Established in 1984 and widely recognised as a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance motor-sport transmissions, Thatcham-based Xtrac makes everything from casings through to gears, shafts, crown wheels and pinions — and everything else that constitutes these drive systems.

The company uses the latest in casting, milling, turning, grinding, EDM, surface finishing, gear cutting and grinding technologies — with all these processes inspected with metrology equipment from Anodover-based Mitutoyo UK Ltd (www.mitutoyo.co.uk).

Xtrac inspection manager Neil Warwick, who has been at the staff-owned business since 1988, when it was a small 15-employee company, was instrumental in specifying Mitutoyo equipment almost 30 years ago.

He said: “I looked at what our customers in the motor-sport and F1 industries were using. They all had Mitutoyo equipment, and we wanted to have a synergy with them, so we took the same route; in 1990 we bought a manual BHN706 CMM, which was soon followed by BHN544 and BNH706 CNC CMMs.”

To keep up with a dramatic increase in demand for its products, Xtrac moved to a purpose-built 88,000ft² factory in 2000 and maintained its purchase of the Mitutoyo CNC CMM systems (with Renishaw PH Series motorised indexing heads) required to accommodate the company’s growth.

Xtrac now has some 330 staff, with 20 of them in its inspection department, which now houses six Mitutoyo Crysta-series CMMs of various capacities (these all use the same Mitutoyo MCOSMOS software, the same work-holding jigs and fixtures, and the same Renishaw probing systems).

Mr Warwick says: “We have CMMs on the shopfloor, as well as in our inspection department; and because they are networked, we can easily transfer programs and data to reduce programming times, eliminate program duplication and make CMM-based inspection available ‘at the touch of a button’.”

Mr Warwick has also complemented Xtrac’s metrology capabilities with Mitutoyo Contracer and Formtracer instruments — a situation initiated by a particular F1 gear component with undercuts that needed to be machined and measured to tolerances of ±5µm but could not be measured with a CMM.

“The Formtracer we installed over 10 years ago not only complemented our CMMs but also included surface texture measurement, adding to the basic surface texture measuring equipment we were using at the time.

"We subsequently installed two Contracer CV-3100H8 machines with X and Z2 axis travel of 200 and 500mm respectively. These were followed by a smaller CV-3100H4 machine. We use our Contracers for the 2-D measuring of many non-geometric shapes and features — such as undercuts, grooves and very small radii.”

However, the increasing demand for surface-texture measurement, especially for gear teeth, soon became a capacity restraint. “We needed to increase surface-finish measurement. By controlling and measuring surface finishes on faces that are critical to the function of a component, we have minimised abrasion and enhanced the quality of critical gears and their operational functionality.

“The Formtracer, which has two heads, was undertaking surface finish measurements, as well as checking complex geometries, so we added a Mitutoyo SJ500P Surftest to alleviate the capacity on the Formtracer. This has a PC control and the same software as used by the Formtracer, so training was not an issue.

Moreover, the built-in joystick allows quick and easy positioning, while a manual-adjustment knob allows fine positioning of a small stylus.”

Co-founded in 2007 by Formula One engineer David Cox, Shoreham-by-sea-based Cox Powertrain Ltd has developed the world’s first ‘professional’ marine diesel outboard engine — the CXO300.

The inspiration behind this engine was the global military’s drive to adopt diesel as the preferred fuel and to reduce — or indeed end — its use of petrol.

The engine concept, which sparked interest from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the US Government regarding diesel outboards, prompted the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) to provide £2.5 million in funding — plus technical assistance — to develop the CXO300 for marine use. The company now has close links with the US Coast Guard, as well as the US, Dutch, Swedish and Australian navies.

The CXO300 has been designed to offer ‘increased responsiveness’, enhanced fuel efficiency and improved safety compared with conventional diesels — and to out-perform them.

Moreover, its compactness and low weight belie the power delivered by its patented opposed-piston diesel (OPD) technology; featuring four cylinders and eight pistons, this supercharged two-stroke diesel engine generates 300hp — its 1hp/kg being double that of a standard diesel outboard engine.

Due to launch in 2018, the 3.7-litre CXO300 will have to undergo a series of demanding trials, in addition to satisfying the IMO, Tier 3 EPA and EU emissions compliance procedures; and while meeting military marine needs, the innovative new diesel outboard is expected to be a great success with commercial professionals around the world, as well as the marine leisure sector.

Having been designed to meet the challenging requirements of the global military sector, while providing reliable service in the harshest of marine environments, the highest standards of quality are applied to the CXO300’s manufacture.

The use of advanced production techniques, the application of extremely tight tolerances to its components and a rigorous inspection regime are said to allow the CXO300 to achieve an extended working life when compared to current market offerings.

In addition to dimensional checks, particular attention is paid to various components’ surface roughness parameters.

Duncan Green, Cox Powertrain’s head of procurement, said: “In addition to petrol no longer being permitted on-board military ships, it is also not allowed on many commercial vessels and super-yachts. This has created a problem, as no diesel outboard is currently available in the 250-350hp market.

However, while being the same size and weight as petrol equivalents, the CXO300 is designed to deliver better fuel consumption.

“Given our target customers, the engine’s reliability and working life are particularly important. When compared to the current market offering, the CXO300 has an extended design life — some 6,000hr.

“As the surface finish characteristics of the CXO300’s components have a significant influence on their performance, we recently searched for a surface roughness tester that could give very precise results for the many surface roughness parameters that we require.”

After considering several alternatives, Cox Powertrain bought a Mitutoyo Surftest SJ-500. “This instrument can inspect our parts in all of our surface roughness parameters; it can also work in many other parameters that we may need in the future,” said Mr Green.

“The instrument has proven to be invaluable in upholding the quality of our manufactured components throughout our engine development period; it will also be kept busy coping with anticipated production volumes.”

Ken Edwards, Cox Powertrain’s chief inspector, said: “Being menu-driven, the SJ-500 system is easy to operate. Indeed, I was able to use all of the facilities immediately after the unit was installed; the SJ-500 has a high-resolution colour display with touch-screen operation.

Moreover, the automatic calibration function gives me confidence in the precision of the readings that I achieve — and the unit’s detector system can be mounted laterally for transverse measurements.

“Furthermore, a built-in joystick on the control unit enables quick and easy positioning, while a manual-adjustment knob allows fine positioning of the small stylus; this is particularly useful when testing features such
as the inside surfaces of small holes.

“Set-up is simplified by the use of an ISO roughness-standard input function that allows complex set-ups to be entered by simply selecting the appropriate symbol from a menu.”