Professional Services Group
Undercarriage Manufacture 
Background:
Landing gear components are typically
complex forgings that are very heavy and
contain numerous complex features that
need to be precisely aligned and
machined.
Further complicating the manufacturing
process, much of the starting material
needs to be machined away. In order to
increase product life, components are also
subjected to heat treatment during the
manufacture process.
Both of these activities cause stress
release in the material which increases the
likelihood of part deformation. These
issues increase the complexity of the
manufacturing process considerably.
In order to monitor the extent of
deformation it is common for components
to be transferred to a Co-ordinate
measuring machine (CMM) at key stages in
the production process. This involves
lengthy breakdown and setup activities.
The transfer of datums can often lead to
costly setup errors and scrapped parts.
Delcam’s Professional Services Group has
considerable expertise in this sector.
Through close collaboration with end
customers and other specialists, an
automated work cell can be developed with
the
ability
to
monitor
deformation
throughout
the
process
and
react
accordingly. Through the use of adaptive
machining technology the need for
excessive
CMM
inspection
can
be
drastically reduced or removed altogether.