Okuma hosts manufacturing excellence and technology showcase

CNC machine tool manufacturer Okuma America Corp. hosted more than 600 customers, partners, and distributors at its Manufacturing Excellence and Technology Showcase event in December. The three-day event, held at Okuma America’s Aerospace Center for Excellence in Charlotte, North Carolina, featured educational sessions on cryogenic machining from 5ME, additive manufacturing by RPM Innovations, trochoidal toolpath programming by Sandvik, and Okuma’s open OSP control and customizable OSP suite.

Members of Partners in THINC demonstrated peripheral equipment such as tooling, gaging, workholding, and automation, while more than 20 different models of Okuma lathes and machining centers cut parts including a titanium engine case and a bladed rotor, stainless steel shaft and a turbine blade, and an aluminum rocker arm and bracket hinge. www.okuma.com/americas; www.okuma.com/partners-in-thinc

Exova advances aerospace material

Engineers at global testing group Exova have undertaken a test program on a new corrosion-resistant stainless steel alloy (CRES) being developed by a consortium of Airbus, Messier Bugatti Dowty, Carpenter Technology, and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at the University of Sheffield.

CRES steel, offering strength, lightness, and affordability and which avoids the use of traditional cadmium and chromate coatings, is being developed for use in landing gear components. Exova laboratories in Toulouse, France, and Dudley, U.K., provided the consortium with a comprehensive range of tests to determine strength, fracture toughness, and stress corrosion cracking resistance. www.exova.com

Ascent Aerospace initiates small tool work cells

Ascent Aerospace has completed the first item through its new small-tool factories – an assembly jig – that shipped three days ahead of schedule through the company’s dedicated work cells at facilities in California and Michigan.

The factories were created to minimize cost and lead time for small tools, which Ascent defines as up to 144" x 40" x 30" (365cm x 101cm x 76cm). It includes layup tooling, drill jigs, assembly tools, and mill fixtures made of Invar, steel, or aluminum (weldment or machined billet).

“The small tool focused factory is a dedicated value stream, instead of utilizing the various process-based departments,” explains Mike Fox, plant manager at Coast Composites in California. “Tools going through the 8,000ft2, temperature-controlled focused factory are produced more efficiently, with lower overhead.”

Tolerances of ±0.005" on surface contour and hole position are within capability and expected to be typical of the new cell.

Ascent’s second focused factory is located at Odyssey Industries in Michigan. http://goo.gl/NNFKmn; www.ascentaerospace.com

Tsugami/Rem Sales opens California technical center

Tsugami/Rem Sales, exclusive importer of Precision Tsugami machine tools in North America, held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at its new Tsugami Technical Center in Fullerton, California last December.

The event featured live cutting demonstrations on several Tsugami machines, including the B0326-II opposed gang tool lathe, SS20M-5AX multifunction machine, and the S206-II LaserSwiss, which combines Swiss-style 6-axis CNC machining with an integrated laser cutting system.

Tsugami/Rem Sales Vice President Michael Mugno explained that the new technical center was established to provide regional Tsugami service, support, and customer training, as well as space for engineering services, such as preparing machines for turnkey delivery and producing run-off parts for customers. “We can house more machines to allow local customers to see several demos in one visit.”

The facility will also supplement the Santa Fe Springs and Freemont facilities of Tsugami/Rem Sales’ distribution partner, Ellison Technologies. The Fullerton Technical Center is located at 1521 E. Orangethorpe Ave., Suite E. www.remsales.com

Concept Laser recognized for 3D printed aircraft parts

Frank Herzog, founder, president, and CEO of Concept Laser, and his two project partners were recognized with the German Future Prize 2015. The ceremony was held in December in Berlin in the presence of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Joachim Gauck.

The project team – consisting of Herzog; Peter Sander, head of emerging technologies and concepts at Airbus, Hamburg; and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Claus Emmelmann, CEO of Laser Zentrum Nord GmbH, Hamburg – were included for their project “3D Printing in Civil Aircraft Manufacturing – a Production Revolution is Taking Off.”

“Being affiliated with the ‘group of the best’ is an exceptional honor, in particular also recognizing the hard work of my dedicated employees,” Herzog says.

The project persuaded the jury for the German Future Prize 2015 with its innovation and commercial application for the first, additively manufactured titanium component, a bracket, on board the Airbus A350 XWB. The organically shaped retaining and connecting element, manufactured using the company’s LaserCUSING process, is considered a vital contribution to the lightweight construction of aircraft. www.concept-laser.de