Original Article: Case Study: Arbiser Machine Manufactures a Complex Aerospace Part for the US Air Force

The part would be small enough to fit inside a salt shaker, and achieving its tight tolerances would require sophisticated precision machining.

The 3D printed blanks the customer provided were made of Inconel, a material that is notoriously difficult to machine.

The request? A transformation akin to turning a piece of firewood into a Fabergé egg.

So why didn’t our team break a sweat when the US Air Force hired us to manufacture this aircraft component? Because we knew we had the engineering expertise, machining aptitude, and in-house capabilities to knock it out of the park.

Our Process: How We Tackled this Complex Aerospace Part 

Our team quickly devised a plan for making this complicated, mission-critical part. 

Troubleshooting

In the past, a precision machine shop like ours might have cast this part, but such castings no longer exist. 

Thanks to our experience with 3D printing, we knew that the 3D printed blanks the US Air Force provided as raw material would require extensive precision machining.

3D printing is still a relatively new technology, and although it is known for producing impressively complex geometries, it is not yet capable of meeting accuracy, surface finish, and tolerance requirements with the same degree of precision as CNC machining. As a result, secondary precision machining processes are often required for 3D printed parts. 

Trial and error

Initially, our machinists struggled to get a firm grasp on the Inconel blanks, unable to easily create the intricate geometries called out in the design. At this stage, we realized we’d need our machinists and engineers to put their heads together to create sophisticated fixtures that could hold the blanks in place as we machined them.

One of the part’s features was perfectly round, and every other feature had to be established in reference to that datum for the part to succeed. The fixtures we created needed to hold the blanks just right so that we could machine that critical feature with the utmost precision. 

Inspection

With guidance from our engineers, our machinists created organically shaped jaws to hold the part in place as we machined and inspected it. 

It took a total of 16 precision machining operations to complete the part. After each step, our engineers inspected the parts and communicated with our US Air Force contact to ensure that we were on the right track.

Successful outcome 

There’s no denying that manufacturing such a complex aerospace part was challenging. But our team relished the opportunity to exercise the full range of our capabilities, showing exceptional synergy and mastery of both 3D printing and precision machining.

Provided with only one extra blank to work with, we were under immense pressure to create a solution that would deliver the desired results without wasting material—and we rose to the challenge.

The ideal precision machine shop should offer a combination of engineering and machining expertise and communicate with you proactively throughout your work together. They should also embrace a range of technologies—from recent innovations like 3D printing to time-tested CNC machining processes.

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