TITAL convinces BAE Systems and Airbus
Release Date: 2009-08-25
Bestwig. Preston. Toulouse. During the last few years the TITAL foundry has been very successful converting titanium components that were machined from solid material into near-net shape titanium castings. This machined raw material to a casting conversion has been especially successful on the Eurofighter which is assembled at BAE Systems in England and also the Airbus family of airplanes manufactured in Toulouse, France. These TITAL lead projects clearly demonstrated that titanium investment castings are more cost-efficient than machined parts from solid material.The success of a part conversion largely depends on the "mind-set" of the customers engineers, says TITAL project manager Michael Kersting. Broadening the horizon of the development engineer is typically the most difficult process for the titanium and aluminum investment casting specialist TITAL. "About eight years ago we managed to successfully convert a 28” lever for the BAE Systems Eurofighter which opens the wheel well from a milled part to an investment casting. Since that project, the expansion started and BAE Systems is driving casting conversions on their own", says Kersting.
Also at Airbus Toulouse facility at the Saint Eloi plant, titanium castings are preferred as well. In Saint Eloi the pylons (connections between the engine and the wing) for all Airbus models are developed, produced and assembled. TITAL Key Account Manager, Thomas Stephan, "Sant Eloi has its own chipping capacities at its disposal. Due to the good experience with titanium investment casting conversions, the cost for the milled parts are analyzed over and over again by their own Design to Cost teams. Thus new areas for titanium investment applications emerge. Thus 12 different fasteners for the A400M pylon have been converted into castings." The design advantages of the castings have been fully exhausted and Airbus has experienced reduced costs as well as part weight. When new products are developed such as the A350 XWB Pylon, TITAL is integrated into the customers "Concurrent Engineering Teams" and has the opportunity to recommend casting alternatives during the critical design phase.
As a result from the mutually beneficial cooperation with its client BAE Systems, TITAL understands why engineers avoid the conversion to titanium castings. “In order to use the investment casting process it is necessary to invest in tooling which initially counteracts a conversion to an investment casting.”, explains Michael Kersting. “However, the fixed costs are usually overestimated compared to the cost savings and depending on the delivery quantity the conversion is paid off within one year.”
The investment for casting tooling differs greatly depending on the complexity of the component. Especially the cost for titanium castings are amortized rapidly as the loss of material is close to zero. Kersting: "The material waste of a milled part is approximately 70% to 90% compared to an investment casting at 1% to 5%." It took about two years for the British engineers to realize that the use of titanium investment castings is considerably cheaper than the use of parts produced from the solid. TITAL has produced 150 Main Landing Gear Hinges (MLG) and 150 Nose Landing Gear Hinges (NLG) for BAE Systems with another 200 pieces per component yet to be delivered. The positive experience that BAE Systems has with its German titanium partner are so good that TITAL has already received requests for the US "Joint Strike Fighter" project. The rear section of this new fighter jet will be assembled at BAE Systems in Preston and the majority of the assembly will consist of titanium investment castings.
About TITAL GmbH
TITAL supplies industry leading companies around the world in the field of aerospace with sophisticated aluminum and titanium investment casting products using the lost wax process. TITAL was founded in 1974 and in 2006, the management took over the company with the support of DZ Equity Partner GmbH - an investment company of the DZ Bank AG from Frankfurt. Today the company employs 400 people with 2008 revenue of $63M.
Regularly scheduled workshops take place at TITAL for engineers from the aerospace industry. The aim of these events is to provide specific training to the developers and design professionals regarding the use of casting materials in order to achieve the production of a component at optimal cost. The participants also get an in-depth understanding about the aluminum and titanium investment casting process.
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