The front-line players choose Breton vertical machining centres

A large number of leading companies have invested in Breton 5-axis machining centres. The Machine Tools Division of this ever-expanding machine manufacturer is meeting the requirements of some of the world's most prestigious aerospace industry companies.

The machines are gaining ascendancy on the market for a host of reasons: firstly because of their high performance and suitability for machining materials and parts in aluminium, steel or titanium. Breton's high speed machining centres are the high-tech solution adopted by world-famous aerospace companies to reduce production times and maximise the quality of their machining operations.

Many top-players in the aerospace industry have purchased Breton vertical machining centres:

The following overview illustrates a range of components created using Breton machine tools.

Machining with chip removal of structural components and engines of  aircraft, helicopters, and satellites, including rotary and static parts, made of materials from titanium to carbon fibre.

LARGE SIZES

High chip removal rates, high speed milling also of large size parts. High precision guaranteed on five continuous interpolated axes offering the ease to create the complex geometrical shapes typically found in the aerospace industry.

Aircraft engine structure, from Wikipedia

BLISKS AND IMPELLERS

Among the most common components in aerospace engineering are various types of blisk created using the 5 continuous axes, impellers for starting aircraft engines, or Cases accommodating blisks and impellers. High-precision turning, for the disc, and milling, for the vanes, all performed on the same machine.

AUTOMATION

The workpieces can be loaded into Breton machining centres through an automatic pallet changer for higher throughput and greater flexibility of daily production schedules, with a live load capacity on each pallet of up to 2000 kg and a static load capacity of 2500 kg, as on the Xceeder machines. 

While the maximum swing over bed in this case on the  Ultrix, another machining centre that is especially suitable for the aerospace industry, is 800 mm (Ultrix 800 RT), 1000 mm (Ultrix 1000 RT) or 1500 mm (Ultrix 1200 RT).

There are several possible solutions. Just as installed on the  Breton Maxima machining centre: a special pallet changer system for turning with round pallets (1600 mm diameter) for rotation of 350 rpm at maximum precision.


The machine can operate in pendulum mode. For example, Alenia-Aermacchi produces a range of engines and structural components with its Breton Flymill machining centre, a machine series that is especially suitable for the aerospace industry.

Piaggio Aerospace has actually acquired  6 Ultrix machining centres, with pallet changer and unique ergonomic design to facilitate operator access to the workpiece. The Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has a Flymill with double beam, double carriage and double head: two machines in one; an even more sophisticated pendulum system in which machining operations can be performed simultaneously on both sides of the machine on different workpieces or on the same workpiece, thus slashing production times.



Conversely, TAI (Turkish Aerospace Industries) has chosen 3 Flymills with automatic mobile table changer, as shown in action in the video clip.

Also the new Matrix machines can be customised, with some clients opting for a K80 version with X axis travel of 8,000 mm.
To minimise costs and times Breton supplies its customers with increasingly automated and unmannedmachining centres connecting multiple pallets and FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) transfer systems.

COMPOSITES

The Eagle and Raptor machining centres have proved popular among companies needing especially to work with composites, resins, and fibres for lightweight aerostructures and other components.

For example, take a look at the ultrasound cutting head with a sandwich honeycomb panel, a composite structural aircraft component. This accessory has been developed by Breton for ultrasound cutting, a technology that is already employed by several of Breton's, clients, including TAI; ideal for machining aramid and aluminium honeycomb core materials for structural components that call for ever lower weight combined with greater rigidity.

The following video clip, filmed at Jec World in Paris, shows a Breton Eagle 1400 5 interpolated axis machining centre at work, with both an ultrasound head and a head for counterboring, which drills the holes in an aircraft door thanks to 3 transducers positioned around the drilling tool, with no need for special programming operations.

The transducers come into contact with the carbon fibre surface and define the real spatial position, directly compensating the direction perpendicular to the surface and measuring the precise depth of counterboring.

A unique solution, already adopted by various aerostructure manufacturers, including Sonaca, which now offers higher precision components with far shorter lead times.

PERFORMANCE

The exceptional performance in terms of chip removal rates of the Breton Matrix 1000/K60 Dynamic machining centres is attracting growing interest: up to 11000 cm3/min, torque output in S1, with electrospindles having power rating of 70 kW, capable of rotating at 28,000 rpm.

A machining centre already chosen by Merletti Aerospace and Halgand, with high power, masses of torque and high rpm in a single spindle, to handle processes such as aluminium roughing and finishing.

Breton machining centres are chosen not only for their accuracy and reliability, but also because they are tailor-made.

If you think our machining centres could match the requirements of your production processes, get in touch at mail@breton.it .

We'll get back to you promptly.
Well, that’s all for today. 
Bye-bye

Sergio Prior

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5-axis high-speed machining, aerospace, blisk, breton cnc, breton vertical machining centres, chip removal, impeller, pallet

Countersinking and ultrasonic cutting: two major breakthroughs

Aerospace, the industry continuously searching for innovative materials offering better performance and always looking for micrometrical accuracies.

An industry that needs someone who can promptly develop cutting edge production solutions which could be both competitive and reliable.

That's why many major Aerospace players selected Breton as a partner, the Italian company manufacturing high-speed machining centres who recently introduced two revolutionary technologies that open up new machining horizons for the aero-applications.

COUNTERSINKThe heart of one of these is a machining head that can drill and countersink not only faster but also more precisely than ever before. It can be installed on a variety of 5-axis machining centres, such as those of the Breton Matrix and Breton Eagle families.

No special programing is required since automatically 3 accurate probes around the cutting tool come into contact with the surface of the workpiece to detect the real position in the space, directly adjusting the perpendicular direction to the surface and measuring the exact countersinking depth.

All in one shot!

It's a unique solution, which has already been adopted by various aerostructure manufacturers who now supply components with a higher degree of accuracy in much faster lead times.

ULTRASONIC
Another exciting innovation focuses on the accessories Breton has developed for ultrasonic cutting, ideal for machining core materials with aramid and aluminium honeycomb, for structural components which must be lighter than ever while maintaining their structural rigidity, produced at incredible speed.

MULTITASKING CONCEPT
Both technologies are automatically managed and are interchangeable with other conventional rotary cutting tools, for a perfect multitasking concept, performing a series of operations with just one machine thus reducing investments, production costs and times, while guaranteeing greater accuracy and more efficient productivity.

For info and requests about Breton machining heads, write now to mail@breton.it.

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5-axis high-speed machining, aerospace, aerostructure, breton eagle, breton matrix, countersink, drill, honeycomb, ultrasonic cutting

Breton launches Matrix 1000 and Ultrix 1000 at EMO 2015 in Milan

Good morning,

Our solutions for your success: we look forward to seeing you at the exhibition EMO 2015, in Milan (Italy), from 5 to 10 October
[Hall 1 - Stand D 19].

Come and see closely the two Breton's CNC machining centres:
MATRIX 1000 K60 DY and ULTRIX 1000 RT HD.

BRETON MATRIX 1000 K60 DY

The perfect solution for aerospace industry. A 5-axis high-speed machining centre for milling large-size aluminium components equipped with an electrospindle that can machine workpieces up to 6 meters in length (removal capacity: 11000 cm3/min). 
Click on the image to read more. 

BRETON ULTRIX 1000 RT HD

Are you looking for a machining centre that combines milling and turning? 
Your solution is ULTRIX 1000 RT HD, the multitasking machine for working superalloys, steel, aluminium and composite materials, already chosen by first-class energy, aerospace and gear industries. 
Click on the image to read more. 

Well, that’s all for today. 

Bye-bye

Sergio Prior

Read More

5-axis high-speed machining, aluminium, breton matrix 1000, breton Ultrix, CNC machining centres, Composite materials, EMO 2015, EMO Milano, steel, superalloys