Aerospace Application

Project: A leader in the design, development, and manufacture of landing gear systems uses a supplier to manufacture parts for the support of landing gear systems. They approached TechSolve for assistance in developing a manufacturing process for their parts and reducing part cost.

TechSolve reviewed a design for the part and identified a list of features. At TechSolve’s machining facility, the cost per part was assessed by using TechSolve’s Manufacturing Assessment and Planning (MAP) software tool.

Proof-of-concept experiments were conducted on a 3-axis vertical milling center in addition to stability analyses. Machining parameters were selected from the stability zone to ensure chatter-free machining operations. After the proof-of-concept experiments were completed, a series of parts were machined on a 4-axis horizontal milling center, allowing the machining process to be further improved. The parts were machined in two setups on the 4-axis machine instead of four setups on the 3-axis machine, reducing setup time.

Results:
• $296 savings per part
• $142,302 annual savings

Figure 1: Shows an example of one of the U-shaped parts that are machined from 7075 aluminum material and used in commercial aircraft.