Mill-turn centre machines complex forgings

To produce rear pintel pins for the A340, Airbus Filton has selected a 5-axis mill-turning machine to machine these geometrically complex S145 steel forgings in just four clampings.

Airbus Filton, which is renowned for its wing spar manufacturing facility has now chosen to enter the Millturn market to produce rear pintel pins for the A340.

Following an extensive tendering process they selected the WFL M65 Millturn manufactured in Linz, Austria and supplied in the UK by Kyal Machine Tools.

The machine had to be capable to produce this geometrically complex component from raw forgings in S145 aircraft steel weighing 166kg to the finished part weighing 39kg in just four operations (clampings); two roughing prior to heat treatment and two finishing post heat treatment.

A prerequisite from Airbus was to eliminate all hard polishing and deburring which was successfully achieved.

WFL supplied the full turnkey package, fully proven programmes and tooling packages for both left and right hand Pintel Pins.

Previously the machining was spread over various machines including a deep hole drilling machine, lathes, machining centres and honing with many complex fixtures to offset the workpiece.

The M65 Millturn has a turning capacity up to 820mm diameter and a Y axis of 500mm.

The milling head is a massive 25kW (100% rated) equipped with HSK 100 tooling system.

Full 5-axis capability allows for the complex milling and boring of angled holes to very precise tolerances.

The components had to be produced in left and right hand versions which proved of little difficulty to this versatile machine.

The B axis milling feature allowed for mirror image machining of the forked arm without compromise to workpiece or cutting data.

Mike Davis, Project Leader said the installation and acceptance tests were completed in record time and the machine was put into production within a few weeks of delivery.

The reduced production times per part can be measured in weeks not hours giving a very good return on investment.

Although this is the first machine of this type installed at Filton, Airbus has previously installed a number of Millturns within the group.

WFL Millturn Technologies have developed a strong partnership with aerospace companies within Europe, USA, Canada and Asia, and are currently producing purpose built machines to further develop that market.

The WFL Millturns make one hit machining on components like aero engines shafts, undercarriage, wing components, and aircraft hydraulics, a very cost effective solution.

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