The Airbus A380 has 555 seats and is a new type of top passenger aircraft. It is not only developed using high-tech materials, but its production process has also reached the current state of the art. Due to the optimization of production tools, the service life of CFK composite metal in the Airbus workshop can be increased by approximately 450%—with a small drilling error and a low degree of burr.
Fig. 1 Diamond-coated tool for rivet holes between stringers made of CFK and wing skin
Fig. 2 The milling application example of this CFK material shows that the service life of the tool can be increased by a multiple of the diamond coating (handle diameter 6mm, Vc=600m/min, fz=0.25mm/teeth)
The achievements of the aviation industry are based on the cooperation between professional companies: Airbus in Stade and Hamburg has used a number of companies to develop diamond coated coatings when processing composite fiber materials. A solid hard metal drill saves time and money. In the aircraft manufacturing industry, lower manufacturing costs are just as decisive factors in leading the global competition as high safety, long service life, and low fuel consumption. Therefore, designers are willing to consider lightweight materials. Such as new aluminum alloy material (AlSi) and carbon fiber reinforced plastic. The CFK occupies approximately 22% of the new A380 passenger aircraft in terms of structural weight (Figure 1). According to the purpose of use, the tool selection material is very demanding for cutting. Especially in the A380 assembly shop in Hamburg, the wear of cutters is especially severe when drilling mixed materials such as CFK, aluminum and titanium. In order to meet the requirements of cutting tasks on tool life and quality, the tool must be optimized. In response, Airbus contacted Klenk, a tool manufacturer. In a joint R&D project chaired by the University of Hamburg-Harburg Technical University, the company developed a tool that is compatible with the special hard metal manufacturer Extramet and the coating specialist Cemecon. These tools perfectly meet the requirements of the field of use in terms of substrate, geometry and coating. The A380 has two floors. The crossbeam of the underlying ceiling is of CFK material and must be used in conjunction with a supporting structure, namely an aluminum diaphragm. When the composite material is cut, if the drill has no coating, its life can only drill 90 holes. After plating a corresponding CC-Dia-Fiberspeed coating material, 500 holes were drilled in the initial cutting test while the drill or coating was still intact. With diamond-coated tools, the service life can be extended by approximately 45% in this application. By optimizing the adhesion mechanism of the coating on the hard metal, the circumferential wear of the drill can be greatly reduced. As the replacement time is shortened, the potential for tool purchase cost savings is great. Therefore, while the production efficiency has been greatly improved, the manufacturing quality has also been greatly improved. The wing of the Airbus A400M aircraft needs to process rivet holes with a diameter of up to 10mm to connect the stringers to the surface of the wing. The longitudinal beams are longitudinal lightweight rib structures that can increase the rigidity of large, flat parts. The CFRP material is used on both the stringer and the wing surface and should be drilled together in one processing step, so it is extremely important to avoid delamination or peeling of the outer material layer. When using unplated or PVD-added drills, it is impossible to achieve Airbus's high tolerance of H8. The CC-Dia Series Diamant-Multilayer diamond multi-coating technology is very effective: With CFK Paroli coated drills, severe wear phenomena can be eliminated. In addition, diamond is also very resistant to chemical attack, which also avoids adsorption of the workpiece material. Extend tool life to increase productivity However, not only is Sandwich important in aircraft manufacturing, but aluminum is also a popular material. The transition between the cockpit and the fuselage and the bearing surface still requires integral aluminum parts. Airbus aims to improve the stability of these parts. For this reason, Airbus approached Jabro, a tool manufacturer. In order to improve the stability of the milling process, the service life of the tools and the production efficiency, Jabro has worked very closely with the production department of Airbus Meaulte. The jointly developed tools were used in Airbus's production. After the initial test, it was concluded that the result of adsorption of the aluminum material is to make the torque increase during the milling process. This adsorption will affect the structure of the material being cut, which will have an adverse effect on the service life of the tool. Therefore, the following requirements have been made: The tool life should be doubled in order to increase production efficiency and achieve a stable production process. Cemecon has developed a particularly suitable Mega-T coating technology for the Seco Jabro-VHM cutters. A detailed examination of the pretreatment of the tool was also conducted, and a process was developed to reduce the degree of adsorption of the aluminum material. Similarly, the tool transfer operations within the Airbus workshop have also been optimized to achieve the highest accuracy of the production process.
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