan blade production line in Lansing. The company's AutoAir facility has had a tenfold ramp-up in the past 20 months, and has increased its workforce from just over 200 to almost 700.

Boeing employees and community members this week commemorated the 90,000 square-foot expansion of Boeing Helena to support 777X airplane production. Boeing Helena is set to install new machine tools to fabricate critical titanium parts for the twin-aisle 777X.

UI LABS and ManpowerGroup have released a workforce analysis that identifies 165 data-centric jobs that will define the future of manufacturing in the United States. Descriptions for jobs such as collaborative robotics specialist, manufacturing cybersecurity strategist and enterprise digital ethicist give a window into the advanced skills and knowledge needed to put new technology into practice and remain globally competitive.

New commercial agreement between Spirit and Norsk Titanium identifies thousands of titanium parts currently manufactured at Spirit or by its suppliers as 3D-printing candidates.

Boeing and Georgia Tech formally opened a new advanced development research center designed to solve some of the toughest technical challenges in manufacturing. In the Boeing Manufacturing Development Center, company researchers and Georgia Tech engineering students will work together to implement automation in industrial applications. The center is located in Georgia’s Tech new 19,000-sq.-ft. Delta Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility.

In 2007 the KUKA Titan entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest and strongest robot in the world. A decade later a modified version of the behemoth has been given accuracy unprecedented for its size—better than 100µm (0.0039").

Radius Engineering Inc.was recognized with the 2017 Excellence in Composites Manufacturing Award (small-company category) for supplying net-shape manufacturing technology and equipment contributing to improvements in design, quality and reduced manufacturing costs for numerous manufacturing companies throughout the aerospace composites industry. Company co-founder Dimitrije Milovich received a separate award, honoring his 40-plus years of leadership and innovation.

Georgia will see an influx of more than 500 new aerospace manufacturing jobs at Columbus-based Pratt & Whitney, which reportedly will invest $386 million into expansion.

To maintain and grow its production levels on its newest jet engines, engine components and aircraft systems, GE Aviation investments reached $4.3 billion in its U.S. operations during 2011–2016, with another $1.1 billion invested in its international sites, the company reports. That U.S. amount includes $214 million to establish five new plants here.

After being packed into 11 crates and travelling from Neuhausen, Germany to Baltimore by boat, and onto its final destination by truck back in December, a 20-foot-long, 135,000 lb. industrial machine from Zimmermann was moved into place over the course of several hours at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology.

Reuters reports that America's manufacturers are urging President-elect Donald Trump to back off from his most threatening trade rhetoric and pursue a more nuanced approach to trade with China and Mexico, avoiding unilateral tariff actions and focusing on negotiations. Corporate lobbying groups, some chief executives and pro-trade lawmakers also say they eventually even hope to persuade Trump that free-trade agreements can help grow the U.S. economy and create jobs.

“The 30-foot-by-35-foot pit in a concrete floor is empty, shiny and immaculate as it awaits the arrival of a massive machine for use by Connecticut manufacturers to cut, shape and do a range of other tasks with composite materials,” writes Stephen Singer in the Hartford Courant. “At the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology in East Hartford, the large rectangular hole resembling a swimming pool and reaching a depth of 4 ft. in parts will be filled later this year by the 130,000-lb, high-speed industrial machine [that] will be used to shape, cut, grind and otherwise fashion aerospace and other industry components made of composites.”

Los Angeles Times reports: Factories south of the border are fueled by American goods and services—creating a silver lining for at least some workers in the U.S.

In an effort to expand its reach within the aerospace industry, OSG USA Inc. has purchased Amamco Tool & Supply Co. Inc., an ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100C registered company that makes high-quality, custom, carbide tools for manufacturers in the aerospace, automotive and medical industries, according to an OSG USA news release issued today.

The addition of over 15,000 sq. ft. was designed to increase assembly capabilities and provide additional space for newly acquired capital equipment

Norsk Titanium AS, Oslo, Norway, announced the first shipment of Airbus test parts manufactured by the company's patented Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) process has been delivered to Premium AEROTEC's plant in Varel, Germany, where it has already undergone finish machining, according to a joint company news release issued Jan. 20.

Industrial Info Resources, a market research company based in Sugar Land, Texas, reported Aug. 5 that demand for aircraft parts has helped give rise to U.S. manufacturing plant expansions. 

Okuma America Corp. has opened an Aerospace Center of Excellence at its facility in Charlotte, N.C. The center is for aerospace manufacturers to use as a testing and proving ground for advanced CNC machining technology to enhance productivity while solving industry-specific challenges, according to the company.

H-D Advanced Manufacturing Co., Pittsburgh, acquired San Diego-based Sungear Inc., a manufacturer of precision gears and assemblies for the aerospace industry.

Since the economic slowdown in 2008, the global sales of business aircraft has been less than 50 percent of the annual sales in 2007; however, as aircraft fleets get older and the economy improves, pent-up demand may stimulate purchases.

Liberty Hall Capital Partners, a New York, N.Y.-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the global aerospace and defense industry, announced the acquisition of Tulsa, Okla.'s Precise Machining & Manufacturing, a Tier II supplier of machined parts, kits and assemblies and processing services to the aerospace industry.

AFAB, a Lake Forest, Calif.-based manufacturer of machined parts and assemblies, is moving into the aerospace and automotive markets through acquisitions of new equipment,  hiring experienced personnel, and institutingnew systems, according to the company.