Honeywell Aerospace is one of Honeywell's largest multinational companies in commercial and civil engineering, producing a wide range of impellers and blade discs for commercial aircraft.
Luis Adrián Gallegos, production engineer at Honeywell Aerospace, and Gilberto Ochoa, application engineer at Renishaw
The impeller is essentially a combination of a radial compressor and an axial compressor. In the process of machining the impeller, the workpiece reference position must always be correct, so as to ensure that the qualified product is processed.
If the workpiece reference position is deviated, the machined impeller will not meet the specifications. At this time, it can only be reworked or repaired, and may even be completely scrapped.
In order to maintain the accuracy of the process, Honeywell turned to Renishaw, a multinational company in the engineering field, which provided the RMP600 high-precision machine tool probe measurement system and computer-based Productivity+TM workpiece measurement software for its machining center. Honeywell can now use Renishaw products to perform pre-sequence measurements and sequential axial displacement detection.
background
Honeywell manufactures impellers at its plant in Chihuahua, Mexico. The plant is equipped with the latest machinery to perform parts grinding, milling, turning and drilling operations.
After processing _ finished leaf disc
Pre-processed _ uncut raw blank
The impellers produced here range in diameter from 14 inches to 17 inches. Most impellers are made of titanium alloy and only one impeller is made of aluminum alloy.
The products produced at the Chihuahua plant will be sent to Honeywell's assembly plant in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where the main job is to assemble and test the turbines of the aero engine.
If the workpiece reference position of the finished part is found to be off center, it must be submitted to the product design department, and the designer checks the impeller and determines if it is qualified.
Each analysis cost of each workpiece costs approximately $66,900, which also extends the overall manufacturing time. Each impeller only processing time (including the clamping time in the machine) can take up to 60 hours and is used To about 130 kinds of tools.
In Honeywell, the production time of a single impeller is planned to be two weeks. If the workpiece is found to be off-center after machining, it takes an additional week to perform the necessary analysis, which will result in machine downtime and production delays, and will therefore be produced. Time and manufacturing costs have a negative impact.
challenge
'In the process of impeller machining, Honeywell found that the workpiece reference often deviates in the axial direction, which can lead to prolonged machining time of the workpiece,' said Raúl Barriga, Sales Director of Renishaw Mexico.
The axial displacement of the original center point may be caused by incorrect workpiece alignment, which may be caused by operator error, fixture damage and/or the previous process leaving the edge on the workpiece.
solution
After completing the first impeller manufacturing, Honeywell's production engineer Luis Adrian Gallegos sat with other quality control engineers to discuss how to reduce such baseline deviations during processing.
Renishaw RMP600 high precision trigger probe
'After the first production cycle is completed, we know we must improve the process, but we don't want to invest too much money,' Gallegos said. 'We contacted Renishaw to discuss whether high-precision ultra-compact triggering can be used. Head, and in combination with Renishaw software, measure the workpiece before machining begins and detect any reference deviations in order to correct them in advance.
'After evaluating Renishaw's range of probes, we decided to purchase the RMP600 machine probe with radio signal transmission. This probe has all the advantages of automatic workpiece alignment and is capable of measuring the geometric characteristics of complex 3D workpieces. Like our impeller. '
During processing, the Renishaw probe can touch the workpiece from various positions to determine if there are any errors or collimation deviations.
'The probe can help us detect all potential problems before the defect actually occurs,' Gallegos added. 'In the past, we were able to find any problems until 16 hours of processing and more than one hour of measurement. Now, we can immediately get the alarm information of the workpiece size and position deviation from the probe and take necessary corrections, so we can avoid wasting valuable processing time and resources.
'In addition to the probe, Honeywell also purchased computer-based workpiece measurement software Productivity+ for its machining centers. This software provides Honeywell with an easy-to-use programming environment that facilitates the inspection of workpiece inspection probes and The in-sequence correction program is integrated into the machining cycle. Productivity+ helps to simplify the workpiece alignment and inspection process, and can be used in the core machining process: workpiece identification and alignment, tool identification and tool setting. Productivity+ also helps to generate the sequence. Post-report, which collects completed process information and helps to make decisions for subsequent processing,' Barriga commented.
result
'Since we started using the RMP600 touch probe and Productivity+ workpiece measurement software, we have never had any problems with workpiece overshoot, rework or scrap,” Gallegos said. 'The software can assist in the process. Control tasks, such as monitoring the status of the tool based on the data collected by the probe, updating the tool compensation and completing the adaptive machining.
'With Renishaw's probes and software, Honeywell ensures that the machining process does not deviate. Before introducing Renishaw's new technology, the machine operator must first fix the workpiece on the machine, manually measure it, and then Enter the diameter and surface position data into the controller. If there is any omission or error in the information, or the fixture is damaged, the final processed product will be unqualified. Now, we can prevent any defects by pre-sequence detection. Occurs. '
'Although some workpieces are inevitably required to be reworked after processing, but this will bring additional economic burden to the company. Receiving real-time data from the Renishaw in-cam measurement system, we can Feedback to adjust the machining process, which helps to minimize the chance of repeated occurrences of the same problem on multiple workpieces. Renishaw's equipment has helped us improve the machining process and reduce machine downtime for our one-time success 'The machining of the impeller used in the modern aerospace industry has laid a solid foundation,' concluded Gallegos.
Adapted from "Modern Machine Shop Mexico" magazine, has been officially authorized by the original editor
For more information, please visit www.renishaw.com.cn/mtp