Multi-material production solutions

Elizabeth Engler Modic, Editorial Director - Manufacturing Group

Published August 28, 2015

The aerospace industry has been changing: rising kerosene prices and the demand for an improved CO₂ balance are forcing manufacturers to invest in economical and environmentally-friendly aircraft. The Dreamliner from Boeing and the A350 XWB from Airbus are two examples of responses to the increasing economic and technological challenges confronting the aerospace industry. Michael Kirbach, head of the DMG MORI Aerospace Excellence Center, says, “There is no escaping the use of extremely light but at the same time high-strength materials for the airframe structure nowadays – materials such as titanium alloys or composites. In order to reduce emissions, the temperatures in engines are higher, placing even higher demands on appropriate nickel-alloys.”

Machining these efficiently requires competence and future-orientated machine tool technology.

The Aerospace Excellence Center relies on years of experience to capture the individual requirements of customers and develop flexible and reliable manufacturing processes for product components. Projects begin with technical consultations and then go to encompass turnkey solutions designed in accordance with customer specifications. The wide performance spectrum is based on machine tools, their individual equipment, a component related process with suitable selection of tools and clamping devices, NC programs, and integrated quality control.

Michael Kirbach sees a great benefit here for users, he says, “This technology opens up dimensions in construction that would have been unthinkable before.”