David Hart Aerospace Piping Invests in Waterjet Cutting

DHAP Ltd. specializes in tube bending, fabrication, and assembly to the aerospace and motor sport industries. DHAP manufactures metallic pipes and ducts from a wide range of materials and material sizes. The smallest being a 1mm diameter stainless steel tube and the current largest is a 150mm diameter nickel alloy duct with a 150mm centerline bend radius. The tubes are assembled to a variety of standard aircraft or customized fittings by swaging, flaring, beading or welding processes. The DHAP internal special processes of welding and NDT (PFD and X-ray) are Nadcap approved and support the wide range of OEM approvals held by DHAP. 

 

DHAP Ltd. recently purchased a custom-designed WARDJet Z-45 waterjet machine with an additional 4th rotary axis, drill, reamer, and positional sensor.

 

DHAP Ltd. made the investment after securing a contract with a Tier 1 aerospace company on a specific range of specialist air ducts. The specialist nature of the process has allowed DHAP to become the premier supplier of this particular component.

 

The key to the accuracy and repeatability is the probing sensor. The component fits in the 3-jaw self centring chuck. The sensor then scans the form of the component. The sensor extrapolates the form data into a circle and senses the high point to within (+/- 0.25mm). This is the datum point used for every component.

 

Four holes are waterjet cut and reamed into the component before it is cut into two separate parts.

 

To allow for easy access to load and unload components from the chuck, the Z-45 was supplied with a ballast to allow the water level to raise and lower by 125mm. This process takes approximately 10 seconds.

 

The 4-axis WARDJet system has allowed DHAP Ltd. to offer a specialist added value service for this particular range of components within the aerospace supply chain.

 

WARDJet is a company built on a reputation for being innovative and creative and is a leading manufacturer of abrasive and water-only cutting machines. While a wide range of standard size units are built, WARDJet is well known for designing and building custom machines from the conceptual process through to installation and warranty. Dozens of unique features such as barcode scanners, multiple 5-axis cutting heads on a single crossbeam, drilling, tapping, and inkjet printing are combined into systems with up to 1.5m of travel in the Z axis make WARDJet an established supplier within the aerospace and general engineering industries. WARDJet technology is built to intentionally encourage customers to grow and evolve over time with their “leave no customer behind” policy.