Walking the Talk at IMTS 2018 October 10, 2018 I just returned from IMTS in Chicago and my first thought was, “where will I be able to rack up all those bonus steps I got last week?” On the easiest day, I walked 7.9 miles, and I topped 10 miles on two other days. It’s easy to understand why.
Cutting Strategies for Airframe Components March 5, 2018 Machining aerospace materials is a challenging task. Not only are machining operations tightly controlled, a wide variety of workpiece materials are employed, including aluminum, titanium, and carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). The following is a brief guide to cutting tool options for successful machining of airframe components. All of the tools referenced are manufactured by Mitsubishi Materials.
PLM, Augmented Reality Sharpen the Cutting Edge March 2, 2018 Aerospace and defense manufacturing is known for its complex designs, continual changes and the need to negotiate tight margin requirements. At Elite Aviation Products (EAP), a division of Elite Aerospace Group (Irvine, CA), we face these challenges every day.
Who Controls Feedstock Used in 3D Printers? March 2, 2018 Should the US Copyright Office oversee whether 3D printer operators can use feedstock not approved by their machine’s maker to turn out medical devices or airplane parts, or is that the role of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), respectively?
A Mixed Picture, For Now, About Manufacturing’s Strength January 7, 2019 On Jan. 3, the Institute for Supply Management released its monthly manufacturing index. It had a noticeable drop, to 54.1% in December from 59.3% the month before. That meant manufacturing was still expanding, but at a slower rate.
FABTECH Keeps the Heat On October 31, 2019 FABTECH is coming to my home town, Chicago, and I’m looking forward to it. Along with IMTS and EMO, it’s one of the top-shelf manufacturing trade shows and it’s big enough to keep people coming back every year to see new technology, get educated and network with their peers.
IMTS 2018: A brave new world of manufacturing August 28, 2018 The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is coming to Chicago’s McCormick Place Sept. 10-15. With more than 2,400 exhibitors, more than 100,000 visitors and 1.3 million square feet of space, IMTS is the largest showcase of cutting edge manufacturing technology in the Northern Hemisphere.
Students Experience RAPID + TCT Show August 8, 2018 AS A TEAM OF FOUR MANUFACTURING engineering undergraduate students from Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA), we had our minds blown within seconds of walking onto the RAPID + TCT show floor when we attended the event, April 23-26, in Fort Worth, TX.
It’s Volumetric! October 1, 2018 For aerospace part production, machine tool volumetric accuracy is vitally important. To define it, machine geometry is a function of moving a certain amount of mass along the way system. This movement of mass needs to move straight without pitch, yaw, and roll, because any variation of these three movements is amplified as you get further and further away from the machine tool’s way system.
Component Vision Check October 1, 2018 Automated industrial vision systems have become a key component of quality conformance inspection for many industrial processes. They are used to detect defects at high rates far exceeding the capability of the human eye in industries ranging from food processing to electronics and automobile manufacturing.
