£1.7M investment in machine tools
£1.7M investment in machine tools
The Aerospace Fabrications and Assemblies Division of Hampson Industries plc,a UK-listed company, is to benefit from a further £1.7 million investment in machine tools that will enhance and substantially broaden its process capability as part of a policy of continuous investment for growth.
Already a major manufacturer and supplier of fabricated assemblies and components to many of the world’s aircraft programmes, the Division is now installing a state-of-the-art, high-precision machining capability that will provide comprehensive customer service from a single location, replacing a current sub-contract source.
The machine tools include three Hartford high-speed CNC vertical machining centres and a Hitachi Seiki Hi-cell CNC mill/lathe with live tooling for fine tolerance turned parts incorporated within component assemblies that the Division already offers its customers.
A hot form press, with a platen of 5 ft by 5 ft (1.54 m × 1.54 m) is being installed especially for titanium sheet which has to be heated to 800°C before it can be formed by a pressure of up to 500 tonnes. The new press will enable the division for the first time to provide hot-formed titanium components from its modern Wigan factory, further adding to its comprehensive expertise in aluminium forming.
A Modig Profile Line for the machining of aluminium extrusions will bring a new level of machining efficiency and accuracy for a range of aircraft fabricated parts. Using programmable tooling, the machine tool will enable the profiling of extrusions of unlimited length without the use of templates. The machine accurately profiles with a spindle speed as high as 40,000 rpm and offers considerably shorter set up and machining times.
Completing the investment is a five-axis Zimmermann router that has a table surface of 5.5 m by 2.5 m. Ideal for machining large aluminium sheet, the router is being installed to cater for the large material size that the newly-commissioned Sheridan TC 1000 stretch-former can produce. The more efficient, high-capacity machine tools currently being installed are in readiness for the new generation of larger commercial airliners such as the Airbus A380 and military transport A400M aircraft.
