Given the highly demanding nature of their application, and the extreme environment in which they are expected to perform, parts designed and manufactured for the aerospace industry have to measure up to the most stringent quality control and performance tests.
Aerospace machining is a highly complex and technical field, continually seeing advances in machine tool technology. Since the early days of mill-turn machines, the benefits of incorporating drilling and milling functions into standard 2-axis lathes are currently fully understood and appreciated. Now there is a growing acceptance of, and demand for, 5-axis technology.
The Rise in Popularity of 5-Axis Machining
Machining dies, turbine impellers and aerospace parts, which usually have freeform or parametric surfaces, have more complex shapes. Five-axis computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines are used to produce these parts as, thanks to their two extra degrees of freedom, they have a more efficient tool path.
Since it was first introduced, 5-axis machine equipment has become more economical and more efficient to use, allowing an aerospace machine shop such as Ramp Engineering to machine parts using two or three fewer operations than before. This not only saves time, but also ensures that the machined parts are more accurate as they have to move through fewer processes. Fewer processes means fewer opportunities for error.
There are many other benefits of offering 5-axis machining services, including:
- Reduced operator time
- Greater versatility and flexibility
- Fewer tools and fixtures
- Reduction on the amount of floor space needed
- Savings on capital investment
- Reduced inventory costs
What Does the Future Hold?
In less than a century, the aerospace manufacturing industry has undergone significant changes. From simple principles of flight, we now have commercial airliners, rockets and supersonic jets and all of their various manufactured parts.
The aerospace industry is not done improving and manufacturing processes and technology will continue to advance. Ramp Engineering will always strive to be at the cutting edge of producinghigh-quality, high-spec aerospace machining parts.