A ‘world first’ in manufacturing has created a commercially viable process to produce critical aerospace components such as engine blisks and compressor blades from nickel-based super alloys that enables them to be rough-machined out of solid up to three times faster, while saving up to 70% on tooling costs.
The machining operations are being carried out at General Electric Aviation’s manufacturing facility in Detroit, in partnership with Japanese machine, cell and system builder Mitsui Seiki with its prototype HW63-TD hybrid five-axis machining centre. Mitsui Seiki is represented in the UK by 2D CNC Machinery.
The patented Blue Arc process uses electro-erosion to enable ultra-high speed roughing cycles whereby electrical energy creates the spark between the tool and workpiece, and strategically melts the material against a programmed cycle which is followed by intense flushing to remove the molten material.
Says Tom Dolan, vice president sales and marketing of Mitsui Seiki (USA): “The process is akin to reverse welding using thermal cutting techniques, and opens up a vast array of potential savings for producing traditional difficult-to-machine components across sectors such as oil and gas, nuclear, medical and power generation. Blue Arc is also able to reduce the need for expensive, large and high-powered machine tools for rough machining, thus reducing capital investment costs by up to a third, plus the ongoing costs attributed to expensive cutting tools.”
He follows on to explain how machine tool footprints could be reduced by up to 50% compared with the highly rigid nature of a conventional multi-axis machining centre used for roughing.
For further information
www.2dcnc.co.uk

What goes around comes around, and the XYZ Lean Production Machine (LPM) is a case in point for specialist manufacturer of industrial blades and machine knives, Horsham-based Precision Edge and its director Ross Candfield.
“We initially considered buying an XYZ LPM machining centre five years ago, but after due consideration we decided our workload wasn’t quite right for the machine and went for an XYZ SMX 5000 bed mill with ProtoTrak SMX control instead,” says Candfield.
As time went on, workloads changed, and Precision Edge needed additional capacity,
with the LPM still in mind it returned to XYZ, but came away with one of its XYZ 2-OP machining centres.
After having the 2-OP for 18 months, business growth meant a need for further machining centre capacity, and the advantages seen from the XYZ 2-OP, with its ProtoTrak control and Jergens Ball Lock table, finally created the opening for an XYZ LPM to complete Precision Edge’s machining capabilities.
“As we already had the 2-OP, the addition of the LPM was straightforward as the programs are compatible between the two ProtoTrak controls, while the fixture plates that we had invested in were also transferrable between the two machines,” says Candfield. “The extra spindle power means that we can also maximise cutting data and we are seeing cycle times and productivity improve dramatically as a result. The capability of the LPM goes beyond improved cutter performance as we can now machine a part from blank to finish-machined in a single set-up. Prior to the LPM’s arrival this would have been completed on three machines.”
For further information
www.xyzmachinetools.com

A £1.8m investment in a custom-built finish machining facility at the Walsall factory of Chamberlin & Hill Castings Ltd will see the installation of three high specification Chiron Scherer Feinbau automated mill-turn centres, helping the company become the UK’s only fully integrated supplier of grey iron bearing housings for engine turbochargers.
Supplied by the Engineering Technology Group (ETG), the modular machining centres offer a fully integrated machining solution combining a Scherer Feinbau twin-spindle VDZ100 vertical lathe operating in tandem (via a robot and conveyor system) with a Chiron DZ15W twin-spindle, twin-pallet milling centre.
A major, long-standing customer is Borg Warner, which had earlier advised Chamberlin & Hill that it was seeking an “integrated supply” in order to streamline the company’s supply chain.
“Without investing in machining capacity, the customer made it clear that it would have to review Chamberlin & Hill’s position as a supplier,” states chief executive Kevin Nolan. “In contrast, if we did make the investment, we were probably going to become the most significant supplier of turbo bearing housings in Europe.”
The Chiron cells were chosen for two reasons: firstly, Borg Warner already had around 60 Chiron machines producing similar parts, thus lowering the risk. Secondly, having cast the net far and wide, the company discovered that Chiron machines were one of very few which were both cost-effective and capable of producing the parts in the required cycle times.
Three Chiron machining cells were ordered, two of which were commissioned in February 2017, with a third scheduled to arrive in November this year. The capacity provided by these three machines has already been sold, bringing about additional revenue worth several million pounds per year.
For further information
www.engtechgroup.com