GWS Tool Group, a manufacturer of custom cutting tools, has reached a U.S. licensing agreement with global tool holding technology company Haimer USA for Haimer’s patented Safe-Lock anti-pullout system.

Brendt Holden, president of Haimer USA says, “I fully believe GWS aerospace customers will welcome the security, balance, and precision of the Safe-Lock System that will ultimately ensure they can maximize their productivity.”

GWS CEO Rick McIntyre adds, “Partnering with Haimer to provide the industry standard in pullout protection, Safe-Lock, further strengthens our ability to deliver optimized milling solutions to our customers.”

Teijin Ltd. has joined the Aerospace Innovation Centre (AIC) organized by aircraft structural components manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems Inc. in Prestwick, Scotland. Teijin will work with Spirit and other AIC members.

The 85,000ft² AIC houses Spirit’s engineering design and manufacturing expertise alongside advanced development and pre-production equipment in a collaborative environment with key partners.

Teijin plans to contribute to Spirit’s vision to enable innovative technologies and build a sustainable future. This collaboration will also strengthen Teijin’s position as a carbon fibers and composites supplier for aerospace applications.

As one strategic focus of its medium- term management plan for 2020 to 2022, Teijin is accelerating its development of midstream to downstream applications for aircraft, including cost-effective carbon fibers with higher-tenacity and higher-tensile modulus, intermediate materials, including Tenax Dry Reinforcement (Tenax DR) carbon fiber materials, carbon fiber thermoplastic unidirectional pre-impregnated tape (Tenax TPUD), carbon fiber thermoplastic consolidated laminate (Tenax TPCL), and thermoset prepreg.

Continuing its goal to build an additive manufacturing (AM) talent pipeline across Ohio, America Makes will launch the Ohio Secondary Education Additive Manufacturing Training Network.

Created in collaboration with and support from the Ohio Development Services Agency (OSDA), the network will provide formal education and training of AM technologies for high school students and educators to ensure they’re equipped with the skills to fill advanced manufacturing jobs. Initially, there will be 10 high schools statewide, including those in urban and rural settings and representing public, charter, and career and technical schools. This Education and Workforce Development (EWD) program is funded through the Fiscal Year 2020-21 State of Ohio operations budget.

The network leverages best practices and industry-vetted content/curriculum from America Makes, and its membership community offers industry recognized credentialing and badges along with tailored training and coaching to teachers, principals, and counselors. Each school receives six Dremel DigiLab 3D45 Advanced Idea Builder 3D Printer bundles with materials and supplies. Participants will also get support for community engagement activities, open houses, and participation in national AM events including RAPID + TCT 2021.

America Makes

Researchers at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom have developed an extremely light material that can reduce aircraft engine noise and improve passenger comfort.

The graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel weighs only 2.1kg/m³, one of the lowest values ever reported for acoustic insulation. It could be used as insulation within aircraft engines to reduce noise by up to 16dB – decreasing the 105dB roar of a jet engine taking off to a sound closer to that of a hair dryer.

The aerogel’s meringue-like structure could act as an insulator within aircraft engine nacelles while adding almost no weight. Currently, the team is optimizing the material to improve heat dissipation, which benefits fuel efficiency and safety.

Researchers from Bath’s Materials and Structures Centre (MAST) have published a method for manufacturing the materials in the journal Scientific Reports.

Professor Michele Meo, who led the research, says, “This is clearly a very exciting material that could be applied in a number of ways – initially in aerospace but potentially in many other fields such as automotive and marine transport, as well as in building and construction.

“We managed to produce such an extremely low density by using a liquid combination of graphene oxide and a polymer, which are formed with whipped air bubbles and freeze-casted. On a very basic level, the technique can be compared with whipping egg whites to create meringues – it’s solid but contains a lot of air, so there is no weight or efficiency penalty to achieve big improvements in comfort and noise.”

Although the team’s initial focus is working with aerospace partners to test the material as a sound insulator in aeroplane engines, they say it could also be used to create panels in helicopters or car engines. They estimate that the aerogel could be in use within 18 months.

University of Bath

Related journal article

1) What are circle segment end mills?

Circle segment end mills featuring a cutting edge that is the segment of a large-diameter arc were introduced approximately 25 years ago. Since its cutting-edge shape resembles a barrel profile, terms such as barrel milling cutters or barrel end mills soon became common when referring to these types of end mill.

2) What advantage do circle segment end mills offer vs. traditional ball-nose end mills?

Barrel end mills are intended for advanced-finish and semi-finish machining of 3D surfaces. A prominent advantage of a barrel end mill over a ball-nose end mill is that the number of stepovers – and subsequently, machining time – can be significantly reduced without degrading the surface finish parameters. The large-diameter arc of the end mill cutting edge substantially reduces cusp height.

3) Can any CAM system be used with a circle segment end mill?

The most important thing to remember is that programming circle segment tooling requires a supporting CAM software system. Each CAM defines different relevant processes, for example: Surface, 5-axis, Adv3D, etc. The advantage of the barrel end mill is realized when used for 5-axis, finish-milling operations.

4) What should a CAM programmer take into consideration?

Barrel milling should not always be the answer to finishing all 3D machined surfaces. Some part shapes are not conducive to barrel milling operations. Sometimes, the blend radii of the machined part or the kinetics of the machine result in a complicated CAM tool path which may increase the cycle time compared to using conventional ball-nose milling. This is where the need for a highly skilled programmer making good and effective decisions comes into play.

5) What industry segments can benefit from this technology?

• Aerospace/Power generation: Blisks, impeller blades, and turbines blades
• Medical: Orthopedics, implants, and prosthetics
• Die & Mold: Mold base, core & cavity

6) What are ISCAR’s tool offerings?

ISCAR’s barrel line comprises a variety of solid carbide end mills and Multi-Master heads in different shapes: Oval, Taper, and Lens.

• Multi-Master types: EOB-Oval, ELB-Lens
• Solid Carbide types: EOB-Oval, ELB-Lens, ETB-Taper
• Tool diameters: 0.312" to 0.500" (8mm to 16mm)

Product Features

• Reduces the number of cuts, decreasing process time
• Achieves a much smoother machined surface
• Large radius geometry in the cutting zone increases axial depth of cut during semi-finish, finishing
• Provides extended tool life
• Suitable for machining exotic materials such as titanium, Inconel, stainless steels

For more information: https://www.iscarusa.com