Project TiFab; Innovative Linear Friction Welding technology for Near Net Shape manufacture of advanced titanium aerospace components

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1 Project TiFab; Innovative Linear Friction Welding technology for Near Net Shape manufacture of advanced titanium aerospace components Project Partners; 1 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017

2 Project details: The TiFab project set out to develop and demonstrate Linear Friction Welding (LFW) technology as a new way of manufacturing aerospace quality components using near net shape titanium alloy - but with greater flexibility and higher production rates than are currently available. The TiFab project progressed the technology required for cost effective LFW of titanium aero structures and developed this concept from its original position of TRL3 to TRL8 / MRL8, culminating in the production and testing of a relevant industrial demonstrator. The project started in 2014 and completed successfully 3 years later in May 2017 with the manufacture of the industrial demonstrator. Throughout this time, the partners worked together as a consortium, supported by 1.6M funding from Innovate UK for this work, split between the partners. We've accomplished a 100% success rate in producing tailored blank solutions which also delivered at least 30% in material savings. It's a remarkable achievement especially as we didn't know what parts would be supplied by the OEMs, said Martin Wood, VP Programme & Quality Management at CAV Advanced Technologies Ltd. Partners and Achievements: CAV Advanced Technologies; Development of a comprehensive working understanding of principles, design and financial considerations of LFW as applied to titanium components. Establishment of a network with potential endusers and supply chain partners. Discovery of a potential fast method to predict fatigue life for various weld and post weld heat treatments based on static measurement. TWI; Development of modular cost effective LFW tooling based on load hoop, volume reducing, work-holder with part specific inserts. Development of effective LFW procedures for high quality welding, including parametric process window sustained by metallurgical assessment and properties performance. Development of an in process data monitoring (named TRACE) recording and analyzing pertinent parameters required for weld qualification and quality assurance Development of a concept LFW production cell Ten Solutions; Development of a comprehensive suite of interlinked software programs for predicting the manufacturing cost of linear friction welded aircraft parts over a year before production commenced. KUKA; Development of a unique, patented, low-cost tooling system for tailored blank production. Invention of simultaneous welding of linear friction welded components (patented). Potential for significant commercial outcomes following engagement with all of the leading aerospace OEMs. Demonstrator manufacture on multiple linear friction welding platforms which have achieved TRL8, a major step forward from the TRL5 objective at the start of the project. 2 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017

3 Table 1: Summary of the project grant details Project Funding Lead Partner No. of Partners TiFab Total: 2.485m CAV Advanced Grant: 1.621m Technologies 4 Partner Composition 1 Large company 2 SMEs & 1 RTO Duration June 2014, May 2017 Table 2: Summary of the project focus areas ATI Value Streams ATI Enablers ATI Attributes Strategic Horizon Whole Aircraft Aerodynamics Safety Secure x Structures x Manufacturing x Cost x Exploit x Propulsion Materials x Environment x Position x Systems Infrastructure Fuel Burn Process and Tools x Operational Needs Passenger Experience Technology Achievements: Objective Review potential cases for LFW use. Contact current component consumers. Promote the benefits of near net shape production. Select a number of good demonstrator candidates Engaged with top four commercial aircraft producers (Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer). Assessed 174 different structural components for suitability. a 100% success rate for LFW tailored blank production. Large potential market defined and ability to supply within consortium created Objective Develop strategy for tailored blank design. Review possible weld locations in comparison with part loading using FEA. Use 3-D models to improve process understanding. Down select demonstrator candidates based on suitability criteria and project targets. Created tailored blank design strategy. Delivered two LFW design workshops for CAV-AT design engineers. Produced 3-D tailored blank model for stringer component. FEA study of weld joint loading and impact of in-plane loads during the LFW process was completed. Developed candidate selection tool that identified all major characteristics for part production using the LFW process 3 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017

4 Objective Assess various approaches for LFW manufacture with reference to material availability specification and grain flow. Confirm min. and max. values for incoming materials regards plate size, dimensional tolerance, interface geometry, machining and welding allowance, LFW machine capability, tooling envelope constraints and timescales. FEA study of tailored blanks and interaction with tooling A table of standard plate sizes for LFW part production was created. A study of the impact of grain flow for LFW part production was completed. An illustration of all the dimensional tolerances for LFW part production was created. A study of the impact of interface geometry of incoming material on the welded component was completed including an FEA model of the parts interaction with tooling and in-plane load and stability characteristics. Objective Full business case workup for potential demonstrator parts including impact on productivity, product price, margins, buy off, quality for LFW. Down select a suitable small number of final examples for TiFab demonstrator. Created a suite of tools to evaluate candidate parts, from design considerations, through capacity and utilisation scenarios and full value stream costing of the finished aircraft component. Through the use of these programmes we were able to predict the cost of our demonstrator part to less than 3% of the actual cost of manufacture, over 14 months before the part was produced. 4 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017

5 Figure 1; Welding of demonstrator Part Figure 2; Completed demonstrator- LFW blank and final product Table 3: Summary of the technology achievements Project Performance Improvements TRL Progression Improved buy to fly ratios for all Replacement of traditional part parts reviewed, improved cost of TRL3 to TRL8 manufacture techniques manufacture Economic Impact: The work carried out within the TiFab project has allowed the partners to highlight the technology to OEM s and will differentiate the UK from low-cost overseas suppliers. TiFab focused on the aerostructures market, working with OEM s on the potential for LFW. 5 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017

6 The goal of the partners is to supply the technology as a complete package which required a complete understanding of all the processes. The ability to offer LFW manufacture as a package from cost analysis to finished components will put the UK in a strong position to gain work-share on current and future platforms. Figure 3; Supply chain identified and available through TiFab Partners within the UK Development within the UK also includes the LFW machines with new designs offering solutions for OEM s. This has already been demonstrated with different weld areas and geometries to OEM requirements. 6 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017

7 Figure 4; LR series of LFW machines- UK manufacture Table 4: Summary of the economic impact Project Value created Employment Value attributed to project; Readiness Replacement of for the implementation of LFW products traditional part on aircraft structures and the continued Safeguarded: 136 manufacture development of the process and techniques machines within the UK Next Steps: The consortium is continuing to promote LFW to the market and is working with OEM s to develop cost reduction solutions for current and future products, and it doesn t stop there, technical achievements created through TiFab are also under review for potential future development activities. Alan Shilton from TEN Solutions summarised the project with: 7 Copyright Aerospace Technology Institute. 2017