One of the foremost engineering challenges in the world is benefiting from SGS' solid carbide tool technology as a result of a supply relationship between SGS in the UK and the Manchester-based rocket motor and rocket engine specialist manufacturer, The Falcon Project.
Falcon is the developer and maker of the hybrid rocket engine which will deliver 27,000lbs of thrust to the Bloodhound SSC world land speed record challenger in its 2012 bid to raise the bar from the current 763mph to 1,000mph. Bloodhound is also further powered by a 20,000lb thrust jet engine, used in the Typhoon military aircraft.
As the rocket system moves into production, Daniel Jubb, Falcon's managing director commented: “We are currently using SGS S-Carb tooling on a Hurco machine for the production of major aluminium components within the rocket assembly, and have found it to be excellent in terms of quality, consistency and overall performance.
“Precision machining is absolutely critical,” he continued, “as the demands placed on rocket assembly components can be considerable. For example, the HTP (High Test Peroxide) pump rotates at 10,000rpm and will deliver 105lbs of HTP per second to the combustion chamber at 1,100psi, where a catalyst pack decomposes the HTP into steam and oxygen, at 600°C. This then ignites the solid fuel grain in the rocket.
“The HTP pump functionality is very much at the extremes of pressure and flow rate, and machining integrity is key to its operation at optimum efficiency,” he concluded.
As rocket component manufacture continues, Falcon says it will employ other SGS solid carbide tooling for specific machining operations. This will encompass the SGS CCR Carbon Composite Router – already used extensively in aerospace and motorsport applications.
SGS Carbide
www.sgstool.com
