March 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 57
That huge backlog of aircraft being re-
corded by the global giants Boeing and
Airbus, along with a lengthening list of
regional aircraft, is stretching the supply
chain’s capabilities to machine the newest
difficult-to-machine materials. Compo-
nents must rotate faster, run hotter, and burn cleaner
for new jet engine designs that are claimed to be
20% more fuel-efficient. Engines and designs that are
structurally lighter are being developed, using advanced
materials that challenge existing manufacturing pro-
cesses. And demand for commercial aircraft isn’t going
away any time soon. The two-billion people flying today
are expected to swell to six billion by 2025, with freight
hauling capacity expanding just as dramatically.
To meet the expected demand, machine tool build-
ers are busy marshaling their resources of machine
Parpas XS bridge mills feature X-axis travels up to 18 m for machining tools that are used for building up composites
for the outer skins of aircraft.
The Aerospace Precision-Machining RaceTo meet increasing demand, machine tool builders are marshaling new resources, technologies and strategies
Jim LorinczSenior Editor
Aerospace Parts Machining
technology, customer-based experience, and process data to
stake out their claims for manufacturing everything from jet
engine components, airframes, structural components,
to landing gear, manufactured from advanced materials.
Technology Data Gathered Locally Shared Globally
Okuma America Corp. (Charlotte, NC) has formalized its
global approach to aerospace machining to position itself to
deal with the onslaught of applications and business growing
out of the aircraft backlog of orders.
“We’ve created a team of people from
our three top markets—US, Europe, and
Japan—who are sharing data, case his-
tory experience, to find the sweet spots
in Okuma’s aerospace technology,” said
Bob Baldizzi, principal engineer. “Our
goal is to customize our machines using
our single-source technologies for ma-
chining jet engine rotating components,
disks, blisks, and hubs,” said Baldizzi.
“Because we have our own control, we can get data out of the actual cutting
dynamics quite effortlessly.”
“When you think of a hub or a disk
on the hot side of an engine with slots
that have to be milled in the periphery
of these disks, it’s absolutely critical
that the machines perform with utmost
accuracy,” said Baldizzi. “Because
we have our own control, we can get
data out of the actual cutting dynamics
quite effortlessly. We’ve had custom-
ers ask us for monitoring capability
that coolant flow sensors, coolant
temperature sensors, and vibration
analysis sensors can provide. We can
package these data-gathering points
together and create part tracking using
a bar code and a part’s serial number
including inspection information for
complete traceability.”
Okuma’s aerospace machine models
include the Multus B750, multifunction
machine with center distances up to 6
m for turning as well as machining. For
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58 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | March 2014
Aerospace Parts Machining
blade milling, one of the Multus platforms has been modi-
fied to do five-axis machining for profiling jet engine blades.
Okuma’s horizontal machines can be optioned with Turn-
Cut functionality to bore tapers using standard off-the-shelf
tooling. “Aircraft guys especially like that capability for doing
multiple bores on hydraulic actuation systems without chang-
ing tools,” said Baldizzi.
Laser Drilling Tiny Holes in Turbine Blades
Processes vying for aircraft engine machining in addition
to advanced five-axis machining center technology and multi-
tasking machines include recent developments in advanced
laser processing, electrical discharge machining (EDM) and
high-precision electro-chemical machining (ECM), especially
for small hole drilling in turbine blades.
At its new plant in Auburn, AL, GE Aviation is using high-
power lasers to drill tiny cooling holes in jet engine blades
made from heat-resistant superalloys that operate inside the
high-pressure turbine. “This is one of the most critical and so-
phisticated components in our jet engines,” said David Joyce,
GE Aviation CEO. “They are perfectly shaped aerodynami-
cally with laser-drilled cooling holes because they operate at
extraordinary temperatures. We consider them a work of art.”
GE has invested $75 million in the new plant where laser
tools are being developed that can not only drill, but also weld
and print. The GRC lab has one of the most powerful lasers in
North America at 20 kW. The researchers mounted the laser
on a robot and use it to melt metal and develop new welding
methods that are more efficient. The scientists tap the laser’s
high-energy density to penetrate deep and fast into metal parts.
Precise ECM Processes Jet Engine Blades, Blisks
Electro-chemical machining (ECM) is most commonly
associated with deburring applications, especially in injection
molding technology. Specially designed ECM tools are used to
remove material only at strictly localized areas to remove burrs
for the creation of radii or to create an-
nular grooves, cavities and other geom-
etries. EMAG LLC (Farmington Hills, MI)
has introduced an advanced Precise
Electro-Chemical Machining (PECM)
process that is capable of rough-and-
finish machining of both single blades
and blisks with the precision that is
required for jet engine applications.
The rough-machining process is
a pre-contouring operation with open
tolerances and feed rates of 2-4 mm/
min, while leaving enough material (ap-
proximately 0.2 mm) for the subsequent
finishing process. The rough-machining
operation can be carried out using a
variety of tooling strategies optimized to
the relevant geometry. Where the single
blade may be machined with a double-
sided, synchronized operation, the
pre-machining of blisk geometries is best
done along the blade’s axis, for example.
The ECM process has the advantage
that tool geometry and suitable scaling
of the power supply allow large blades
and blisks to be machined at the same
feed rates and at the same cycle times
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60 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | March 2014
Aerospace Parts Machining
as smaller single blades. EMAG’s ECM/PECM technology cov-
ers a power range of up to 20,000 A DC and a pulse rate of
30,000 A. The PO 900 BF machine can accommodate work-
pieces of 900-mm maximum diameter and single blades up to
250-mm tall. These machines can also
be equipped with hydraulic zero-point
clamping systems, variable oscillators
and automatic toolchangers.
Agile Process Combines Grinding, Milling
Makino’s G series grinders are
well suited to grinding blades, vanes,
and mostly inner components of a jet
engine, particularly in the hot section.
“We’ve had a lot of focus around the
Viper grinding process in our G series
machines for processing newer materi-
als like titanium aluminides,” said Billy
Grobe, aero engine technology man-
ager, Makino Inc. (Mason, OH). “These
particular machines can do grinding
and milling, and anything that you can
do on a machining center. They give us
an adaptable machine platform that has
the capability of being able to machine
a blade or vane components complete
in as little as two clampings, eliminat-
ing the stack up error that results from
moving workpieces from machine to
machine,” said Grobe.
At IMTS, Makino introduced its
EDBV3 Fast Hole Drill EDM, a water-
based five-axis machine that is de-
signed for EDMing cooling air holes
and shaped diffuser holes in blade and
vane segments. All EDM drilling on the
EDBV3 is performed fully submerged
under water for higher part quality,
improved stability and up to 10 times
faster processing speeds than conven-
tional technologies. To further improve
productivity, the EDBV3 uses a single-
electrode processing approach, which
avoids the high cost of custom multi-
electrode holders and standardizes the
toolholders with a more flexible and cost-efficient system.
For untended burning of varying cooling hole diameters, the
EDBV3 features automatic tool change (ATC) and automatic
guide change (AGC) systems. A patented electrode set that
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combines the electrode holder and die guide together into a
common assembly provides enhanced reliability with simple
and precise automated exchanges. Together, these features
enable 30-second ATC and AGC exchanges.
Making the LEAP in Jet Engine Machining
“Both the GE LEAP and the Pratt Whitney Gear Fan jet en-
gines are designed to have about a 20% better fuel efficiency
burn,” said Scott Walker, president, Mitsui Seiki USA (Franklin
Lakes, NJ). “Pratt & Whitney’s strategy is to use planetary
gears to drive the fan. This allows running the engine hotter
and faster, creating more power. But the materials required
are almost impossible to machine. Some of the hot stage
blades are upwards 28–30% nickel content making them
extremely hard so you have to grind them,” said Walker.
Mitsui Seiki builds both machines to produce integrally
bladed rotors (IBR) and single blades and is developing mill-
ing and grinding strategies to be used to produce Ti-Alumi-
nides. Machine models include the Vertex style machines for
blade and blisk machining and 800-mm and 1-m trunnion-
style machines for machining engine shrouds and casings,
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62 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | March 2014
Aerospace Parts Machining
Mitsui Seiki’s aerospace models include five-axis machining
centers for blade and blisk machining.
which are made from thin-walled Inconel with a lot of holes
and angles that require five-axis machining.
The LEAP has some challenging materials like GE’s Tita-
nium Aluminide. Ti Aluminide is an intermetallic compound
(gamma titanium alloy) that features strong interatomic ties
that makes it resemble ceramics. It’s relative brittleness can
be countered by the addition of elements like niobium and
chromium and while it has half the density of more typi-
cal nickel alloys it is able to withstand heat up to 800° C.
“The strategies for machining these materials still have to be
worked out, especially with the volumes that will be required,”
said Mitsui Seiki's Walker.
“One strategy is to make jet engines like car engines, using
fully automated lines. They don’t want to make them faster
or quicker, they want to make them consistently good and
reliable so they can plan down the production line how many
engines a month they’re going to produce. As a result, you’re
going to see a transition from stand-alone machines to typical
automotive-type processes, which means that the machines
have to be available to accept robotics and gantry cranes for
loading/unloading, measuring, and doing all the processes
with as few people as possible,” said Walker.
Superior Thermal Stability that Controls Tool Tip Accuracy
Parpas America Corp. (Bloomfield Hills, MI) has engi-
neered thermal stability control into its XS overhead gantry
five-axis bridge mills and OMV/Formula horizontal boring mills
for controlling machining accuracy at the tool tip. In effect, all
the machine structures that can affect accuracy are enclosed
and provided with engineered heated and cooled conditioned
air and coolant. The XS bridge mill can have X-axis travels of
22 m or more for machining lay-up molds and tools that are
used to fabricate extremely large composite parts for the outer
skins of aircraft like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787.
Another machine that uses a similar method of thermal
constancy is the Parpas OMV/Formula.
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64 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | March 2014
Aerospace Parts Machining
Two Formula machines have been in service at Lockheed
Martin Fort Worth for a turnkey solution milling the F-35 fighter
jet center section fuselage. That project employed both the
thermal management system mentioned above for the XS, in
addition to an automated cell with temp
control and air filtering.
“The XS machine is an overhead
gantry machine that has the ability to
encapsulate the entire machine without
putting it into a controlled environment,
including column sides, the bridge which
is the cross rail, the ram and ram saddle
with the exception of the guideways of the
ram [the vertical axis],” said Tom Hagey,
operations manager. “The ram protrudes
down to the table of the machine with the
head. Boxways that are hardened and
ground and exposed in ambient tempera-
tures are gundrilled out and refrigerated
coolant is passed through,” said Hagey.
“Balanced tooling produces excellent surface finishes,
extends tool life, and prevents possible damage
to the spindle.”
“AIP Aerospace Tooling Group has or-
dered four of our machines, one for their
Odyssey division in Michigan; the other
three for their Coast Composites Irvine,
CA facility. They’ll be used to produce the
tools for building composite parts for the
Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. One of the
machines, a dual gantry model has travel
of 59 × 15' [18 × 4.5 m],” said Hagey.
Tool Selection Leads to Predictability
According to Ed Mulvey, technical
support applications engineer, Horn USA
(Franklin, TN), multitasking machining
using tools like Horn’s spline milling and
gear milling tools can complete a gear or
a hub with a spline on it in one setup on the latest multitasking
machines. “The real benefit for the user is that quality of the part
is ensured as handling is minimized. Our tools are especially well
suited to meeting the requirements of tough grooving that are
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required on aerospace parts. All of our tools are diameter specific
for the bore size and depth of groove,” said Mulvey.
“The secret of effective machining is in getting the best
combination of substrate, cutting edge and coating, espe-
cially for applications involving difficult-to-machine materials,
like Inconel, titanium, high-end stainless, precipitation stain-
less, cobalt alloys and Stellite. Except for some of the newer
hardenable titaniums, we don’t think of titanium as being
as difficult to machine as in the past,”
said Mulvey.
“Because all of these materials have
low machinability ratings, we strive for
predictability in tool life. We provide a
quality tool so that the customer knows
how often he has to change the insert
on a consistent basis. It helps that most
machines today have a tool manage-
ment system that will tell the operator
when it’s time to change the insert so
that valuable time isn’t lost in produc-
tion,” said Mulvey. “A recent example
is one customer who is machining a
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Aerospace Parts Machining
EMAG LLCPh: 248-477-7440
Web site: www.emag.com
GE AviationPh: 877-432-3272
Web site: www.geaviation.com
Haimer USAPh: 630-833-1500
Web site: www.haimer-usa.com
Horn USA Inc.Ph: 615-771-4100
Web site: www.hornusa.com
Makino Inc.Ph: 513-573-7200
Web site: www.makino.com
Mitsui Seiki (USA) Inc.Ph: 201-337-1300
Web site: www.mitsuiseiki.com
Okuma America Corp.Ph: 704-588-7000
Web site: www.okuma.com
Parpas America Corp.Ph: 248-753-6000
Web site: www.parpasamerica.com
Want More Information?
component for the aerospace industry from premium nitriding
steel. We recommended a coating that is running with phe-
nomenal success. Previously, CBN was used and the process
had to be stopped mid-cycle to allow the material to cool. Our
free cutting geometry in combination with the coating allowed
non-stop production. This custom solution reduced the scrap
rate and improved the overall component quality.”
Toolholding Technologies Ensure Quality Results
Haimer USA (Villa Park, IL) offers three toolholding
technologies that are designed to produce quality machining
results, especially in high-speed machining applications. “The
first is our balancing equipment that is designed to balance
tooling assemblies before they go into the machine,” said
Brendt Holden, president. “A tooling assembly includes the
toolholder with the cutting tool and all accessories such as
pull-studs, nuts, collets, face-mill cutters, inserts, etc. Balanc-
ing the complete assembly allows the machine to run fast,
especially in aluminum machining, without creating vibration
at the cutting edge. Balanced tooling produces excellent sur-
face finishes, extends tool life, and prevents possible damage
to the spindle,” said Holden.
The second technology is Cool Flash which is integrated
into Haimer’s Power Shrink chuck with Cool Jet. “Cool Flash
overcomes the tendency of coolant to flare out away from the
cutting zone in high-speed applications. It is especially effec-
tive in aluminum structural machining where a lot of chips are
created or in deep milling applications on vanes where it’s dif-
ficult to remove chips in jet engine machining,” said Holden.
“Cool Flash allows the coolant to come around the cutting
tool where it is redirected back to the shank of the cutting tool
where it follows the shank of the tool with a high pressure to
cutting zone.” The third technology is the Safe Lock which
is designed to prevent tools, principally high helix end mills,
from being pulled out of the holder in high-speed structural
aluminum machining or in titanium roughing applications. ME
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March 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 67