Aerospace expertise on show

Delcam will highlight its latest developments in the machining and inspection of aerospace components and structures at the Farnborough Air Show.

Delcam will highlight its latest developments in the machining and inspection of aerospace components and structures on the Society of British Aerospace Companies stand at the Farnborough Air Show.

Delcam is the developer of both PowerMill, the world's leading specialist CAM system, and PowerInspect, the world's leading hardware-independent inspection software.

Like all areas of manufacturing, aerospace manufacturers and their subcontractors are under pressure to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve quality and shorten delivery times.

At the exhibition, Delcam's experts will give advice on two areas where these improvements can be made - the machining and inspection of components.

The need for regular inspection during machining and the increased use of portable inspection methods have lead to much closer integration of the manufacturing and quality control operations.

As the only supplier of industry-leading software for both applications, Delcam is in a unique position to helps its customers gain maximum benefit from this trend.

At the exhibition, particular attention will be given to five-axis machining, where developments in Delcam's PowerMill software have lead to much faster and easier programming of complex manufacturing operations.

The major benefit of five-axis machining is the ability to machine complex shapes in fewer setups.

This gives greater machining productivity, as well as significantly reducing the time and cost of preparing fixtures.

Furthermore, with multiple set-ups, there is always a possibility of incorrect alignment each time the part is moved.

Another important advantage of five-axis machining with Delcam's latest strategies is that they enable shorter cutting tools to be used.

As a result, higher cutting speeds can be achieved without putting excessive load on the cutter, so increasing tool life and reducing breakages.

The use of shorter cutters also reduces the vibration of the tool that can result when machining deep cores or cavities with three-axis machines.

This allows a higher quality surface finish to be obtained, so reducing, or even eliminating, the need for time-consuming hand finishing.

Another major benefit from the use of five-axis machining is the ability to machine extremely complex parts from solid that would otherwise have to be cast.

For prototypes and very small runs, this approach is much quicker and cheaper.

It can give lead times of one or two weeks, instead of two months or more that would be needed for castings.

In the inspection area, Delcam will highlight new developments in its PowerInspect software that can speed and simplify quality control throughout the manufacturing process.

PowerInspect has become established as the preferred inspection solution for both large and small companies because it offers considerable advantages over alternative programs.

Firstly, it is completely hardware independent, allowing companies with a variety of inspection devices to use the same software on all their equipment.

This reduces training requirements and also makes it easier to establish and maintain standardised formats for all reports.

Secondly, it can meet all the different inspection needs, including checking of geometric features, sections and edges, as well as surfaces.

Thirdly, the software is extremely flexible.

Reports with pictorial, graphical and tabulated data can be produced to recognised international standards or in any customer-specified format.

This flexibility ensures that the resulting reports can be easily understood by everyone involved in collecting or analysing inspection data.

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