PROJECTS
The ultimate goal of the initiative coordinated by the Basque technology centre consists in generating prototype equipment for high-speed micro-drilling of large aeronautical panels fitted on airplane wings.
The aerospace business requires innovative solutions to build lighter and less contaminating aircraft. Consequently, the trend nowadays is to develop new generation planes that will help to reduce fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and acoustic pollution.
IK4-TEKNIKER is coordinating an initiative whose main objective is to develop a high-speed micro drilling machine prototype based on laser technology to micro perforate large titanium panels for the aeronautic industry.
The prototype will be able to microdrill millions of holes of less than 100 µm in diameter at a processing speed above 300 holes/second on 5 x 2 m titanium panels to achieve Hybrid Laminar Flow Control (HFLC) on aeronautic structures.
The German technology centre Bremer Institut Fur Angewandte Strahltechnik (BIAS) and Aernnova are also involved in this initiative that began in 2017 and will end in 2020.
“We perform tasks such as the commissioning of the high-speed laser micro-drilling process and also design, assemble and validate the entire machine. At this point in time, the design stage has practically concluded and we have now initiated the manufacturing process. It has been estimated that this machine will be fully operational by the end of 2019", says the project manager.
The project coordinator also states that the technology centre's specialisation in high-speed micro-drilling processes for metal alloys and its expertise in other areas such as optics, mechanics and electronics represent a key contribution from IK4-TEKNIKER as regards this initiative.
With a total budget of two million euros, the project will also include the commissioning of a small proprietary designed high-accuracy machining centre transformed into a laser micro-drilling machine for which a high speed process has been provided.
The researcher also says that “this machine features a number of on-the-spot process and quality controls to ensure that tolerance requirements specified by the aeronautical industry for drilling are met in full”.
In this project, IK4-TEKNIKER is applying its extensive knowledge connected to laser technology developments that form part of the comprehensive solution called the "Laser for Manufacturing Lab", an initiative that provides a joint and coordinated offer of the entire range of laser technology solutions developed at the technology centre.
This project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking under European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement n° 755620.
