Sandvik establishes R&D centre for deep hole machining

The establishment of the centre follows the acquisition and consolidation of BTA Heller Drilling Systems, a supplier of deep hole drilling products in early 2009. Sandvik says the centre will serve as an interface for research institutes, machine tool manufacturers and universities to conduct tests and undertake studies on specific components. In addition, Sandvik will increase its resources in R&D, appoint and train product specialists and develop new processes to increase productivity and quality when manufacturing these complex components. The centre includes a specialised deep hole drilling machine capable of internal profiling and chamber boring, a small turning centre for machining guide pads and measuring equipment for setting tools and checking component features. “The main reason for the acquisition was to gain expertise in deep hole drilling tools and applications,” stated Sandvik Coromant's UK managing director, Magnus Ekback. “Once the acquisition was complete, we decided it should remain in Cirencester, but that we transform it into a Sandvik Coromant application centre to develop solutions with both product and applications know-how and undertake customer projects including applications training for both customers and our own people.” Ekback is well aware that the big driver in aerospace concerns weight reduction which enables aircraft to fly more environmentally-friendly. Lightweighting aero engine main shafts and landing gear components are ripe for potential DHM design and development work. “The aerospace sector is seeing the continuous development of new heat resistant super alloys which increases R&D work into the ‘hot' part of the aero engine to obtain a better yield between overall aircraft weight and fuel cost.” Tony Evans, BTA Heller Drilling Systems' former managing director has been appointed senior manager for the global application centre in Cirencester. “A huge amount of BTA's time was spent finding engineering solutions and designing the equipment to meet various types of projects,” he explained. “However, this left very little time to develop the business in terms of marketing. We also had a gap in the developments around tungsten carbide tooling. This led to the sale of the company to Sandvik. We can now develop our ideas through a company with massive resources and fantastic technical abilities. “I was impressed with Sandvik's responsible attitude to the future and particularly with the way it takes responsibility as a market leader. This manifests itself through support for customers. I believe this facility is the only kind in the world and I'm very proud to be part of this team. We have an amazing opportunity to do some really great work at Cirencester.”

www.coromant.sandvik.com