OPEN MIND Set to Fly at Farnborough 2012

18 May 2012

As a market leading provider of CAM solutions for the aerospace industry, OPEN MIND Technologies is looking forward to demonstrating its expertise in the industry at the forthcoming Farnborough International Air Show on Stand H1/B3.

The award winning hyperMILL CAM package that already boasts high profile aerospace OEM and subcontract companies among its customer base, will be demonstrating why it is the market leader at Farnborough with its new 5-Axis Shape Offset Roughing and Finishing feature that has now been incorporated into hyperMILL.
Whereas most CAM strategies are based on the assumption of two main orientations, the tool axis (Z-axis) and the standard axis perpendicular to it; this means that most CAM vendors have a package suitable for a 'flat' world. OPEN MIND's innovative new Shape Offset Roughing module is ideal for curved parts such as aero engine or pump housing parts. Where CAM processes consist of multiple program steps that consequently create additional programmer input and a very high overall programming effort, OPEN MIND is the first CAM manufacturer to develop a strategy specifically for 5-axis shape offset machining. For programming times that have previously been two to three hours, end users can eliminate time consuming tasks to program the parts in a matter of minutes.

Beside the Shape Offset Roughing module, hyperMILL offers an extensive range of additional features to improve productivity in the aerospace industry. For one customer that machines highly complex components for OEMs such as Bombardier, Airbus and Thales, hyperMILL has proven a resounding success by reducing programming times and cycle times by over 50% on most components.

Two hyperMILL features that have made this contribution for the subcontractor is the Stock Model and the Linking Cycle features that have recently saved 51% on an airframe structure part for Bombardier. Using a Heidenhain 3-axis control, the component previously had a stage 1 operation time of 10 minutes with a second stage cycle time of 42 minutes. By utilising hyperMILL, this 52 minute time was reduced to 28 minutes with stage one and two respectively taking 8 and 20 minutes to machine.

The Shape Offset, Stock Model and Linking Cycles in hyperMILL have delivered some truly staggering results for aerospace OEM's and subcontractors alike. Other programming elements that drastically reduce programming times are the automatic mirroring function that eliminates the programming replication for left and right hand parts. For symetrical structures such as aircraft, this feature can instantly reduce the programming times for right and left hand parts by 50%.

These innovative strategies can now be combined with hyperMAXX, OPEN MIND's new machining strategy for high-performance roughing. This module, fully integrated with hyperMILL, combines optimal milling paths and maximum material removal and thus minimises machining times significantly.

Already proving a resounding success in the marketplace, hyperMAXX can improve productivity by up to 600% when machining 3-axis and 5-axis components. This staggering productivity improvement has been qualified by Dormer Cutting Tools in its test centre.

Measuring the productivity benefits by calculating the QMax value for machining cycles, the hyperMAXX module has delivered a 630% productivity improvement on a structural wing component from titanium. Simultaneously, hyperMAXX extended tool life from 30 minutes to over 2 hours – a tool life improvement of over 200%. With regard to the production of the structural aerospace part, the customer was taking 40 hours to machine two sides of the component; Dormer has reduced the machining time to 10 hours with hyperMAXX. One pocket was previously machined in 40minutes and Dormer is now milling the pocket in 3 minutes with hyperMAXX whilst extending the tool life. Proof enough that if you are looking for a comprehensive CAM solution that can offer programming and cycle time improvements as well as tool life savings, the OPEN MIND Stand at Farnborough is well worth a visit.