Sheffield Forgemasters partners WaldrichSiegen

Sheffield Forgemasters has signed a long-term partnership with machine tool supplier WaldrichSiegen for the lifetime support of its proposed new machining facility. WaldrichSiegen will deliver a 10-year, through-life and production-support contract, plus the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of 17 new machine tools to create highly accurate, complex machined shapes from ultra-large steel castings and forgings. McDowell Machine Tools represents WaldrichSiegen in the UK.

The machining line will sit in a proposed new building at the company’s Brightside Lane site, and includes a series of large-scale, five-axis vertical turning lathes that form part of a recapitalisation investment of up to £400m over 10 years. Scheduled for delivery between 2025 and 2028, the machine line-up comprises: seven heavy-duty VTLs with 5-8 m tables; three gantry mills with 6-16 m turning capability; three RAM hydrostatic boring mills; three heavy-duty horizontal lathes with 24-27 m beds; and one gantry bandsaw.
For further information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

Prova buys stake in Composite Braiding

Prova Investments continues to grow its European portfolio of early-stage businesses operating at the forefront of cleantechnology, sustainability and the circular economy by taking an equity stake in Composite Braiding.Based in Derby, Composite Braiding produces advanced composites by combining materials such as carbon, glass, aramid and basalt fibres with thermoplastics. Using an award-winning automated manufacturing process, it is possible to braid components quickly and at scale, reducing labour costs by 90%, waste by 97% and energy consumption by 95%.
For further information www.compositebraiding.com

PSL Datatrack releases contract review module

PSL Datatrack has unveiled the new Contract Review module for its production control system, which is specifically for subcontract precision engineering businesses. The purpose of this new development is to ensure that all required contract review elements, in line with the user’s quality manual, have been checked and approved for a specific job or project.
Whether a subcontract company is AS9100-accredited or granted Fit for Nuclear (F4N) and requires a more formal contract review, or accredited to ISO 9001 or other standards and requires a less strict contract review, the review is nevertheless a key aspect of its operation.

The Contract Review module ensures that only authorised users perform relevant steps at quotation and/or works order stage, ultimately adhering to formal customer agreements and schedules. Integrating these procedures within PSL Datatrack clearly shows what actions are outstanding for each relevant quote or works order and who needs to perform the activity in question.

In line with PSL Datatrack’s overall approach to supplying production control software to subcontractors, this is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution and benefits from the input of established system users.The new module caters for variable checks depending on the customer and component in question, and there is security built in to ensure that only authorised users can sign off specific elements of a contract review.

Each user has a risk level, which specifies the highest risk level of review items that user is authorised to approve within Works Orders. Comments can be left against all items with details of who approved them and when. Furthermore, management can revoke items if dissatisfied or approval was made in error.
For further information www.psldatatrack.com

All-in-one: Mitutoyo’s Roundtracer Extreme

Covering every base in the area of roundness testing, the all-new Roundtracer Extreme is a CNC roundness/cylindricity measuring system that the company says is ready for anything. This novel quality-assurance machine integrates roundness, contour and surface roughness functions in oneefficient device.

Mitutoyo’s Roundtracer Extreme consolidates processes and improves productivity through the combination of multiple measuring methods. Notably, the machine is able to perform a variety of quality assurance and precision measuring tasks with the aid of Mitutoyo’s powerful yet easy-to-use software.

The multi-functional system is equipped with cutting-edge technology to improve the efficiency of measuring tasks. To this end, Mitutoyo has enabled continuous automatic measurement through the application of a three-step motorised sliding axis and a detector and holder, capable of changing the stylus angle. This feature makes it easy for users to measure objects of any shape or size, while avoiding interference from the workpiece.

To improve repeatability and reproducibility, Mitutoyo took great strides in advancing the architecture of the system’s centring table to reduce any positional changes of the workpiece during the measurement process.

Conceived as a premium Mitutoyo product, the Roundtracer Extreme intends to be the upcoming standard for multiple measurements in quality assurance departments around the globe. Ready for applications across a wide variety of workpieces, it will deliver efficient, high-precision measurements and analysis, reports the company.
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk

Benefits of interferometry during optical profiling

Surface characteristics can determine a range of scenarios. For instance, the finish on the body of a Formula One car can influence the racer’s finish time, and an engineered part’s surface will help influence its performance. Here The Sempre Group and one of its principals, Sensofar, set out how manufacturers can benefit from optical profiling in R&D applications.

To ensure parts meet their intended purpose, manufacturers will often measure surface finish during development, allowing them to adapt manufacturing techniques accordingly before mass production. As probes that touch the object could compromise the surface,optical profiling is the most common choice.

The Sensofar 3D optical surface profiler uses interferometry techniques for areal surface characterisation, as well as an optical design that makes it possible to double the field of view without compromising the resolution. By using a combination of phase-shifting interferometry (PSI), extended phase-shifting interferometry (ePSI) and coherence scanning interferometry (CSI) techniques, manufacturers can use the profiler to measure a range of surface characteristics.

PSI is best for ultra-smooth and very flat continuous surfaces, such as those on optical components. CSI is the most versatile mode, measuring smooth and rough surfaces with 1 nm resolution, and can also measure transparent layers with thicknesses from 1.5 to 100 µm. Meanwhile, ePSI, a kind of combination of PSI and CSI, is for measuring smooth surfaces with structures, making it suitable for measuring features on semiconductor wafers.

Interferometry has a high level of repeatability and accuracy and is faster than some confocal technologies, like laser confocals. By using this technique, engineers can produce topographies with a high number of measured data points, clearly showing the surface of intricate components.
For further information www.thesempregroup.com