The Advanced Forming Research Centre

Although the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) is an established world-class research base for forming and forging techniques, its remarkable progress means this Glasgow-based facility is set to double in size by September, following a multi-million pound investment. Created in 2009 as a collaborative venture between the University of Strathclyde, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish government, and leading multi-national engineering firms, the AFRC aims to drive innovation and improve competitiveness across a range of industrial sectors. Supported by the government's High Value Manufacturing Catapult and Scottish Enterprise, the expansion to 5,400 m2 will enable the AFRC to further develop its capabilities through the installation of new, advanced forming and forging equipment, and an increase in staff levels from 50 to more than 125 over the next five years. Investment of some £7 million has been placed in three new machines that are set to arrive in the coming months. The first of these (due in September) is a £3.5 million, super plastic forming (SPF) press being built by ACB (+33 02 5113 8400). At a capacity of 1,200 tonnes, some six times the AFRC's existing offer, the SPF press is thought to be the largest research machine of its kind in Europe. It's essentially a high temperature (1,050°C) press for materials that include stainless steel, titanium and nickel alloys, making it suitable for producing airframe components in cycle times as short as 30 minutes. SPF is well documented to deliver far better material yield than machining, while at the same time offering enhanced final component material properties. The SPF press can also be used to produce multi-layer fusion bonded parts, such as fan blades. Here, dies on a 2 by 2.5 m platen area are heated to 900°C; the largely hollow components then have argon pumped into an internal structure at 30 bar that 'blows' the parts to final shape, making them strong, yet light. Also due to arrive in October is a £1.6 million STR 600-3/6 three-roller flow forming machine, one of the largest in the UK. Being built purposely for the AFRC by WF Maschinenbau (+49 2526 93020), this cold forming process is designed to take preforms and produce rotationally symmetric parts, such as drive shafts, pipes and gas bottles. The flow forming process involves applying compression to the outside diameter of a cylindrical perform that is attached to a rotating mandrel. Compression is achieved via a combination of axial and radial forces using a set of three or four rollers that are moved simultaneously along the length of the rotating preform, encouraging the material to flow plastically. The WF STR 600-3/6 can handle materials between 60 and 600 mm thick, with a finished wall thickness of up to 15 mm. The axial length of the part can be 2 m maximum in forward flow forming and up to 4 m in reverse flow forming operations. WORLD-FIRST ROTARY FORGE The third of the new investments, due for delivery in December, is a £2 million RFN 200-4 rotary forge. Being built as a world first by a company called MIC of California, USA, this is a new innovation in cold forming technology. As a concept, it can be loosely conveyed as a 'potter's wheel', whereby a workpiece mounted on a rotating table (400 rpm) is approached by a top- mounted, rotating conical tool that moves inside the part to produce 50-400 mm diameter tubular-type parts in cycle times of just 10-15 seconds. This exceptional speed can be achieved because localised deformation requires relatively low forces – the rotary forge only works one part of a component at a time. The tool is inclined and imitates a 'rocking' motion, as it rotates. Tools can also be purpose-shaped to produce specific forms, if required. The forthcoming machines will add to impressive existing capability at the AFRC. For instance, the centrepiece of the hot workshop is a Schuler (01922 619100) Multi-forge SP315. Designed specifically to manufacture preforms for finish forging, the 2,100 tonne screw press uses split tooling, which is clamped together by the vertical slide prior to forming operations being executed by the horizontal motion. The press accommodates a 3-station bolster, which allows up to three forming operations to be performed in one heat. The press sits in the centre of an automated cell, served either side by a rotary preheat furnace and a Hare (01934 862608) trimming press. An overhead rail-mounted Fanuc (02476 639669) robot transfers parts between the various stages. With a value of £800,000, the cell will soon be enhanced further when a Schuler double-action press, currently being commissioned, starts to produce compressor blade preforms. This press is the first of its type in the world, made unique by its electric motor, rather than conventional mechanical action, which is designed to deliver greater process control. As a point of note, the AFRC is located opposite Rolls-Royce Inchinnan, a 1,000-employee facility that opened in 2004 to produce compressor blades and seals for gas turbine engines. The aerospace giant is one of five current tier one members of the AFRC. Investing £250,000 a year for the privilege, Rolls-Royce can help 'shape' AFRC future research programmes, along with other tier one members Albert & Duvall, Barnes Aerospace, Boeing and Timet. Tier one membership also confers seats on the AFRC's main and technical boards, attendance at research workshops and free access to the research outputs. TAKING IDEAS TO FRUITION Like all seven UK research centres within the HVM Catapult, the key challenge that the AFRC addresses is taking low maturity technology developed within a research environment and deploying it in a manufacturing facility. Current research topics include residual stress, die life, process characterisation, material characterisation, heating/thermal processes, SPF, sheet forming, as well as supporting technologies such as automation and metrology. Those thinking there is a heavy aerospace bias here would be right, but this is about to change. "To date, we have primarily served the aerospace sector, but we had to start somewhere and these companies have invested heavily in the AFRC," explains engineering director Dr Paul Blackwell. "We are now in the process of examining the needs of other sectors that will include renewables, oil and gas, nuclear, marine and automotive. We have a target of adding two new tier one members within the coming 12 months." Tier two members, of which there are currently 14, pay £25,000 a year (three-year minimum commitment) – a sum that can be either cash or contribution in kind; technology or expertise, for example. Aside from its core research programmes, the AFRC also undertakes private research for a single company or consortium, and also works with industry through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). Those thinking that research centres such as the AFRC are only there to help large OEMs, think again. In reality, there are many ways for companies of all sizes to get involved with the AFRC and, although some level of investment is required, there are several potential funding options available. The AFRC encourages anyone with a requirement to engage in discussions to find out more. CYLINDER INNOVATION A recent case history involving an SME centres on Fife-based McDonald Engineers, a company with a long history of manufacturing copper hot water cylinders. However, with the price of copper increasing significantly, McDonald wanted to introduce a stainless steel product line to extend its markets and stay ahead of competitors. The company had no experience of working with stainless steel and embarked on a KTP with the AFRC to gain a better understanding of the new material and design, and install a new manufacturing process. McDonald Engineers today has an extended product range, new skills and techniques, and has the first stainless steel hot water cylinder production line in Scotland. The AFRC is now working on several new KTP projects with other SMEs, while the organisation also reports that, since its recent tie-up with the Confederation of British Metalforming, it is engaged with several CBM members on issues such as tool cracking. Box item Cold workshop The cold workshop at the AFRC contains advanced equipment used for the preparation, cutting and finishing of metal samples and components. The most recent addition is a Maneo 105/30 CNC press brake (105 tonnes over a 3,000 mm bed), supplied by Jean Perrot Industries (+33 385 478800). A laser-controlled angle measuring and correction system enables first time bending accuracy within 10 seconds of arc. It produces sheet metal parts, as well as bent preforms, prior to final forming in closed tooling on the AFRC's sheet forming presses. Supporting equipment includes Agie Charmilles (02476 538666) EDM technology, Haas (01603 760539) milling and turning machines, and Jones & Shipman (0116 201 3000) grinding capability. Among the innovative work currently taking place here is the use of a single-point tool on a CNC milling machine to 'form' components by pushing flat sheet into a bottom die. The process represents a simple, low capital method of producing prototypes or performing repairs in-situ. Box item 2 Lab measures up The metrology and microscopy laboratory at the AFRC features equipment valued at circa £1 million. Here, a Crysta Apex C12 co-ordinate measuring machine from Mitutoyo (01264 353123) is fitted with a Renishaw (01453 524524) probe, and can accommodate workpieces up to 2,000 kg in weight and up to 1,200 mm in height. Also sited in the laboratory is a GOM (02476 639920) ATOS III Triple Scan with photogrammetry for non-contact measurement of complex components with deep pockets or fine edges, such as turbine blades, reducing the number of individual scans and resulting in a simple handling. An Infinite Focus G4 from Alicona (01732 746670) is deployed for surface roughness scanning and micro-geometry measurements – the latter offers up to 20 nm resolution over an area of 100 mm. Infinite Focus is based on focus variation. The optical technology delivers a measurement density of more than 100 million measurement points, which enables form and roughness measurement of even large measurement areas and volumes. First published in Machinery, July 2013