iAero Thrust, a leading engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) and engine testing provider focused on the CFM56 engine line and one of the companies within the iAero Group aviation investment platform, has developed, built, and opened a new state-of-the-art engine test cell facility in Medley, FL.

The ETC provides comprehensive engine testing and hospital visit services for the CFM56 engine line. It will test all engines serviced through the iAero Thrust MRO in Miami, FL as well as engines from third party MROs, lessors, and other engine operators. The ETC was designed and commissioned by Safran Test Cells and correlated by GE Aviation.

The ETC is now FAA certified to perform acceptance testing on the CFM56-3 engines in addition to the CFM56-7B engine.

"We are incredibly proud of our team for their resilience and hard work over the past two years to build, calibrate, and certify this new facility, and we are very excited to offer this new capability to our customers." said Tommy Mitchell, President iAero Thrust.  "Our state-of-the-art Engine Test Center is just another way we are scaling our integrated full-service engine MRO to serve the growing maintenance and testing demand for the all-time best-selling commercial aircraft engine in the world."

Aerospace Manufacturing & Design (AM&D): What does Sandvik Coromant have new for composites and light-weighting in aerospace?
Helen Blomqvist, President of Sandvik Coromant: We have a good pipeline of new products coming for composites and lightweight materials and some exciting news planned for 2022 and 2023. We have a strong aerospace focus and more lightweight-material focus going forward. We’re looking to have products with more complex PCD [polycrystalline diamond] geometries, for example. We’re also upgrading a few of our solid round tool products.

AM&D: How does digital machining improve productivity and contribute to sustainability goals?
Blomqvist: We want to be as close to the customers and as early in the decision chain as possible. The digital thread is now where we have the manufacturing value chain. Our digital portfolio, CoroPlus®, offers several solutions to support our customers in design and planning, starting with the CAM programming, optimizing the tool path even before starting to machine. It’s important from a sustainability perspective because the shorter the machining time and the more optimized the toolpath, the less energy consumption and the less waste you’ll have.

Our recently acquired company, CGTech, offers software we use in our own production facilities to make sure that we have optimized code. Our CoroPlus® Tool Guide gives recommendations on how to operate and run the tool in the best possible way.

We also have CoroPlus® Machining Insights where a customer doesn’t have to be on the production floor to know how the machine is running. Is the green light on or not? Are there any problems in the machine? You receive these insights from this software.

We also recently acquired ICAM, a post processing company for CAM code. They’ll be part of CGTech, so VERICUT and ICAM offerings will be combined in a strong product for our customers.

We want to develop our software and methods very close to the tool, because that’s our core, that’s where we excel. We sell the tool together with a method, so the toolpath, the CAM programming must be perfect. Everything is connected to sustainability.

AM&D: With 3D printing and additive manufacturing emerging for metal production parts, what are the opportunities for adapting cutting tools to these materials and processes?
Blomqvist: With 3D printing and additive manufacturing growing, we’ll have more near-net shapes to machine. Machining will still be there, but it’ll be more semi-finishing and finishing applications.

As part of Sandvik Group, we have an additive focus and powder manufacturing, so it’s very much part of the Sandvik strategy and an area we work with in R&D. And we’re monitoring what kind of components are being produced that are relevant for us. There are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead to machine these applications and components.

AM&D: It’s difficult enough to attract young people to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and machining careers, so what can be done additionally to bring in more young women and a more diverse workforce?
Blomqvist: We know that a diverse workforce has much better performance, so we’d like to have as much diversity as possible. I think we’ve been quite successful at Sandvik Coromant bringing in young women and promoting women to managerial positions. [Currently, women make up 18% of Sandvik Coromant’s workforce and 30% of its next-generation managers.] I think we all need to act as role models, and to show that this industry is for everyone. It’s actually fun. I know my daughters, for example, want to create and innovate, and they want to have fun at work. I think manufacturing is a perfect environment if you want to have fun. This is something we need to share. I try to be a role model and talk to students I meet in visits to our production facilities and virtual tours to showcase this environment and what someone, maybe an engineer, is doing at Sandvik Coromant today.

And we have the Sandvik Coromant Academy, where we have free training where you can learn more about metal cutting. We work actively with schools. In Sweden, we fund two schools and make sure their students can come to us for training. In the U.S. [Mebane, North Carolina], we have an apprentice program. This is also a way for us to attract talent and to continue to attract women to the industry.

AM&D: What’s emerging as the biggest challenge to aerospace manufacturing and how is Sandvik Coromant responding?
Blomqvist: We have the major trends of sustainability, digitalization, but also the knowledge or skills gap that we need to close. Rather than challenges, from an opportunity perspective, we’ve really developed as a company to promote our total offer. It’s not only about the products for turning, milling, drilling, and tooling systems, but it’s also about giving advice on specific components, such as blisks, disks, and blades, and to show we have good solutions for those specific components. We can also offer support services, looking at lean manufacturing, CAM programming, and so on, because aerospace components are expensive to produce. It’s also the total cost of the component that must be optimized. Here we have a role to play, to offer the products, digital solutions, services, and knowledge, and to package them all. I think that’s a great opportunity for us, and something that we’re already doing as a company.

Helen Blomqvist, a Swedish national, has more than 18 years of experience working for Sandvik Coromant and has gone from R&D engineer in materials characterization to president. During her career, she had several managerial positions within R&D and sales, leading Sales Area North Europe. She has a proven track record of being a great leader and has earned the prestigious award of Sandvik Coromant Leader of the Year 2018. Helen’s motivation is highlighted by her focus on creating winning teams to achieve great results. She holds a Ph.D. in structural chemistry from Stockholm University and holds several patents. Her Ph.D. thesis title was “Magnesium ions stabilizing solid-state transition metal hydrides.”

BAE Systems has been selected by GE Aviation to provide energy management solutions for the recently announced hybrid electric technology demonstrator program. As part of the NASA research project, BAE Systems will design, test, and supply energy management components for electric aircraft in the megawatt power class.

NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project aims to progress hybrid electric flight technologies for commercial aviation. The project includes ground and flight-test demonstrations to be conducted over the next five years.

“We are harnessing our expertise in energy management systems and flight critical controls to support the development of electric propulsion systems for the future of flight,” said Ehtisham Siddiqui, vice president and general manager of Controls and Avionics Solutions at BAE Systems. “This effort continues our longstanding relationship with GE.”

In addition to energy storage, BAE Systems will provide the high-integrity controls and cables for the demonstrator’s power management system, which will be tested on CT7-9B turboprop engines. The company will also leverage its investment in aircraft electrification and expertise in flight-critical systems to provide guidance for electric flight certification requirements.

“We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with BAE Systems on this demonstrator to advance energy storage systems at altitude,” said Mohamed Ali, vice president and general manager of engineering for GE Aviation. “GE Aviation is leading the development of hybrid electric technology for commercial aviation through this NASA collaboration. Energy management is an important component of our research program toward a more electric future of aviation with reduced carbon emissions and less reliance on fossil-based jet fuels.”

BAE Systems has over 25 years of experience developing and integrating electric propulsion systems for buses, boats, heavy-duty trucks, and military vehicles. The company also has more than 40 years of experience in controls and avionics for military and commercial aircraft.

Work on the project will be conducted at the company’s facility in Endicott, N.Y.

February 2022 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $167.6 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was up 4.8% from January's $159.9 million and up 12.1% when compared with the $149.5 million reported for February 2021. With a year-to-date total of $327.5 million, 2022 is up 11.3 % when compared to the same period in 2021.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals reported by the companies participating in the CTMR program. The totals here represent most of the U.S. market for cutting tools.

“Monthly data since March 2021 has been averaging approximately $166 million per month with limited monthly variation,” commented Costikyan Jarvis, president of Jarvis Cutting Tools. “This contrasts with the overall economy, which experienced constant GDP growth over the same period. Of special concern is that during this period, the economy saw significant inflationary pressure, which would suggest actual output is even lower relative to 2019. The two main users of cutting tools, automotive and aerospace, continue to have challenges.”

Despite the numerous headwinds, Jeff Major, president of USCTI had a more optimistic outlook, saying, “The cutting tool market started sluggishly in January but rebounded in February. The indices for durable goods and cutting tools continue to run parallel in an upward trend. With the supply chain challenges and volatility overseas, many companies are looking at re-shoring, which should bode well for our industry in the future.”

The Cutting Tool Market Report is jointly compiled by AMT and USCTI, two trade associations representing the development, production, and distribution of cutting tool technology and products. It provides a monthly statement on U.S. manufacturers’ consumption of the primary consumable in the manufacturing process – the cutting tool. Analysis of cutting tool consumption is a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns in U.S. manufacturing activity, as it is a true measure of actual production levels.

Historical data for the Cutting Tool Market Report is available dating back to January 2012. This collaboration of AMT and USCTI is the first step in the two associations working together to promote and support U.S.-based manufacturers of cutting tool technology.

The graph below includes the 12-month moving average for the durable goods shipments and cutting tool orders. These values are calculated by taking the average of the most recent 12 months and plotting them over time.