NC4+ Blue non-contact tool setters offer tool-to-tool performance proven to ISO230-10 standards.
Blue laser technology and improved optics deliver increased measurement accuracy and reduced cycle times.
Compared to red laser sources, blue laser technology has a shorter wavelength, resulting in improved diffraction effects and optimized laser beam geometry. This enables measurement of very small tools, while minimizing tool-to-tool measurement errors.
The systems use Renishaw’s non-contact tool setting software packages, which include a dual measurement mode with auto optimization technology for fast and reliable tool measurement – even in wet conditions.
NC4+ Blue support is embedded into on-machine and mobile apps such as Renishaw Set and Inspect, and GoProbe. The platforms help users new to probing or with little machine code knowledge, while still offering operational benefits to experienced users.
The data enables intelligent decision-making for Industry 4.0, allowing manufacturers to automate and optimize processes and minimize quality problems. With the latest Reporter app, users can view historical tool data captured by the NC4+ Blue and export the results for use in software and control systems.
Multi-function G6 six-edge turning inserts fit a single holder and offer high productivity in threading, grooving, parting, and back and front turning. Swiss-Line inserts and toolholders for parting, grooving, profiling, and chamfering in mass production operations, feature physical vapor deposition (PVD) triple coating for wear and heat resistance.
The Swiss-Line polygon, for turning, back turning, parting, grooving, full-radius grooving, and threading, allows multiple inserts to be used with the same toolholder.
Spindles operating at constant speeds from 25,000rpm to 90,000rpm up to 1.40hp maintain constant high speed and torque under variable load. Mill at 1,500ipm with 2µm accuracy.
Only two moving parts – turbines and ceramic bearings cooled by airflow – result in low vibration, low heat, no thermal expansion, and high reliability. Without gears or high-frequency brushes, spindles require no lubrication, maintenance, or control system – just 90psi clean, dry airflow. Side inlet NPT/Stop Block or center through shank/toolholder air feed available.
GF Machining Solutions has promoted Scott Fosdick, former president and head of market region North and Central America, to the global head of sales, marketing, business development, and communications. Phil Hauser, former director of sales and head of the turbine group at GF Machining Solutions USA, will assume Fosdick’s former position.
Fosdick holds a degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Colorado and served in various capacities for GF Machining Solutions from 1994 to 2019.
Hauser joined GF Machining Solutions in May 2015 and has since served as director of sales and most recently as head of the turbine group, Liechti America. Prior to joining GF Machining Solutions, Hauser was president of EMCO Maier Corp. and sales manager at MS Precision Components LLC.
Leduc led the introductions of Pratt & Whitney’s GTF, F135, and PW800 aero engine programs, capping his 40-year career at United Technologies.
Calio has served as president of Pratt & Whitney’s commercial engines business since 2017. Previously, Calio served as chief of staff to UTC Chairman and CEO Greg Hayes. Joining United Technologies in 2005, he holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Trinity College and MBA and law degrees from the University of Connecticut.
Thierry Betbeze named CEO Dassault Falcon Jet
Dassault Falcon Jet (DFJ)’s board of directors has appointed Thierry Betbeze CEO of the Dassault Aviation subsidiary responsible for Falcon business aircraft marketing, sales, and support in the Americas. He had been senior vice president of finance at DFJ since 2016 and began his career at Dassault Aviation in 1984.
Betbeze replaces 44-year Dassault veteran Jean Rosanvallon, who is stepping down after leading DFJ for 23 years. Rosanvallon will serve as special senior advisor to Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier during the transition.
Cadence Aerospace names Giddens Industries VP, GM
Aerospace component and assembly provider Cadence Aerospace has named Anthony E. Lawson vice president and general manager of Cadence Aerospace – Giddens Industries. Lawson will oversee the Giddens division in Everett, Washington, which performs high-speed machining, metal-forming processes, assembly, and kitting for aerostructures.
Most recently, Lawson served as a VP and operations manager for the Cadence Tell Tool facility in Westfield, Massachusetts. Previously, Lawson was the president of operations at Tier 2 aerostructure company Hitco Carbon Composites Inc. Years earlier, he held positions at Northrop Grumman Corp., including vice president/B-2 deputy program manager. He holds a Master of Science in Business Organizational Management from the University of La Verne in La Verne, California, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Airbus, Sigma Labs partner on test, evaluation program
Departments - 3D/Additive Manufacturing
MT Aerospace, Oerlikon AM partner, to offer aerospace additive manufacturing solutions; Boeing approves Hexcel’s HexAM process, PEKK material; Morf3D obtains additional funding from Boeing; KAM obtains key industry certifications.
PrintRight3D screen showing the meltpool during turbine manufacturing.
Airbus is testing and evaluating Sigma Labs Inc.’s PrintRite3D version 5.0 hardware and software, with plans for a validation phase on a powder bed fusion printer.
Sigma Labs will provide the PrintRite3D In-Process Quality Assurance (IPQA) system and services – hardware, software, training, engineering, and metallurgical consulting and support – to demonstrate their ability to monitor and characterize material, machine process, and production consistency and repeatability of additive manufacturing (AM) operations. IPQA ensures process quality by identifying process defect thermal signatures.
Sigma Labs chairman and CEO John Rice says the software allows users to rapidly qualify a metal AM machine for serial production, and during continuous production runs, to warn process engineers of signature precursors of process discontinuities with actionable data to restore the process. PrintRite3D provides melt pool dynamics information that can improve process consistency.
From left: Christian Hackenberg, senior vice president strategy, MT Aerospace; Marco Fuchs, CEO OHB SE; Michael Süss, president of the board of directors Oerlikon AM; Hans Steininiger, CEO MT Aerospace AG.
MT Aerospace, Oerlikon AM partner, to offer aerospace additive manufacturing solutions
Oerlikon AM and MT Aerospace are partnering to accelerate the use of additively manufactured (AM) parts in aerospace and defense.
MT Aerospace’s heritage in designing highly stressed, lightweight metal structures and Oerlikon’s materials, design, 3D-printing, and post-processing capabilities offer synergies between construction/design, manufacturing, and part inspection and qualification.
“The two partner companies cover the entire value chain from component design and manufacturing to testing and qualification,” says Hans J. Steininger, CEO of MT Aerospace AG, a subsidiary of Bremen, Germany-based OHB SE aerospace company. “We can offer customers a one-stop-shop solution from product specification to the finished, qualified part.”
“Through this partnership, we look forward to continuing to lead innovation and digitization trends in the aerospace industry by accelerating and scaling up the process from concept to operational delivery,” says Dr. Michael Süss, chairman of the board of directors of Oerlikon.
The combined expertise and technical capabilities of the companies will work to address the industry’s most difficult and disruptive challenges – improved efficiency and safety at lower cost.
Boeing approves Hexcel’s HexAM process, PEKK material
Boeing has approved Hexcel Corp.’s poly-ether-ketone-ketone (PEKK) and carbon fiber material formulation, HexPEKK-100, for commercial aircraft components.
HexPEKK-100 and Hexcel’s HexAM selective laser sintering (SLS) additive manufacturing (AM) process are now obtainable through Boeing’s Qualified Provider List (QPL).
HexPEKK components will be manufactured-to-print for commercial aerospace applications where complexity, weight reduction, and strong mechanical performance are critical. HexPEKK-100 parts meet interior aircraft smoke and toxicity requirements and can be used for complex components such as brackets, environmental control system ducts, and castings.
Morf3D obtains additional funding from Boeing
El Segundo, California-based metals additive manufacturing (AM) company Morf3D Inc. has obtained a new round of funding from Boeing HorizonX Ventures.
“Our latest strategic investment in Morf3D extends our commitment to our Industry 4.0 efforts – technologies that can transform aerospace supply chains for future growth and competitiveness,” says Brian Schettler, Boeing HorizonX Ventures’ senior managing director.
Morf3D helps clients develop, qualify, and manufacture highly complex structures for flight, serving aerospace companies including Boeing, Honeywell, and Collins Aerospace.
Morf3D recently expanded its AM footprint, increasing its investment in precision machining technology and doubling its workforce with engineering, quality, and support staff.
According to Morf3D Founder and CEO Ivan Madera, the company leverages customer engagement and collaboration to create outcomes that accelerate adoption and certification of AM flight hardware.
“We don’t sell parts in the traditional sense. We sell a process that evokes certainty,” Madera says.
The company uses state-of-the-art software combined with engineering expertise to reduce mass, while increasing performance and functionality of manufactured parts.
The certification process often takes a year or more to complete. KAM founder and CEO Brad Keselowski, a professional stock car driver, completed the process with his team in less than six months.
“When we started the business, we knew one day we would need to have these essential certifications under our belt to do the level of work envisioned with KAM,” Keselowski says.
“Combined with our in-house metallurgical laboratory, metrology, digital radiography, and hybrid manufacturing capabilities, we have a wide spectrum of resources available to service our customers’ needs,” says KAM Director of Operations Jim Thompson.
The company’s plans for Q4 2019 include completing a state-of-the-art engineering center and adding additional staff.
Sounding rockets predict flight vibrations
Departments - 1 Last Look
HOT SHOT findings could improve simulations, save development time.
Ralph Lied-Lopez, Sandia National Laboratories technologist, prepares the wedding cake of sensors launched to study the vibration mechanical objects endure in flight.
Photo credit: Norman Johnson, Sandia National Laboratories
“Screws can back out; things can break,” says Greg Tipton, a structural dynamics engineer at Sandia National Laboratories.
An early milestone for new missiles is showing they can withstand abuse without falling to pieces by surviving computer-simulations or large-scale field tests that shake and spin components.
High operational tempo sounding rocket program (HOT SHOT) tests – research rocket design iterations filled with experimental modules to determine capabilities – are critical to that proving-out process. Recent data analysis has revealed a way to improve these tests, providing an earlier, more accurate indicator of whether an experimental technology will succeed in flight. This could eliminate approximately a year’s worth of additional research and development.
Tipton and his team dressed the insides of several sounding rockets with pea-sized instruments to measure vibration, producing a more complete picture of flight vibrations now being used to create more accurate simulations and ground tests.
“Flight gives you combined environments that you wouldn’t get on the ground,” Tipton says. “So, it’s spinning and it’s accelerating and it’s vibrating, there are shocks. It’s a whole different kind of environment.”
The HOT SHOT program measures the effects of a rocket launch on missile prototypes. Sandia builds the rockets, integrates the experiments, and operates the launches for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
In May 2018, Tipton and his team built a mock component for the rocket, which they called the wedding cake, then decorated it with vibration sensors. After the launch, they played a mathematical game with the data. Knowing only vibration data from a few sensors, they calculated the readings on every other sensor.
“We showed we could do this and predict what the vibration environments were pretty much anywhere on that structure,” Tipton says.
They recently repeated the experiment, outfitting the payload sections of two rockets to measure vibrations on more experimental hardware. Initial data analysis suggests they can predict vibration at virtually any point within that section of the rocket.
The Sandia team must now recreate the HOT SHOT flight environment using ground test technology. If successful, this testing platform will generate more and better data than is usually available for missile technologies in early stages of development. The team is exploring acoustics and vibrating patches to recreate complex vibrational patterns that are difficult to reproduce using conventional shaker tables.
Olga Spahn, Sandia’s HOT SHOT payload integration manager, says better data early in development could reduce failure risk, allowing researchers to explore new, innovative ideas. It could also improve the overall performance of future missile systems by fostering development of components that reduce size, weight, and power requirements.
Sensor technology is the prerequisite for implementing Industry 4.0. Sensors collect data on process and machine statuses, making it available for process-relevant information services and workflows. However, sensor costs and the variety of possible applications often make it difficult for users to appreciate the economic benefit.
“Sensors are the links between the digital and the real world and therefore one of the most important factors in the implementation of Industry 4.0. All higher-level data interpretation systems are blind without the right sensors,” says professor Jürgen Fleischer, one of the guide’s main contributors.
Ball screw lubrication
Fleischer says KIT projects show how information can be usefully captured and processed using sensors.
“Data can be captured in the drive components of machine tools to monitor their condition and optimize operation,” Fleischer says. “In ball screws, for example, the axial force and the friction torque on the ball screw nut can be measured. The exact lubrication requirement can then be determined by comparing the results with a model for friction behavior.”
He adds that KIT researchers developed an adaptive lubrication system that uses sensor data to significantly increase the service life of ball screws in tests. And in addition to lubrication controls, different drive components can be monitored by capturing structure-borne noise.
“These signals change throughout a component’s lifetime and allow conclusions to be drawn on the state of wear. The goal is predictive, condition-based maintenance, also known as predictive maintenance,” Fleischer says.
The software detects surface defects accurately in real-time using optical sensors (such as multi-camera systems). The data can then be fed back to the production system to enable a quick response if process parameters are breached.
Further examples of real-time capture of sensor data at the IWU include pressing, punching, and cutting forces recorded in forming machine tools.
Real-time sensor data
Whether or not to capture sensor data in real-time depends on the application.
“You have to identify the point up to which real-time capture makes sense, how the data is synchronized, and which sampling rates are necessary to obtain an accurate process description,” says Dr. Jörg Stahlmann, managing director of Consenses, an industrial measurement technology and digitalization solutions company. “We use 3D step models to understand our customers’ designs and to classify sensor data – such as the expected force and temperature flows – and kinematics correctly.”
Simulations can also be beneficial to making sense of sensor data.
“Simulations of components, assemblies, and machines give us a better understanding of the mechanical effects encountered in production plants,” Fleischer says. “We use this knowledge to make targeted use of sensors and to interpret the captured data more efficiently.”
However, not every application requires real-time capture, and there are certain instances where real-time data is not the most efficient.
“Real-time data is often provided by control units which originally collected it to control certain machine actions,” Stahlmann says. This goal does not always overlap with the requirements for the sensor data. Before far-reaching analyses or decisions are derived from this data, it is important to understand which signal is generated in each individual case. For example, in condition-based maintenance, real-time recording is superfluous.
“Condition-based maintenance does not require a rapid response to the collected data. The results of the data evaluation may even be delivered several hours after the data has been entered. Recorded data can be stored in a buffer so that it can be aggregated and evaluated at a later point in time, and the evaluation can be outsourced to a powerful server,” Fleischer says.
“If there is no economic justification, there is no need for real time,” says Dr. Thomas Päßler, forming machines group manager at IWU. “Real-time capture is not necessary for trend analyses conducted over a longer period. It is not necessary to keep all the data; only individual parameters should be generated and archived. In addition, there is little to be gained from capturing data required for management purposes in real-time, including parameters related to the economic efficiency of production, such as how many components of a particular type were produced on one plant.”
The German Academic Association for Production Technology (WGP) also addressed the question of meaningful and appropriate automation in its Industriearbeitsplatz 2025 paper, concluding that “all technical possibilities should be exploited in the economic value creation process, but maximum automation is not always necessary or useful.”
However, real-time sensor data is inevitably necessary for machine, tool, or workpiece protection or process stability.
“Real-time data capture is indispensable when it’s the only way to prevent damage,” Päßler says. “This applies in the case of tool breakage or excessive stress on assemblies such as bearings or frame components. In order to preclude the possibility of any rejects, it makes sense to capture the material properties in real-time with the appropriate sensors.”
Real-time detection can also help prevent damage to workpieces during production and rectify any errors made during setup.
“Errors made during the setup of machine tools or in the NC program can lead to collisions,” Fleischer says. “If these are detected quickly enough, the machine can be stopped, and material damage reduced.”
Linked sensor data
Scientists at the IWU use real-time monitoring of forces, paths, and stretching on forming presses. Rather than being evaluated individually, these different types of data are fed into Smart Stamp, a software-based analysis module, where they are merged and analysed. By combining data, manufacturers can know if the press is working in its normal range, if the tool is wearing too quickly, or if the ram mounted on the upper tool has a critical tilt that could mar the workpiece.
However, there are points on the machine where it is not possible to mount real sensors, as they would be difficult to access, or installation would be too complicated and expensive. There may be no relevant data available for particular processes and machine statuses. The IWU solution is to use virtual sensors.
Xeidana, a software system for quality control developed by IWU.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IWU
A measuring demonstrator illustrates the adaptive lubrication and condition monitoring of ball screws.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WBK
Real sensors, mounted at different points on the machine, serve as the basis of this technology, and a digital twin in the form of a virtual sensor is created from their measured values. This calculates the values that a real sensor would record at a relevant but inaccessible location.
