The Aero Engineering Show is dedicated to showing the latest advances in the aerospace manufacturing supply chain. Aerospace Manufacturing previews some of the exhibitors taking part in the event. Our Aero Engineering Show roundup starts with the Wallwork Group (stand A55). The Group is championing the benefits for customers from a major expansion programme that sees it offering a significantly broader range of heat treatment, hard coating and development services than last year. In many areas the company has also increased processing load size too. Enhancements include, greater capacity and more expertise in vacuum brazing, having doubled the size of the Cambridge plant and bringing online a dedicated vacuum brazing facility in Manchester. Multiple options for nitride hardening have been added, alongside additional capacity for large component and bulk components heat treatment. Responding to customer demand, aerospace treatment of aluminium and magnesium alloys to Nadcap aerospace standards has also been added to the service. Completing the picture, the company now provides an even greater choice of PVD and PECVD applied surface coatings and is also including other world class coating brands such as those from the German diamond coating specialist CemeCon alongside their own. Wallwork operates from three locations in Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge and with multiple quality accreditations, provides a nationwide service supported by door-to-door collection services for rapid product turnaround. At the other end of the show hall can be found Aro (stand G145) a specialist PR and marketing agency dedicated to the engineering and composites industries. The agency generates high profiles in a wide range of media for its clients, including increasingly popular social media. This builds awareness of their services and capabilities, supporting sales, reaching out to funders (both new and existing), supporting recruitment and driving traffic to websites. The agency says its diligent and creative approach ensures that companies benefit from strategic advice and implementation of innovative marketing communications solutions. Aro has a network of experts across the full marketing mix, including: media relations; PR; copywriting; graphic design; web design and build; social media; marketing and brand management; public affairs; lobbying and event management. Located on (stand D91) UK manufacturer Spraylat International has produced a range of water-based maskants that will work in a number of etchants including hydrofluoric, hydrochloric and sodium hydroxide etchant. This will be its centre stage product – Protectapeel Hydromask. For the first time Protectapeel Hydromask is being showcased for visitors to test the coating's tensile strength, scribe quality and etch quality after chemical processing. Legislation has forced many companies to reassess its carbon emissions and switch away from either solvent-based or 2K maskants. Protectapeel provides a solution to this problem. All Spraylat's water-based maskants have either an extremely low VOC or zero VOC content. The Spraylat team will be on hand to explain in-depth how this water-based maskant can produce excellent etch qualities and reduce carbon footprint. Spraylat will also be exhibiting its coatings that provide temporary protection to steels and other metals from flash rusting, abrasion, staining and weathering. Visitors are encouraged to peel back the coating to observe the difference between the unprotected metal and the protected parts. Dawson Shanahan (stand J5) is a leading specialist in precision cold forming. Its experts will be on hand to explain how Dawson Shanahan can develop component solutions that offer real technical and commercial benefits to businesses. The Welshpool-based company has recently installed two Locatelli Meccanica hydraulic CNC presses, enabling it to enhance still further its impressive cold forming service offering. The new presses remove common tooling restraints and are suitable for manufacturing components for almost any application. Thanks to quick changeover times and high reliability, the presses have boosted Dawson Shanahan's component output and deliver the high quality final product that the company is renowned for. Meanwhile, Magna International (stand I41) will be significantly increasing its involvement at this year's show. Supported by the Knowledge Transfer Network, it will host and sponsor the Enabling Innovation Poster Zone - a major area at the show - where the ideas and concepts from the UK's up and coming innovators are showcased. Magna will also run one to one meetings with interested innovators, deliver a keynote presentation in the show's conference programme and take an expanded exhibition stand. The Enabling Innovation Poster Zone will provide an opportunity for early stage innovators to showcase breakthrough ideas, products and processes to the UK's largest advanced engineering audience. The ‘poster' submissions will come from incubator level organisations, university students, research-based companies and start-ups. The Zone will give the 13,000 visitors attending Advanced Engineering UK the chance to uncover potential technologies, partners and untapped capability. Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) will exhibit at Advanced Engineering on (stand D13) with its extensive new line of high performance solid carbide and indexable milling, drilling, turning, boring, toolholding and threading products. ITC is a UK distributor of high quality and performance products from globally renowned manufacturers such as Widia, Big Kaiser and Micro 100. At the show it will have a selection of products from each of these manufacturers available for visitors. One product of interest to visitors in the aerospace and composite machining sectors will be the new high-speed air turbine spindle from Big Kaiser. The new RBX range of air turbine spindles achieve an impressive rotational speed of 120,000rpm that enables existing machine tools to be cost-effectively upgraded to high speed units. Operating at such high speeds helps to improve machining accuracy, enhance surface finish and significantly lengthen tool life, as well as reducing wear on the cutting tool. All these factors make the new RBX ideal for micro-machining applications and high speed cutting of intricate aerospace and composite components. Under test conditions, the new RBX from Big Kaiser has reduced machining times by more than 300%. Furthermore, the runout accuracy of the RBX12 is excellent; enabling thin-wall cutting that is commonplace with CFRP parts. Nearby on (stand G5) Schunk will be promoting a range of toolholding and workholding products that have been developed to improve productivity, efficiency and quality for end users whilst reducing cycle times and production costs for end users. One product that will be of interest will be the new SPM Plus 138 fixture membrane. Manufactured from aluminium, the SPM Plus provides the clamping of a multitude of geometries from all sides with its innovative pull-down effect. Firstly, a 0.5mm high tuning ring is inserted between the quick-change pallet module and the fixture membrane, and then the exact workpiece geometry is milled according to the blank on the fixture's clamping surface. Once prepared and the tuning ring removed, the workpieces can be inserted within seconds and the complete circumference be clamped by locking the Vero-S module. This in turn deforms the fixture membrane to provide the clamping. Productivity pioneers, Forcam will be on (Stand H62) at the NEC. With UK productivity some 30% behind the US, Germany and France many manufacturers will be keen to engage Forcam according to the company. Forcam typically achieves productivity gains of around 20% in the first year following the installation of their manufacturing execution systems and increases as high as 33% have been recorded, so pay-back is rapid, with all users achieving further continuous improvement. UK managing director Andrew Steele explains: “Worldwide there are over 60,000 machine tools and manufacturing processes interlinked using Forcam Force factory shopfloor management software. This streams accurate production instructions to machine operators, gathers information from the operators and machine systems, with instantaneous analysis and reporting so supervisors and managers have an accurate real time picture of production status. Any problems are immediately apparent and can then be resolved quickly.” Nearby in Hall 5, PGT Ceewrite (stand I66) will be promoting its precision manufacturing and engineering services for UK aerospace and defence companies. On the PGT stand examples of highly complex, close tolerance metal parts, including titanium and Inconel super alloys, produced in state-of-the-art facilities, will be on display. Over £10m has been invested over the last 12 months in additional capacity and specialist capabilities including: new Nadcap approved EDM spark and wire erosion GF AgieCharmilles production machines run 24/7; additional CNC machining capacity including new Mikron milling centres; plus new ‘state of the art' Studer grinding and super finishing machining centres, able to offer parts down to as low as 0.5µm tolerance: PGT Ceewrite now has the largest Studer facility for both cylindrical and surface grinding currently operational in the UK. Shimadzu (stand F112) is one of the worldwide leading manufacturers of testing instruments. The Japanese company has produced Universal Testing machines since 1917 and is today a Multinational company with more than 10,000 employees worldwide. The company will be demonstrating tensile testing of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) in combination with a High Speed Camera, HPV-X, and strain distribution measurement with Digital Image Correlation (DIC). The tests are filmed at a frame rate of up to 10,000,000 frames/sec with the camera. Shimadzu will also present very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) behaviour of laser additive manufactured light-weight alloys. For the employment of the SLM process for aerospace applications, they must possess reliable high cycle fatigue (HCF) as well as very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) performance. This study aims at determining the VHCF behaviour of light-weight aluminium and titanium alloys manufactured by the SLM process. Very high cyclic fatigue characterisation has been carried out at frequencies of 20kHz for the VHCF range until 109 cycles on the Shimadzu USF-2000. In the next aisle Sigma Components (stand E136) will showcase its Sigma Lite range of lightweight components. Star of the show is COMPipe – a composite aero-engine pipe that delivers weight savings of 50% over traditionally manufactured pipes. The result of a CleanSky funded programme, COMPipe is capable of withstanding operating temperatures over 200°C, operating pressures of up to 1000psi and a typical engine operating environment, including fireproof requirements. The Sigma Lite range also includes lightweight end fittings – a variation of Sigma's successful self-locking nuts - concept designs for metallic end-fittings produced using additive manufacturing techniques, and composite drive shafts. One of the key programmes Sigma will be providing updates on at the show is its Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) project to develop composite drive shafts for both aerospace and automotive applications. Elsewhere in the hall, visitors can see a major step forward in substrate repair, coating and manufacturing applications according to Dycomet UK (stand K101). The company – appointed as the UK distributor and developer by Dycomet Europe – is presenting ‘cold spray' metal additive manufacturing systems that it says offer key advantages to both designers and manufacturers alike. The high pressure Plasma Giken system operates on the same principle but is designed for larger scale permanent installations. Delivering up to 750psi, the system can handle the most challenging materials such as MCrAIY and stainless steel with results achieved quickly via feed rates of up to 750g/min. The ‘anti-clogging' design provides continuous, reliable cold spray performance that can operate either as a stand-alone facility or be incorporated directly into a production line environment. The acceleration in the airflow means the particles deform as they hit the substrate, changing the composition of the surface yet without the risk of high temperatures which can, potentially, lead to material weakening or distortion. At Engis UK (stand B100) the company will be offering an extensive range of production finishing solutions, from consumables, such as diamond and CBN grinding wheels, abrasive slurries and mould polishing compounds, to complete lapping and bore finishing installations, including the Engis 432, small footprint, 4-way, double-sided lapping and polishing machine which will be on display. Also at the show will be the Engis advanced FL15 polishing and lapping machine, configured with pneumatic pressure heads and automatic plate flattening and grooving. Ascent Aerospace (stand E121) will exhibit the company's extended range of aerospace manufacturing solutions at Advanced Engineering UK. Ascent Tooling Group combines the capabilities and capacity of three renowned producers – Coast Composites, Odyssey Industries and Global Tooling Systems – into the largest tooling business in the world. They produce lay-up moulds; assembly drill and trim fixtures; and handling and transport fixtures. The stand will display a one-twenty-fifth-scale replica of a 30m Invar cure tool for a modern, twin-aisle commercial passenger aircraft control surface. Ascent Integration & Automation group was established in 2014 to combine the company's assembly line expertise with recently-acquired automation solutions, including advanced composite machining from Flow Aerospace and modular, automated drilling from Brown Aerospace. The stand will play a time-lapse video of a recent installation on Airbus' A350 XWB final assembly line. For the first time this year SAE International will be co locating its Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Technologies Symposium with the Advanced Engineering Show at the NEC. It will also run four expert speaker sessions as part of Advanced Engineering's free-to-attend open conference programme, located on the exhibition show floor itself. SAE International, a global association made up of more than 137,000 engineers and technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. The Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Technologies Symposium will detail how to integrate design, manufacturing and final assembly of augmented and virtual technologies into the digital thread of organisations. The highly practical symposium will also look at how to show an economic value proposition for using AR/VR within any advanced manufacturing enterprise, plus it will examine the future outlook of AR/VR for the mobility industry. Speakers from international names, including Boeing, Ford Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover and Airbus, will be sharing their insights and experiences of AR/VR being utilised in an array of industries. National Instruments (stand C51) will be demonstrating a selection of its platforms for measurement and control including VirtualBench, an all-in-one instrument. VirtualBench integrates a mixed-signal oscilloscope, function generator, digital multimeter, programmable DC power supply and digital I/O. Users interact with VirtualBench through software applications that run on PCs or iPads. The device provides the most common functionality affordably and opens up new possibilities for how engineers can use benchtop instruments. Because VirtualBench uses today's consumer computing platforms, engineers and scientists can take advantage of the latest technologies like multitouch displays, multicore processors, wireless connectivity and intuitive interfaces. The simplification and increased capability through software leads to more efficient circuit debugging and validation. Also at this year's show, bigHead (stand F150) will be highlighting integrated fastener solutions for composite manufacturing. Helping manufacturers avoid secondary processes, bigHead has worked with companies to integrate fasteners in the moulding process, saving process time and improving product design and quality. A recent project with a customer using an SMC process significantly improved their product's performance, eliminated a secondary manual process and reduced processing time from 5 minutes to 5 seconds. This was all achieved without any significant tooling costs or tooling changes. Also available will be bigHead's product solutions now specified for carbon fibre applications by leading automotive manufacturers such as Lamborghini and Porsche. Elsewhere in Hall 5, WNT (UK) (stand E23) will be showcasing its new Type W solid carbide cutters at the show. The cutters have been designed for the high performance machining of aluminium and other light alloys and are proving popular with those machining components for the aerospace sector. The cutters are available with corner radii specific to the aerospace sector as well as ball nose cutters. Type W cutters are also available in a variety of geometries specifically created for the machining of non-ferrous materials typically found in aerospace manufacturing. The range includes two styles of ripper cutters: the first has a geometry aimed at pure roughing operations featuring a round chord profile and special grind that generates small swarf chips that can be easily evacuated from the cutting area with the aid of the standard through tool coolant supply. The end geometry of these cutters is designed with plunging operations in mind. The overall cutting characteristic of these roughing cutters is the soft cutting action and reduced vibration, which allows feed rates to be maximised even on thin-walled and unstable workpieces. The second ripper geometry is capable of both roughing and finishing operations and features a reinforced core and flat spiral design to the flutes. Swarf control has also been addressed with this design through the addition of chipbreakers to ensure maximum chip control, even in long chipping materials. Moving on, JR Technology (JRTL) (stand D210) provides equipment and consultancy in the engineering of bonded structures as well as composite repair systems and non-destructive testing (NDT). Recently JRTL helped develop an innovative solution for the repair of tools needed to make the Airbus A350 XWB-1000 rear wing spar sections, manufactured by GKN Aerospace. The partnership between JRTL, Composite Tooling & Engineering Solutions (CTES) and Retrac Composites produced a method of repairing composite tools which saves both time and money. The solution also enables the partners to carry out mobile repairs for the aerospace industry on-site, wherever the client is based. Faced with the prospect of tracking down a large autoclave or oven to accommodate a large, composite tool which required repair, CTES and Retrac turned instead to JRTL to supply eight short wave infra-red lamps and a hot bonding controller with multiple heater mats. These allowed the engineers to accurately control the cure of the additional prepreg laminate required in multiple areas at the same time and cut the curing time of the surface sealer from 18 hours to 1½ hours. Finally, CGTech (stand C8) will demonstrate its new version of VERICUT CNC machine simulation and optimisation software. Nearly 500 customer-driven enhancements and software change requests have been completed in version 7.4. These updates utilise the latest technologies to enable faster processing speeds, longer tool life and increased part quality. Visitors to CGTech's stand will see many of the new features and enhancements including a redesigned user interface, status window, and tool manager. The free collaboration application, VERICUT Reviewer has been enhanced with a new Manual data input (MDI) option, and is also available on the Apple iPad. CGTech will also be demonstrating its Composites Applications software for programming and simulation of Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) and Automated Tape Laying (ATL). On display will be examples of programming and simulation of AFP machines from leading manufacturers including MTorres and Electroimpact and also, robot applications. www.advancedengineeringuk.com
