More and more users in the aerospace industry are relying on the CAD/CAM suite hyperMILL from OPEN MIND. The software is integrated into processes that are consistently designed according to the European standard EN 9100 or its international variant AS9100 to meet the high demands of quality management in the industry. As user feedback shows, hyperMILL offers numerous machining strategies that are central to typical technical aerospace requirements.
Components that are to fly or be launched into orbit must be lightweight yet stable – this would be a simplified representation of the requirements for manufacturing in the aerospace industry. From engine and landing gear components to structural parts and eVTOL components to parts for rocket construction, such as thrust frames, connectors, tank and structural parts, the machining tasks vary widely.
The geometries are sometimes complex and the requirements for surfaces and dimensional accuracy are usually extraordinarily high. With unique 5-axis technologies, powerful turning and milling strategies, as well as special solution packages for blisks and impellers, hyperMILL provides the necessary conditions. The NC code-based simulation of machining with hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining also ensures that costly errors do not occur.
‘We knew exactly what to expect on the machine because the simulation matched reality precisely,’ says Denton Lewis, CAM Manager at Western Precision Products, a contract manufacturer for aerospace companies.
Efficient, safe processes
In aerospace, many materials are used that are difficult to machine: titanium, Inconel, superalloys, and composite materials. It is a strength of hyperMILL to enable tool- and machine-friendly machining strategies for precise and safe processes. Optimized strategies for High-Performance Cutting (HPC) facilitate the handling of often large chip volumes. Shreeram Aerospace & Defence, for example, mills a component weighing about 10.5 kilograms with numerous pockets and walls that are only two millimeters thick from a roughly 150-kilogram aluminum blank for the production of antenna reflector panels.
‘Our surface quality has improved from Ra 0.8 µm to Ra 0.4 µm, even though the pocket walls are often only two millimeters thick,’ reports Sandeep Satani, Chairman and Managing Director of Shreeram Aerospace & Defence LLP. At the same time, the company was able to reduce the machining time for roughing these reflector panels with hyperMILL MAXX Machining from 40 to 30 hours.
In practice and research
‘Components manufactured with hyperMILL are already orbiting the Earth in satellites, and our CAM system is gaining more followers in the aerospace industry. Our customers in this area will continue to benefit particularly from our technology, as our collaboration with research institutes keeps us at the forefront of the development of new materials and manufacturing methods for aerospace,’ explains Dirk Lehmann, Sales Team Leader North at OPEN MIND Technologies AG.
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