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Innovative Processes for the Aerospace Industry

Metal

Shot peening and shot peen forming for the aerospace industry

ENGINES AND TURBINES

Turbojets and turboprops are very delicate products for which a high degree of reliability is required.

All critical aircraft and helicopter components are shot peened to prevent crack initiation and propagation.

Full control and mastery of the shot peening process is necessary to ensure and optimise the fatigue resistance of components that are generally complex in geometry.

The STRESSONIC® process provides a superior level of control compared to conventional shot peening technologies (reproducibility, consistency, surface quality) and is thus particularly suitable for the treatment of high value parts such as:

High and low pressure blades (Foot, Fan blade, Airfoil, Fan blade root fixation, dovetail)
Bladed discs (also named IBR, DAM, or BLISK)
Impellers
Rotors and slewing rings
Propeller-hub connection
Ball bearings
Transmissions

Download our brochure about MRO solutions for the Aerospace Industry.

Non-exhaustive list.

Our sister company SONATS has developed and patented technical solutions for such applications. Indeed, SONATS designs and manufactures portable equipment as well as customized automated shot peening machines that ensure the quality treatment and reduced costs for our customers, without a risk of damaging parts.

These applications include the treatment of new parts as well as maintenance and repair operations.

AEROSTRUCTURES

STRESSONIC® technology fulfils two requirements in the field of aerostructure parts and sub-assemblies:

Improved fatigue resistance by shot peening.
Straightening (and forming) metal components using ultrasonic needle forming (panels or components machined from a single block with complex geometry).

Typical use cases for our portable shot peening equipment

Structural aluminium structural parts (frames, frame feet, ribs, engine masts and more)
Structural parts for wing/fuselage link
Landing systems (new, touch up or after repair)
Cockpit windshield and cabin window frame
Other metal frames and fastening systems
Gears
Auxiliary engine
Wheels and brakes
Ball bearings

Non-exhaustive list.

Typical use cases of our portable ultrasonic straightening / shot peen forming equipment

Metal structural parts
Structural parts for the wing/central wing box link
Fuselage framework
Metal panels
Sheet metal forming

Non-exhaustive list.

Going further

[dticon ico=”fontelloicon-plus-1″ style=”square”][/dticon]Learn more about our STRESSONIC technology

[dticon ico=”fontelloicon-plus-1″ style=”square”][/dticon]Learn more about Ultrasonic Shot Peening

[dticon ico=”fontelloicon-plus-1″ style=”square”][/dticon]Learn more about Ultrasonic Peen Forming

Composite

Robotics and automatization for the aerospace industry

The dynamic nature of the aerospace industry, the challenging production environments (temperature, noise, etc.), the arduous and repetitive manual tasks (MSD), not to mention the ramping up of current production programs are all conditions that encourage the emergence and development of robotic production systems.

Against this background, our subsidiary GEBE2 is providing aerospace industry players with its skills and expertise in robotizing processes for finishing metal and composite parts. Our robotic cells can help you cut production costs while maintaining maximum precision and accuracy, thus enhancing productivity.

Our knowledge and expertise of process automation systems for the aerospace industry goes even further. We can also meet your need to combine human and robotic systems on your production line through the deployment of “cobots”.

Robotic acoustic drilling - Empowering Technologies - GEBE2

Download our brochure about our robotic solutions for aeronautics

A few examples of automated applications for the aeronautics sector: nacelle sanding, micro-drilling of acoustic panels, ultrasonic shot peening of engine parts, machining of composites and honeycombs…

Going further

[dticon ico=”fontelloicon-plus-1″ style=”square”][/dticon]Learn more about our robotized acoustic drilling process

[dticon ico=”fontelloicon-plus-1″ style=”square”][/dticon]Learn more about our robotized sanding process

Ultrasonic cutting and welding for Aeronautics

Ultrasonic cutting

Composite materials have been used for many aerospace applications due to their advantages : strenght to weight ratio, durability and ability to create complex shape and design.

But when it comes to complying with aerospace standards and quality for trimming and milling composites materials, manufacturers have to innovate and trust state-of-the-art technologies and processes. This is why ultrasonic composite cutting is the perfect choice. Handheld system or fully embeddable end-effectors for CN Machines, Robots and even XY tables answer both quality and productivity main concerns.

When high production rates are required, our ultrasonic blades and rotating discs are the ideal partners. Our ultrasonic cutting technology answers manufacturers’ mains issues :

No delamination at the entrance and exit of the process
Process is dust-free.
Extreme level of precision

Ultrasonic welding

Ultrasonic welding of composites materials offers an cost-effective alternative to traditional assembling processes such as bonding or fastening. This process is much faster than conventional welding processes and thus, saves time. As no foreign material is needed, ultrasonic welding avoid contamination and ensure a high quality bond and tigh seal.

Our ultrasonic welding equipment is very useful for assembling and pre-positionning up to 25 composite materials folds.

Going further

Download our brochure about our ultrasonic cutting solutions for aeronautics

[dticon ico=”fontelloicon-plus-1″ style=”square”][/dticon]Learn more about our ultrasonic cutting equipments for composite materials

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