Aerospace expertise in the cutting zone

As each individual industrial sector has its own particular needs and peculiarities, rather than adopting a ‘one size fits all' strategy when serving its worldwide customer base,

To make certain that the most efficient, cost-effective cutting tools are designed and made available to every major industrial sector, the company's industry specific managers remain in constant communication with all of the major companies involved in each industry. This constant liaison allows cutting tool manufacturer to remain aware of all relevant trends in areas such as machine tool advancements and material developments.

The work of Reuven Shapir, Iscar's aerospace industry manager, has supported the development and launch of a wide range of high quality cutting tools that have boosted productivity and assured product quality in many areas of global aerospace manufacturing.

Mr Shapir considers the predicted growth of both the civil and military sectors and explores some of the latest production trends within the global aerospace industry and the response to these developments in the form of new cutting tools.
He begins: “Today's forecasts indicate that the demand for commercial and military aerospace products will substantially increase throughout the long-term and to help satisfy the current and anticipated requirements the aerospace industry is constantly searching for increases in Productivity, Performance and Profitability (PPP).

“This has prompted the development of a wide range of Iscar cutting tools featuring innovative carbide grades and new geometries. These long lasting, highly efficient tools are specifically designed for machining tough and hard steels, high temperatures alloys, and titanium and have become a key element in manufacturers achieving considerably reduced Cost Per Unit (CPU).

“The aerospace industry is managed under the AS 9100 standard with strict QA rules. As FAI (First Article Inspection) is carried-out, it is forbidden to create uncontrolled changes to the production process. It can be considered that the used process and technologies are ‘sealed' and that any further changes involve a complicated approval procedure. Therefore, the demand in the aerospace industry is to produce parts which are 100% perfect from the beginning. This requires the highest levels of attention given to engineering and technology to ensure that each manufacturing process is correct from the beginning of the production run.” Mr Shapir says manufacturers must continually update their knowledge relating to the most appropriate tools for each machining operation. Therefore, engineers and technologists require close professional support from the tool manufacturers, with specific experience related to the performance of their tools.

He says: “Today's CNC controls, with their ability to control very fast feeds, result in the use of High Speed Machining (HSM) methods that use tools with an increased maximum number of flutes.

It also results in milling with a small width of cut and short contact time during the cut. This contributes to reducing generated heat and increasing tools' cutting edge life when machining the tough materials that are very common in the aerospace industry. The results of extreme table feeds to achieve high Metal Removal Rate (MRR), with the advantage of less generated heat due to small contact time, enable the ability to achieve more PPP.

“The impressive improvement in coolant efficiency brought about by the delivery of coolant directly to the cutting edge at much higher pressure, High Pressure Coolant (HPC) enables the increase of cutting parameters. This progressive method results in a substantial reduction in heat at the cutting zone and can enable the doubling of cutting speeds; as a consequence increased PPP is achieved.”

The constant demand for improved efficiencies and cost savings within areas such as the aerospace manufacturing sector has prompted the design of cutting tools with an increased number of cutting edges per insert. Iscar's standard double sided inserts with double cutting edges are available as standard — rhombus, square, round, FF style (Fast Feed), hexagonal and octagonal (up to 16 cutting edges in one insert) — in all insert size ranges.

Mr Shapir explains: “Milling aluminium parts with high spindle speed up to 33,000rpm with high spindle power above 100kW and fast controls enable the increase of MRR for milling aluminium. Tools should be designed to perform at these extreme conditions. For example, the Helialu designated HSM90S line includes 900 milling cutters for milling aluminium at very high rotational spindle speeds.”

Now in its 40th year in the UK, Iscar has successfully developed a major presence within the aerospace manufacturing industry by helping customers improve productivity through the application of innovative leading edge technologies and cutting tools.

The company's purpose- built headquarters is conveniently located in the South West outskirts of Birmingham close to the motorway network. From here, all sales and administration functions are coordinated. In the field, a team of over 50 engineers and a substantial coverage of distribution outlets provide on the spot support to customers.

Training needs are satisfied at a dedicated state of the art Training and Seminar Centre. Here, a 90 seat auditorium, 450m² showroom and demonstration unit housing four CNC machines are used to provide top quality courses in the application of new cutting tool technologies. ISCAR
www.iscar.co.uk