Moor Filtertechniek creates impressive technical solution for Fokker Aerostructures
A Boeing 737, powered by Moor Filtertechniek? That might be taking slightly too much credit for our role in the aircraft manufacturing industry. But the creativity found in Maasdijk is one reason why the production process for wings, engines and other aircraft parts is now running smoothly at Fokker Aerostructures. We have worked with this company for 25 years, finding solutions for sometimes quite unusual issues in a sector where material tolerances are simply ‘not done’.
Hoogeveen may not be the first place that comes to mind for the manufacture of hightech aircraft parts. However, the Drenthe landscape still contains many features of what once was a proud Dutch aircraft manufacturer. Fokker Aerostructures is today a supplier for the international aircraft manufacturers. It makes parts for the Joint Strike Fighter and also for passenger and freight planes for the big names in the industry.
From electronics to the medical sector
Over the last quarter of a century, Moor Filtertechniek has devised several solutions to help Fokker Aerostructures streamline its production processes. And not only for the aircraft manufacturing industry. Moor Filtertechniek’s products (and expertise) can be found in all sectors where the use of machining techniques is standard practice, from electronics to the medical sector.
On this occasion, however, the question we received from Hoogeveen was extremely complex: they use a Mandelli Spark 1600x CNC machining centre but are always having problems with transporting chips and filtering the coolant emulsion. The standard procedure for separating the coolant from the chips has never functioned adequately in this situation.
Downtime in the production process
Frequent blockages resulted in downtime in the production process – highly undesirable when a process should normally continue 24/7. Broken components in the machine’s discharge system were another regular problem, while coolant emulsion contaminated with chips is not suitable for frequent re-use, because it leads to faster wear of the pumps. Could Moor Filtertechniek come up with an idea?
Transporter in discharge system
As a specialist in aftermarket solutions, we developed a modification in the chip discharge system. This involved inserting a new element into the discharge line: a transporter that ‘vacuums’ the chips and coolant from the machine bed. A slot screen (sleufzeef; a fine filter for particles down to 20 microns) then removes even the smallest contaminants. This concept devised at Maasdijk not only cuts the cost of using (expensive) coolant but also reduces the environmental burden.
‘Specials for customer-specific systems’
The configuration developed by Moor Filtertechniek is now running to the customer’s complete satisfaction in Hoogeveen, says technical specialist Paul Sonneveld. ‘Until Fokker Aerostructures called us in, they’d been struggling with that machine for years. Machine downtime means production hours are lost. Although many machine suppliers also supply the filters for removing chips, these are often standard systems. We focus much more on the specials for customer-specific problems, including the ones where exotic materials are used. And for every problem, there’s always a solution.’