CIC marGune develops a proprietary solution for machining of complex aeronautical parts

CIC marGune, research cooperative for manufacturing high performance Center, coordinates a research line of machining by EDM, participation of the Basque country (UPV/EHU) and the Ona Electroerosión S.A. company The line of research aims to ensure a solution to the problems posed by parts of the aeronautical sector in the process of mechanization.

"We are currently developing the prototype of the first piece. "Such a piece is the demonstrator that this technology works", explains José Antonio Sánchez, Coordinator of the research line of CIC marGune. "Today, to know, does not exist such commercial product, so the research carried out has a high component of innovation", he adds.

Parts of the aeronautical sector are usually parts with geometries and very complex cavities, so its mechanization is difficult. EDM machining opens possibilities that are not available with conventional methods, by enabling working with hard materials either for allowing to obtain highly complex geometries.

The process, in general, is used for components many precision and very expensive pieces; normally not used to manufacture large quantities in series, but to make small runs parts, virtually impossible to develop in a different way. It is a process used in a large number of applications, and with great future in sectors such as aeronautics and energy.

The surface of the workpiece to be machined is acquiring the shape of the electrode, eliminating material through successive shock. Hundreds of thousands of downloads are produced per second. It is a process of high technology that includes different technical issues to resolve. On the one hand, "the hundreds of thousands of downloads per second required electronic complexity and a very high performance numerical control," explains Sanchez. On the other hand, "scientific knowledge is fundamental to know how much material to be deleted depending on the energy of the Sparks" it adds. Finally, you must know the metallurgy of the piece to find out what effects has the flush, already that if exceeds the energy, for example, it can be to burn the material. In aviation it is very important not to burn the material, since any failure of parts can be catastrophic", says Sanchez.

As the parts with complicated geometry, it is necessary to design an electrode for cavities and complex geometries, and obtain the path suitable for the electrode. Merge both - electrode and path - requires solving a mathematical problem that has not been yet resolved scientifically. In this line of research, along with Ona EDM S.A., "are developing the scientific basis for the problem and be able to integrate it into a software that would be owned by the company and does not currently exist in the market worldwide", explains Sanchez.

Thanks to this collaboration, in a short period, probably before the end of the year, Ona Electroerosión S.A. enterprise will have a proprietary solution that integrates mathematics, software, and knowledge of the machine to solve machining problems presenting parts of aeronautics.