CW Blog
A machine operator at Trinity Precision sets up a tombstone (made by Abbott Workholding Products) in the control center for a Makino A61nx cell. Trinity’s first major investment after purchasing the company five years ago was in an A61 cell. It now has three and plans to add another this year.
Source (all photos) | Peter Zelinski
Here is another look at the tombstone system for the A61nx cell as well as the three screens on the left displaying Machine Metrics data. Trinity integrates Machine Metrics machine monitoring software into the controllers for all of its machining centers, and uploads that data in real time to the shop’s MRP system.
Trinity added this FANUC Robodrill vertical machining center in 2016 to run high-mix, low-volume parts with the aid of its five-axis robotic arm. The Robodrill enables the workpieces to be staged in a row and loaded automatically — in less than 12 seconds each — for a two-stage machining operation.
For this part, the Robodrill machines a dovetail form into the workpiece to maximize the exposure for machining operations. When the cycle is complete, all that is left holding the dovetail to the finished part are two small tabs.
Here is the same part from the previous photo after a machine operator has used the rubber mallet and knocked the part loose from the dovetail form. The two small tabs that previously held the two components together have left only small burrs to be removed later.
Trinity displays signage to identify different cells and activities inside the facility, including real-time displays of machine performance. These metrics are all tied to its global MRP system.
Here is a closer look at the machine performance data that’s displayed throughout Trinity’s shop floor. (Part numbers have been removed to maintain confidentiality.) The data displays which parts are running, being loaded, in the queue or completed.
This is a closeup look at Machine Metrics data from Trinity’s machine controllers. Data includes cycle uptime percentages, the number of parts completed, the program number, the name of the operator, and the percentage of the parts completed goal that has been achieved.
Trinity’s production report can be customized, but in this case it displays sales order status, order quantities, completion dates and whether the part is waiting for material. Every department at Trinity has access to this live data, and the report is widely used throughout the shop. The company credits this data sharing capability as being just as important as its machining technologies for growing its business.
Here are two similar but not identical parts that have been delivered back to Trinity after being painted by an outside vendor. These parts will need to be inspected before any assembly operations to ensure their identification. If nearly identical parts are misidentified, the potential for wasted time and money is great, not to mention the dire hazard if a faulty part finds its way onto an aircraft.
In the past, Trinity employed an inspector who measured the nuanced features of each part to confirm its identity—a painstakingly slow and tedious process. Just two weeks before my visit, the shop had brought onboard automation engineer Joel Koripalli, pictured here, to find a better solution. Oklahoma-based custom automation provider Rye Design helped create this measurement system that uses Keyence vision technologies with a software interface that Koripalli is programming and refining.
Trinity realized that its customer service representatives were constantly tracking down team members from the shipping department to ask whether parts had been packed or shipped. In response, the company automated the data entry processes tied to shipping, so when an employee scans a packing slip, the information is instantly updated within the MRP system. Even the printers within the shipping department are segregated according to different part families.
David May, president of Trinity Precision, purchased the shop five years ago when it operated primarily using three-axis vertical mills. He had recently worked at another facility that had undergone a transformation from VMCs to HMCs with palletized equipment. This ended up being Trinity’s first major investment after May purchased the shop as well.
Here, Chris VanNover, Trinity’s vice president of operations, holds a part that was formerly machined on VMCs much less efficiently than on HMCs. After greatly reducing setup time for this part (in addition to other efficiencies), Trinity has dropped the price for this part by 30 percent.
As commercial aviation expands to accommodate a new class of international travelers from emerging markets such as China and India, demand on small and midsized aerospace suppliers to expand production capacity is placing a premium not just on automation or skilled labor, but on the supplier’s overall scalability.
The challenge of accommodating for growth and increasing throughput is different today than it was just a few years ago. With a shrinking supply of skilled manufacturing workers responsible for increasingly automated and complex machining processes, scaling up now favors knowledge sharing and the systemization of operations over the traditional goal of simply boosting employee headcount.
Read MoreBy: Brent Donaldson 6/1/2019
Mission critical: An additive manufacturing breakthrough in commercial aviation
GE9X test
The GE9X on a test platform at GE Aviation’s testing facility in Peebles, Ohio. The GE9X is a massive high-bypass turbofan that boasts 304 additively manufactured parts spanning seven components. General GE Aviation is currently printing these parts at its manufacturing plants in Auburn, Alabama and Cameri, Italy. The largest, most fuel-efficient engine that GE has ever produced is on track to gain final FAA certification this year.
Source | GE Aviation
3D-printed LPT blades
Stage 5 and 6 low pressure turbine (LTP) blades 3D-printed from titanium aluminide (TiAl) for the GE9X engine. Of the seven components and 304 parts being additively manufactured for the GE9X, all except the LPT blades and the heat exchanger are cobalt chromium alloy parts printed via direct metal laser melting on Concept Laser M2 machines.The TiAl blades are being printed at Avio Aero’s 3D-printing factory in Cameri, Italy, on Arcam A2x printers via electron beam melting. TiAl presents vastly a superior strength-to-weight ratio than nickel alloys traditionally used for these parts.
Source | GE Aviation
GE9X engine
Front view of the GE9X engine, which offers blueprint for industrialized next-generation aerospace manufacturing. Boeing’s new 777X twin-engine jet will be powered by this massive high-bypass turbofan, which boasts 304 additively manufactured parts spanning seven components. GE Aviation is currently printing these parts at its manufacturing plants in Auburn, Alabama and Cameri, Italy.
Source | GE Aviation
LEAP fuel nozzle
The GE9X’s fuel nozzle is largely identical to that of the LEAP engine, pictured here. The LEAP fuel nozzle is often assumed to be the first 3D-printed part that GE Aviation identified and produced for additive manufacturing (AM). But the company first printed its T25 sensor housing units for more than 400 GE90 engines well before it printed its first LEAP fuel nozzle tips. When initial work on the GE9X began around 2013, it was no surprise that the company decided to continue printing these two parts.
Source | GE Aviation
GE catalyst midframe
A 3D-printed midframe component for the GE Catalyst advanced turboprop engine. According to GE Aviation, the GE Catalyst is “the first clean-sheet engine in more than 30 years for the turboprop segment,” and represents the promise that GE Aviation and GE Additive see in 3D-printing technologies. Through advanced manufacturing and 3D printing, the companies reduced 855 parts to 12 components for the engine.
Source | GE Aviation
GE Aviation and ATC team
Pictured at GE’s Additive Technology Center (ATC), from left to right: Antroine Townes, ATC site leader; Lara Liou, GE Aviation materials engineering leader; Ryan Chapin, GE Aviation design engineering leader; and Eric Gatlin, general manager for aviation additive integrated product team at the ATC.
Photo | Jeff Norgord
GE9X test flight
The GE9X on one of its maiden test flights. Notice the difference in size between the GE9X and the CF6 engine on the opposite wing. According to Lara Liou, materials engineering leader at GE Aviation, the GE9X represents the first time the company has placed multiple additive manufacturing materials and modalities into production toward a single aviation application.
Source | GE Aviation
At last year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the CEO of China’s largest online travel service predicted that the number of Chinese passport holders could nearly double in the next 24 months. If that sounds impossible, consider that less than 10 percent of Chinese citizens own a passport today. Then consider that from 2000 to 2017, the number of Chinese residents traveling outside of mainland China skyrocketed from 10.5 million to 145 million — an increase of nearly 1,400 percent — according to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute.
The shockwaves of increased outbound travel from emerging markets such as China, not to mention India and the Middle East, are radiating across industries. But in many ways, this projected surge impacts one industry above all: commercial aviation.
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As the commercial aerospace sector prepares for a new round of major program launches, the question of where and how composites will be applied weighs heavily on the supply chain.
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By: Peggy Malnati 5/30/2019
Chopped carbon fiber, polyamide and innovation redefine the modern pickup truck bed
The CarbonPro box has arrived
The CarbonPro pickup box — the world’s first thermoplastic composite box and the world’s first carbon fiber-reinforced composite box — debuted this spring on top-of-the-line short-bed (crew-cab) GMC Sierra AT4 (off-road) and Sierra Denali half-ton pickups from General Motors Co.
Source | General Motors Co.
Featuring impact resistance and cargo space
The CarbonPro pickup box has numerous features designed to enhance both vehicle and its cargo space. First, the box is incredibly impact resistant, which is a huge functional benefit and eliminates the need for a bedliner. Not only will it not rust or dent, but the molded-in-color (MIC) black composite needs no paint/coatings to protect against scratching and weathering. Second, much work went into designing the corrugated floor structure. A light texture is used in troughs so dirt and grime wash away easily, while a “grippy” aggressive texture is molded into crests to ensure good stability even when the bed is wet or dusty.
Source | General Motors Co.
Motorcycle pockets
Special motorcycle pockets have been designed in the headboard and bonded tie downs (each capable of 227-kilogram loads). Additional tie downs are distributed strategically to help stabilize various loads. Integral lights illuminate the box around fender flares and the tailgate. The CarbonPro box alone reduced mass 28 kilograms vs. the short-box in steel on the outgoing model yet it is designed to carry a slightly higher payload (reportedly at least 27 kilograms more depending on configurations and equipment).
Source | General Motors Co.
The pickup box is designed specifically to hold a “Fat Boy” Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Source | General Motors Co.
Two dirt bikes can be secured on the left and right sides of the CarbonPro box.
When asked about the most challenging aspect of the CarbonPro carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite pickup box, which debuted on 2019 short-bed (crew-cab) GMC Sierra AT4 (off-road) and Sierra Denali half-ton pickups, Mark Voss, engineering group manager of advanced structural composites and pickup boxes at General Motors Co. (GM, Detroit, Mich., U.S.), laughs. “The most challenging part?” he asks. “Every part of this project was challenging. Everything was new: we had new design criteria, new impact and rear-barrier performance specs, plus we had a new material and process. Every part of the design process was a challenge at one point or another. However, the results speak for themselves: the CarbonPro box is a game-changing execution.”
Voss, who previously worked on composite applications for Corvette, knows a thing or two about innovation and talking management into trying new things. Starting in 2011, he was involved with initial negotiations and later joint-development work with Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) to commercialize automotive applications for Teijin’s then newly developed Sereebo CFRTP sheet composite (see “Sereebo CFRTP sheets: ‘Saving the Earth’”). Three years of what Voss calls “learning cycles” — running trials and evaluations, finding and addressing issues, then running more trials and evaluations — followed before team members felt they understood how the material behaved and where to use it. That’s when they began looking for an application and platform for Sereebo’s automotive industry debut. By 2015, they’d identified the pickup box on the 2019 model year Sierra Denali as ideal.
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Premium Aerotec’s A320 pressure bulkhead illustrates how the weldability of thermoplastics has the potential to enable larger aircraft components.
CW Photo | Scott Francis
At JEC World 2019 GKN Fokker showcased an area-ruled thermoplastic composite fuselage panel — a joint R&D project with Gulfstream Aerospace — that uses welding technology to create a large part.
CW photo | Scott Francis
This thermoplastic fuselage panel by GKN Fokker and Gulfstream Aerospace features simple “butt-jointed” orthogrid stiffening and fully welded frames (no fasteners).
CW photo | Scott Francis
TPAC and TPRC’s TPC-Cycle project is focused on production scrap from collection to shredding and reprocessing through to application.
CW photo | Scott Francis
Thermoplastic composites (TPC) aren’t new to the aerospace sector, but the past couple of years have seen thermoplastic usage in commercial aircraft reach a tipping point. While TPCs have been used for some time for smaller parts such as clips and brackets, or smaller interior components, thermoplastics have been working their way into larger aircraft structures incrementally and now seemed poised to play a bigger role in the future of commercial aircraft.
In March 2018, Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), the world’s largest carbon fiber manufacturer, acquired TenCate Advanced Composites (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S. and Nijverdal, Netherlands) for €930 million (TenCate has since changed its name to Toray Advanced Composites). The move seemed to be an effort to strengthen Toray’s thermoplastics capabilities in preparation for the next wave of commercial aircraft development. Shortly after that announcement, Hexcel (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) and Arkema Inc. (King of Prussia, Pa., U.S.) announced a strategic alliance to develop thermoplastic composite solutions for aerospace, combining Hexcel’s skill in carbon fiber manufacture with Arkema’s polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) resins expertise. And over the course of the year, several other pieces of the thermoplastics puzzle seemed to fall into place.
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