Europe’s Ariane 5 space launch vehicle, weighing 775 tons, requires nearly 2.7 million pounds force (lbf) to propel it into orbit. For comparison, a fully loaded Airbus A380, about 590 tons, needs about 270,000 lbf.
Vehicles under such extreme stresses require precise, flawless manufacturing for every component. Key supplier Airbus Defense and Space (ADS), Airbus’ military and space exploration division, recently acquired two DMU 70 eVo linear machines and one DMC 125 FD duoBLOCK from DMG MORI to support manufacturing of engines and upper stages of the Ariane 5.
The latest version of the European launch system has been sent into orbit regularly and reliably from the Space Centre Kourou in French Guiana since 2005. This reliability is crucial as the Ariane 5 always carries expensive cargo such as geostationary satellites, unmanned cargo crafts for the International Space Station (ISS), and comet probes such as Rosetta. A launch failure could cost billions.
ADS makes the main engine and upper stage for the Ariane 5 at its headquartes in Ottobrunn, Germany. What all applications have in common is uncompromising quality.
Top level machining
Ariane 5 materials include aluminum, titanium, high-strength stainless steels, and nickel-based alloys such as Inconel, one of the most complex materials at ADS.
“The interaction of stability and weight is crucial here,” says Wolfgang Simon, head of mechanical production. Every additional kilogram costs a lot of money at the launch. So it is understandable that every gram counts for the complex components. “If we are at the upper limit within the tolerance range and not at the lower, this might already be too much.”
High demands placed on precision and complexity are only one part of the challenge in manufacturing, Simon explains, adding, “Competition is extremely high, which means that we must produce as cost-effectively as possible and above all adhere to deadlines.”
What is ideal is a balanced ratio between quality, costs, and adherence to schedules. ADS ensures the specialist know-how required for this with consistent training and induction of junior employees.
Machining simulation
Ariane 5 launch vehicle
Operated by Arianespace, a satellite launch company founded in 1980 by Airbus Safran Launchers, the French space agency CNES, and space companies from 10 European countries, the Ariane 5 program launches satellites and small space vehicles. In 2015, the company had 329 employees at its corporate headquarters in Evry, at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) – launch site for Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega.
Payloads – 10 metric tons for geostationary orbit, 20 metric tons for low-Earth orbit.
Variations – Ariane 5 ECA. Capacity for two telecommunications satellites, powered during initial flight by a cryogenic core stage and two solid rocket boosters, followed by the use of a cryogenic upper stage for orbital injection of the payload. Ariane 5 ES. For low-Earth orbit missions such as resupplying the International Space Station, a storable propellant upper stage can perform multiple burns to deploy payloads into the desired orbit.
Core cryogenic stage propulsion system – 132.27 metric tons of liquid oxygen, 25.84 metric tons of liquid hydrogen feed the stage’s Vulcain main engine, which burns 10 minutes, providing up to 116 metric tons of thrust in a vacuum.
Airbus Defense and Space roles – Sole prime contractor. Since May 2003, in charge of coordinating 64 companies across Europe.
– Lead manufacturer. Responsible for producing all Ariane 5 stages, vehicle equipment bay, dual launch system upper part structure (SYLDA), and flight software.
Arianespace
www.arianespace.com
With the DMG MORI machining centers, ADS acquired DMG MORI Virtual Machine software to optimize manufacturing processes and quality. With this software, DMG MORI enables exact simulation of machining on the PC, in an exact 1:1 image of the real machines.
“The high quality standard in production requires machine tools that consistently work precisely,” says Simon. Versatility is another factor, he adds. “The 5-axis simultaneous machining and milling-turning technology enables applications that could otherwise never be resolved economically.”
In order to gain additional process reliability and optimize production, ADS relies on an extensive simulation of the NC programs for complex manufacturing tasks. DMG MORI Virtual Machine produces realistic simulations of programs on the PC in preliminary stages.
“We need to guarantee collision-free production of expensive components,” Simon adds. “When an NC program is installed on the machine, it has to work.”
Geometry, kinematics, control
ADS engineers use the software to display actual machine geometry, kinematics, the original control, and real programmable logic controller (PLC). Gerhard Engelhardt, who is responsible for NC programming, sees enormous benefits in a virtual solution.
“We can exactly simulate machining of expensive components completely safely on the PC, and check the program for general machining feasibility or possible collisions,” Engelhardt says. ADS still uses CAM software simulation, but, “We still simulate the final NC code on the DMG MORI Virtual Machine to achieve optimum process reliability.”
A measuring probe is also integrated in simulation to perform real-time measurements. The measured results are acknowledged in the virtual machine.
“Accuracy here is high, so that we can already see on the PC whether machining meets our expectations,” Engelhardt says.
Shop floor benefits
DMG MORI Virtual Machine also supports shop floor programming. Siemens control software forms the basis, allowing users to take full advantage of the ShopMill functionality. This enables optimization of the programs based on the simulation, increasing the quality of the finished parts. Simon adds that process stability is also important for operators.
“For particularly sophisticated components, you can first familiarize yourself with machining on the virtual machine before working on the valuable workpiece,” Simon explains. New, skilled personnel can also be trained in this virtual environment. “Production is much more relaxed for each operator when he or she can rely on the process already having been tested.”
In addition to process reliability and enhanced quality, Simon regards the complete production processes as advantages of the DMG MORI Virtual Machine.
“We can organize and accelerate our processes completely differently,” he says. “On the one hand, we already know exact machining times in the preliminary stage, on the other, verification of the programs on the PC is much faster than on the machine. Furthermore, the lengthy running in of programs can largely be omitted, and setup times are minimized.”
Continuous modernization of production with innovative solutions such as the DMG MORI Virtual Machine has a high priority for ADS. Simon expects the complexity of products and their quality requirements to increase further, and cost pressure is expected to grow independent of this.
“We can only stay competitive if we not only develop the products that we manufacture further, but also ourselves and our production,” Simon states. “A crucial step in this direction is the use of the DMG MORI Virtual Machine.”
DMG MORI
www.dmgmori.us
Airbus Defense and Space
www.airbusdefenceandspace.com
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