The ATOS 5 Airfoil enables fast, accurate digitization of complex parts, capturing high-quality data for accelerated inspection and production capabilities and digital twin strategies for quality control.

High-tech measurement cameras and a speckle-free bright blue LED light source can collect 12 million points per scan in 0.2 seconds. Full-field data collection supports comprehensive process and quality control required to inspect critical airfoil components – including turbine blades, nozzle guide vanes, and blisks.

By comparing 3D measurement data against a CAD model or the part’s previous measurement data, manufacturers can verify the dimensional accuracy of the just produced, maintained, or repaired component.

With industrial housing to protect against dust and water, the unit safely integrates into production to quickly scan difficult parts, including reflective surfaces and objects with complicated geometries and surface anomalies. Turbine blades can be digitized entirely in three minutes, producing a digital twin with complete, high-resolution measurement data.

Capture 3D

Replaceable drill tip for aluminum

The SMDT-NAL replaceable drill tip – featuring diamond-like carbon DLC Aurora coating – offers high efficiency when machining aluminum alloys and non-ferrous materials. SMD holders include deep hole drilling up to 12xD standard, in diameters ranging from 15/32" to 1-1/4".

DLC Aurora coating is an amorphous film, composed mainly of carbon, with lubricity and chemical stability. It features high hardness for superior abrasion resistance, superior tribology properties, and excellent adhesion resistance for stable chip evacuation.

Increased penetration rates (feed rate/drill diameter = penetration rate) from its low friction coefficient allow machining with 2x to 3x higher feed rates than uncoated drills, reducing cycle time and cost per unit.

Sumitomo Electric Carbide Inc.

Guide actuator with right/left ball screw

The Type KR-RL LM guide actuator features a driving element that uses right/left threads and enables symmetrical movements with a single motor.

The actuator integrates an LM guide and a ball screw. Because the single shaft is capable of simultaneous right and left drive, it eliminates complexity and several components from the design. A right- and left-handed ball screw and an integrated body also make a compact design, instead of using two separate ball screws and two separate LM guides.

An electric actuator, gripping force can be regulated according to the fragility of the object being transferred. It can handle loads in radial, reverse-radial, and horizontal directions, making it possible to install in any mounting orientation, such as robot arm end effectors. Speed control, longer life resulting from heat-treated steel, and energy savings are additional benefits. It’s available in nine sizes from 15mm to 65mm with long or short blocks.

THK America Inc.

Materialise has been qualified by Airbus to manufacture flight-ready parts using laser sintering technology. The material used in the process, produced by EOS, is a flame-retardant polyamide (PA 2241 FR) meeting strict quality standards required of flight-ready parts.

The qualification is valid across Airbus and marks a significant milestone for wider adoption of polymer 3D printing in aerospace. PA 2241 FR offers a cost-effective complement to the initially validated 3D printing material Ultem 9085. In addition to the PA 2241 FR material, qualification also encompasses the respective processes for 3D printing iton EOS systems. Materialise will use EOS systems including the EOS P 770 to manufacture PA 2241 FR parts for Airbus.

Applications include aircraft interior air ducts and brackets. The material is suitable for parts which must fulfill fire, smoke, and toxicity (FST) requirements, without using a primer and top coating.

Trilantic North America acquires 3D Systems’ On-Demand Manufacturing

Trilantic North America, a middle market private equity firm, is acquiring 3D Systems’ On-Demand Manufacturing business in partnership with industry executives and Ziad Abou, the division’s senior vice president and general manager for nearly a decade. The company will operate under the name QuickParts with Abou as CEO, providing on-demand 3D printing and custom manufacturing services. An installed base of approximately 200 in-house 3D printers and global network of manufacturing partners offer rapid prototyping, functional prototyping, low-volume manufacturing, and appearance model manufacturing services.

University of Central Florida (UCF) researchers are building on their technology that could pave the way for hypersonic flight, enabling travel from New York to Los Angeles in less than 30 minutes.

In their latest research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers discovered a way to stabilize the detonation needed for hypersonic propulsion by creating a special hypersonic reaction chamber for jet engines.

Study co-author Kareem Ahmed, an associate professor in UCF’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, says, “The discovery of stabilizing a detonation – the most powerful form of intense reaction and energy release – has the potential to revolutionize hypersonic propulsion and energy systems.”

The system could allow for air travel at speeds of Mach 6 to 17 (more than 4,600mph to 13,000mph). The technology harnesses the power of an oblique detonation wave, formed by using an angled ramp inside the reaction chamber to create a detonation-inducing shock wave for propulsion.

Unlike rotating detonation waves that spin, oblique detonation waves are stationary and stabilized.

The technology improves jet propulsion engine efficiency so more power is generated while using less fuel than traditional propulsion engines, lightening the fuel load and reducing costs and emissions.

The technology could also be used in rockets for space missions, requiring less fuel so they are lighter, can travel farther, and burn more cleanly.

Detonation propulsion systems have been studied for more than half a century but have been unsuccessful due to the chemical propellants. Previous work by Ahmed’s group overcame this problem by carefully balancing the rate of hydrogen and oxygen released into the engine to create the first experimental evidence of a rotating detonation.

However, the detonation’s short duration, often occurring for only microseconds, makes them difficult to study.

In the new study, UCF researchers sustained the duration of a detonation wave for three seconds by creating a new hypersonic reaction chamber, known as a hypersonic high-enthalpy reaction, or HyperREACT, facility. The chamber has a 30° angle ramp near the propellant mixing chamber that stabilizes the oblique detonation wave.

“This is the first time a detonation has been shown to be stabilized experimentally,” Ahmed says. “We are finally able to hold the detonation in space in oblique detonation form. It’s almost like freezing an intense explosion in physical space.”

The next research steps include adding new diagnostics and measurement tools to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomena they are studying.

University of Central Florida

Funding Energy Combustion and Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics Portfolio of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in detonation, the National Science Foundation, and the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium.

Publication https://www.pnas.org/content/118/20/e2102244118 “Stabilized detonation for hypersonic propulsion”

Commercial aerospace manufacturers want profitable growth in the long term. How can CERATIZIT help aerospace manufacturers achieve this?

DC: Today’s aerospace OEM and Tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers can benefit from CERATIZIT’s extensive tool portfolio and deep industry knowledge. We deliver optimal cutting performance, precision, and quality. Whether they work with aircraft and assembly, mill parts of turbine engine components, turn sections of the landing gear, or drill holes for wing ribs, CERATIZIT offers indexable and solid carbide solutions that help manufacturers achieve tight tolerances, easily handle difficult materials, and improve cycle times to meet ever-growing demand.

Specifically speaking about aircraft assembly, what CERATIZIT solutions solve manufacturers’ toughest challenges?

DC: For today’s advanced materials such as fiber composites, aluminum, titanium, and superalloys, we tap into 50 years of extensive experience with our KLENK tooling line. Special diamond-coated carbide drills, milling cutters, reamers, counterbores, and multi-tools, were developed for these difficult-to-machine materials for manual, semi-automatic, and automatic drilling at a lower cost per quality hole. Specially designed uncoated and diamond-coated solid carbide drills, reamers, CFRP mills, counterbores, and multi-tools to drill/countersink also reduce your cost per hole.

Modern turbine engines are expected to provide more power while conserving resources. How can CERATIZIT help attain this?

DC: Customers get precise machining of turbine blades, fan cases, and blisks made from titanium, HRSAs, and Inconel by taking advantage of our wide tooling portfolio. CERATIZIT’s cutting solutions offer the latest PVD-coated carbide ISO turning tools, solid carbide end mills, and drills. KOMET brand solutions, such as reamers, provide precise bores with excellent surface quality in HRSAs. Manufactured in the U.S., these end mills, drills, and reamers easily handle tough materials whether you are grooving the inner diameter of a blisk or boring precise holes in a titanium combustion case.

What can we expect for tool life when machining these advanced materials?

DC: Machining difficult materials can result in short tool life. You can extend tool life by using tools with Dragonskin coating. Just like it sounds, this advanced coating technology is as tough as the skin of a dragon. It provides an additional layer of protection for high heat, up to 1,000°C, and extreme wear that comes when machining aerospace components.

About CERATIZIT

CERATIZIT Group has been a pioneer in developing innovative solutions for tooling and hard material technologies for almost 100 years. For aerospace and other industries, we continuously develop and test products and processes to guarantee your business meets its strategic goals to ensure future profitability. In the U.S., we proudly engineer and manufacture highly specialized, precision cutting tools for drilling, boring, reaming, milling, and turning within the Cutting Solutions by CERATIZIT, KOMET, WNT, and KLENK brands.

To learn more about the aerospace capabilities within CERATIZIT USA, visit: https://cuttingtools.ceratizit.com/us/en.html