Advanced Engineering 2016

The UK’s largest annual engineering trade show, Advanced Engineering, returns to Birmingham’s NEC on 2-3 November 2016. This event, which is now recognised as a hub for the advanced engineering industry, brings together engineering professionals and decision-makers to see the latest innovations and technologies.

The show has attracted more than 80 industry bodies, associations and organisations, many of whom will be hosting ‘content-rich’ conference programmes and seminar sessions. They include the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, the Aluminium Federation, the European Powder Metallurgy Association, the Engineering Integrity Society and the GTMA. Visitors will have access to over 700 exhibitors, including XYZ Machine Tools, Guhring, Asquith Butler, Eastman Machine Co, Batten & Allen, Biesse Group, Metalysis, Ningbo United Machines, Nitto Kohki Europe, MSA Manufacturing and Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum.

As well as a host of leading industry suppliers, Advanced Engineering will feature ‘four shows within a show’. These will span key industry sectors, including aerospace, automotive, motor-sport, marine, civil engineering,
performance metals and composite materials.

Automotive Engineering: This brings together major players from the UK’s automotive sector, offering opportunities to do business and view the latest technologies from leading automotive suppliers. Visitors will be able to see presentations from the likes of Jaguar Land Rover and Magna International; they will also have access to ‘big-name’ exhibitors such as SMMT, High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, North East Automotive Alliance, Motorsport Industry Association and National Instruments.

Aero Engineering: The UK aerospace industry employs nearly 130,000 people and has grown by 39% since 2010, achieving a turnover of £31 billion. It has also been tasked with delivering new technologies to ensure that the next generation of civil aircraft is cleaner, quieter and more efficient than ever. Aero Engineering will feature a line-up of keyindustry suppliers and research institutes, many of which are committed to finding new technologies and innovations in areas such as aero structures, power plants, R&D, materials and production. A number of presentations will be made at this event’s conference, including those by ADS, North West Aerospace Alliance, British Institute of Non Destructive Testing, HVM Catapult, RAPRA, ATI, National Aerospace Technology Programme and National Physical Laboratory.

Performance Metals Engineering: This is one of the fastest-growing areas of advanced engineering and is worth £2.6 billion a year to the UK economy. The show provides the latest information and trends for those involved in casting, extrusion, stamping and forging processes. It also caters for powder metallurgy, friction drilling, sheet-forming processes, metal-surface engineering and many more. Presentations taking place at this event’s conference include: ‘Simulation and virtual design for manufacturing technology of high-performance metal parts’ (Nikolay Biba, technical manager at MICAS Simulations Ltd);‘Better by laser: Saving weight, money and time with lasers in manufacturing’ (Dave MacLellan, executive secretary at the Association of Industrial Laser Users); ‘Engineering with aluminium’ (Ian Oliver and Jan Lukaszewski, ALFED); and ‘Introduction to spark plasma/direct-current sintering for commercial applications’ (Adrian Goodbrand, product sales manager at Vacuum Furnace Engineering). Meanwhile, Bob Aalund, business development manager at Thermal Technology, will present ‘Direct-current sintering for commercial applications’.

Composites Engineering: The total global composites market is estimated to be worth £80 billion; the composites market for the automotive industry in the UK is predicted to grow to over £3 billion by 2030. Composites Engineering will highlight the latest breakthroughs in composite materials, the most up-to-date equipment used to produce the composites and the research and development that takes place at every level of the industry. Exhibitors presenting their latest technologies to the UK market include: Composites UK, PREA Ltd, Swift Composites Ltd, NetComposites, Irish Centre for Composites Research (IComp), EPM Technology, Scott Bader and Gazechim Composites UK. Presentations will include a variety of subjects, including large structures, nano-composites, sport and leisure, thermoplastic composites and affordable composites.

For further information about Advanced Engineering 2016, please visit www.advancedengineeringuk.com or contact one of the Easyfairs team on +44 (0)20 8843 8800. Advanced Engineering will also run alongside Lab Innovations, the UK’s only event dedicated to laboratory professionals. Visitors will have the opportunity to access all shows with one badge.

Production-related equipment

XYZ Machine Tools (www.xyzmachinetools.com), exhibiting on stand C1, has supplied machine tool technology to some of the UK’s leading manufacturers; including those in Formula One, aerospace, power generation, defence and the electronics sector. Its success across all of these industries is down to its diverse range of machines, plus the ease of use and versatility that they provide.

XYZ will be displaying a selection of machines at Advanced Engineering, including its ProtoTrak-controlled lathes, mills and 2-OP portable vertical machining centre, plus the Siemens-controlled CT52 turning centre and 710 VMC vertical machining centre. The machines being exhibited with the ProtoTrak control system are the SMX 3500 bed mill and the SLX 355 lathe. ProtoTrak is a highly versatile and intuitive control system that allows even inexperienced operators to program and produce complex components using two- and three-axis operations. The speed at which ProtoTrak can be programmed makes it suitable for single items and prototype work, as well as small to
medium-size batch production.

The 2-OP vertical machining centre with ProtoTrak TMX control has been designed to allow cellular manufacturing to take place anywhere in the factory, the machine’s compact construction allowing it to be located wherever it is needed and free up high-value machine tools from menial tasks such as pre-op or second-op work. In spite of its portability, the 2-OP has a work envelope of 355 x 305 x 455mm, a 457 x 381mm table and a rapid-traverse rate of 15m/min in all axes. Also featured are a 3hp 6,000rev/min BT30 spindle and an eight-position tool-changer.

Higher-productivity machines will be represented by a 710 VMC and a Compact Turn 52 turning centre. The VMC range features substantial Meehanite castings, plus extra-wide induction-hardened box slideways with Turcite-B coatings. As standard, VMC machines feature a 20hp 8,000rev/min spindle, a 24-position arm-type automatic tool-changer, and feed rates up to 20m/min in all axes.

The Compact Turn 52 has a footprint of just 1,700 x 1,450mm in its standard form, but it features a 20hp 5,000rev/min spindle, axis travels of 185 and 325mm in X and Z, and rapid-traverse rates of 20m/min. Like its VMC
machines, XYZ’s turning centres also feature substantial Meehanite castings with hardened and ground box slideways.

Faro UK (www.faro.com) — stand O60 — will be demonstrating how its range of portable 3-D measurement equipment can save time and improve quality. On display will be a range of metrology products, including the Faro Laser ScanArm, with the laser line probe for non-contact measurements, and the Faro Laser Tracker for large-volume measurements.

A highlight on the stand will be a relatively new addition to the range — the Faro Factory Array Imager. This is a metrology-grade non-contact scanner that uses blue-light technology to capture millions of high-resolution 3-D co-ordinate measurements in seconds. The smart sensor provides multi-imager array configurations that allow industrial manufacturers to significantly improve productivity.

Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) (www.itc-ltd.co.uk) will feature big discounts and promotional offers on stand M3. A leading supplier to the aerospace industry and composite-machining sectors, the company will be showing its latest range of PCD and diamond-coated cutting tools.The company has established a reputation for supplying PCD and diamond-coated development tools for some of the UK’s largest aerospace programmes.

ITC will also be emphasising the success of PCD end mills such as the 2111 Cyber series. The 2151 Cyber series of square-end cutters offers the option of numerous corner radius geometries, while the 2071 Cyber series of solid-carbide diamond-coated tools is available in diameters from 6 to 12mm and with corner radii from 0.2mm to 3mm. These two-flute tools are also offered in a four-flute option. For processing CFRP parts, ITC will have its cross-cut diamond-coated routers on show. Like all ITC tools, this 9001 Cyber series range is manufactured in the UK and available off-the-shelf in diameters from 3 to 12mm.

The Tamworth-based manufacturer is running a promotion on the BIG Kaiser range of products; this will give visitors the opportunity to try the BIG Plus system with the Hi-Power milling chuck promotion. ITC will also be displaying the new Widia Master catalogue, which is packed with over 2,000 pages of cutting-tool products.

Exhibiting on stand B60, PDJ Vibro Ltd (www.pdjvibro.co.uk) will present the two sides of its business. One is the sale of new and used finishing machines; the other is its contract finishing service. Both are designed to help manufacturers that want to minimise manual work and move towards automating the finishing process for health-and-safety reasons, as well as improve consistency.

Components are processed efficiently and economically in vibratory equipment, whether it involves deburring, edge breaking, radiusing, super-finishing, degreasing, rinsing and drying, pre-treatment for anodising, chemical blacking or painting.

The sales division of PDJ Vibro offers new and used vibratory bowls, which account for most of the company’s turnover; it also sells barrels and high-energy centrifugal equipment. Free process advice is given, taking into account the number of parts to be finished per batch, frequency of production, drainage and noise issues, the size of components and how vulnerable they are to processing damage.

Over 6,000 varieties of consumables can be provided; these include ceramic and porcelain media and detergents, as well as other compounds. Over 70 tonnes of the main items are held in stock at the company’s headquarters in Bletchley, which has a showroom, technical centre and demonstration facility with over 120 machines in stock.

Vibratory bowls have chamber sizes from 7.5 to 6,000 litres. Options include PLC dosing of chemical additives, water metering and re-circulation, automatic parts separation, drying and acoustic suppression.

PDJ Vibro also offers a round-the-clock sub-contract finishing and polishing service at its Bletchley facility. Components are normally turned round within 24hr. The company also offers a collection and delivery service.

Rainford Precision (www.rainfordprecision.com) will be bringing new cutting-tool technology to Advanced Engineering on stand L1. While focusing on aerospace and composite materials, the company will also offer live demonstrations on how to get the best out of small-cutting-tool machining operations.

For machining centre operations, Rainford Precision can now offer Air Turbine Spindles with spindle speeds from 25,000 to 90,000rev/min and a variety of different shanks — including cylindrical, BT, CAT and HSK. As they are air-driven, the spindles can easily be integrated into an automatic tool change system, allowing customers a wide scope of when and how the spindles are used. Furthermore, they offer constant power and no drop-off in spindle speed. Complementing the machining-centre spindles are hand-held units for deburring and polishing, as well as spindles for automation systems (robotics) and lathes.

Rainford will be demonstrating a range of diamond drills and end mills with diameters from 0.5mm. These tools have been used by a number of composite watch manufacturers for some years. The company will also introduce material-specific tooling from the Swiss supplier Louis Belet. The tools — for titanium, stainless steel and aluminium — have had their geometries refined over the years by Louis Belet’s experience in supplying Switzerland’s high-volume precision industries. Tools include end mills, drills, slitting saws, threading tools and engraving tools with diameters starting at 0.3mm.

Schunk (www.gb.schunk.com), an expert in clamping technology and gripping systems, will be exhibiting on stand E42. The German tooling manufacturer will be displaying a variety of new and established product lines, with some tool-holding and work-holding products on offeras part of its Trade-In promotion.

The company will be demonstrating the capabilities of its ROTA-S Plus chuck, which features a consistently high clamping force thanks to its optimised ‘wedge bar drive system’ and an improved lubricant system; jaw-change time is less than 60sec. Schunk also offers this lathe chuck with a manually actuated expansion arbor that can be quickly retrofitted. The manual chuck is available in diameters of 165, 200, 250 and 315mm.

For tool-holding, Schunk will be highlighting the benefits of its Tendo E compact hydraulic-expansion tool-holder. Capable of reducing set-up times by up to 80% while accommodating 2,000Nm of torque, this offers micron precision for a host of machining applications. Tool life increases of 300% and tool change-over times of just seconds can be achieved.

Schunk will also be highlighting its Industry 4.0 developments and displaying many of its automation products — including its new BSWS-MPG-plus standardised finger blanks, which feature an integrated quick-change jaw system that reduces change-over times to less than 30sec.

Asquith Butler Ltd (www.asquithbutler.com) will be showcasing ‘agile’ five-axis machining centres on stand N62. With their low-mass moving elements, rigid construction and wide range of spindle speed and power options, Sahos five-axis machining centres from the Czech Republic are suitable for producing components from aluminium, model board, plastics (including varieties reinforced with carbon fibre and glass fibre) and composites, as well as bonded honeycomb and multi-layer structures. Asquith Butler is the manufacturer’s sole agent in the UK and Ireland and will also be highlighting the fact that the entire machine range is currently being rebranded under the name Blue Ray.

Paul Hinchliffe, managing director of Asquith Butler, said: “Machines in the Sahos/Blue Ray portfolio offer production solutions in many sectors, notably aerospace, motor-sport and automotive, while larger models in the range are frequently used to manufacture parts in transportation, boat-building and even theatre and film-set construction.

“The whole point of these machines is efficient milling and drilling of light materials at high speed to close tolerances. Repeated light cuts taken at high feed rates replace deeper, slower cuts on traditional metal-cutting machining centres. The benefits are that a heavy, expensive machine structure is not needed, spindle load is lighter and surface finish on components is better, as the highly dynamic motions and low chip load mean that there is less susceptibility to chatter.”

Launched in 2015 at EMO, Sahos/Blue Ray’s BRaL series of gantry-type compact five-axis machining centres will be introduced to the UK at Advanced Engineering. Designed with a generous X axis for producing large components from aluminium profiles up to 30m long, it is suitable for processing parts in the rail, commercial-vehicle and building industries. Modular construction makes it possible for a customer to specify a machine that exactly suits specific requirements, assisted by the availability of a wealth of accessories. Fourth and fifth CNC axes (A and C) are incorporated into the liquid-cooled, high-precision swivel head carrying the spindle.

Another highlight on the Asquith Butler stand will be the smaller high-speed BRaM five-axis gantry-type machining centre. This fully enclosed machine offers an axis acceleration rate of 5m/sec2 up to 80m/min in X, Y and Z. Different sizes of machine can be specified, based on an X axis of either 3,000 or 4,000mm, a Y axis of 1,500 or 2,200mm and a choice of 800, 1,200 or 1,600mm in Z.

Mr Hinchliffe continued: “We have had a lot of success selling Sahos/Blue Ray machines in the UK over the past couple of years, since we were appointed the sole agent. There are now 20 machines operating across the UK in a diversity of applications, including pattern and mould making, F1 modelling, aerospace applications and automotive work.”

Engis (UK) Ltd (www.engis.com) — stand P64 — is a specialist in super-abrasive finishing systems; it will be showing its new vitrified diamond and CBN wheels for the first time in the UK. Although vitrified super-abrasive products are not totally new to the market, they have previously proved difficult to dress, needing special machinery or to be returned to the manufacturer to be “opened up”. However, the latest vitrified wheels from Engis are as easy to dress as conventional diamond/CBN wheels, while offering the added advantages of speed, depth of cut, production life and corner holding.

In addition to its extensive catalogue of production finishing consumables, such as grinding wheels, abrasive slurries and mould-polishing compounds, Engis UK also provides complete lapping solutions, including a range of lapping machines.

Fintek (www.fintek.co.uk) will be promoting its sub-contract super-surface-finishing services for aerospace and other precision component manufacturers on stand H58. The AS9100-accredited company will also display equipment and help engineers find the right combination of machine, media and process time to achieve the required surface finish for their components.

The company can undertake a wide range of applications, from miniature parts, through individual turbine blades, up to full blisks. Using ‘stream finishing’, Fintek can apply more than one surface-finishing method in a single process, saving more time and producing a component that on visual inspection alone is vastly superior. Subsequently applied hard coatings will last longer on super-fine-finished peak-free surfaces (coatings are easily compromised when peaks not removed by some traditional finishing methods break during component use, causing costly maintenance for the user).

With UK productivity some 30% behind the USA, Germany and France, many manufacturers will be keen to engage with productivity pioneers Forcam (www.forcam.com) on stand D8. The company helps customers to achieve productivity gains that are typically around 20% in the first year, following the installation of its shopfloor management software. Increases as high as 33% have been recorded, so pay-back is rapid, with all users achieving on-going improvement.

UK managing director Andrew Steele said: “World-wide, there are more than 60,000 machine tools and manufacturing processes interlinked using Forcam Force factory shopfloor management software. This streams accurate production instructions to machine operators, gathers information from the operators and machine systems, and offers instantaneous analysis and reporting that allows supervisors and managers have an accurate real-time picture of production status. Any problems are immediately apparent and can then be resolved quickly.”

Surface engineering specialist the Wallwork Group (www.wallworkht.com) — stand P51 — offers heat treatments and hard coatings that meet a wide range of technical and commercial requirements. This service is backed by extensive R&D facilities that allow alternative processes to be fully evaluated and completely new techniques to be developed to address more-unusual problems. Once a technique is developed, the company has extensive capacity to scale up volume, whether the item is a small lightweight pressing or a casting of several tonnes.

With sites in Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge, Wallwork provides a nation-wide service for heat treatment, hard coatings and vacuum brazing — along with the assurance of independent accreditation. All processes are backed by quality-assurance procedures.

This year, the company has significantly extended the scope of its Nadcap approvals, bringing both its Cambridge and Manchester vacuum brazing workshops into the scheme. In addition, it has multiple process-specific approvals for processes from aerospace primes such as Airbus, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Moog.

As a leading manufacturer of measuring and testing technology, Blum-Novotest (www.blum-novotest.com) will be presenting brand-new products and application examples of ‘reliable sensor technology for Industry 4.0’ on stand C41. Coolant and oil can frequently be the cause of incorrect measurements when using standard touch probes for on-machine measurement, and Blum will show how this can be overcome with reliable and consistent measurement, using pre-deflection technology and an increased measuring force, which ensures that coolant has no impact on the actual measurement — even at measuring speeds up to 5m/min. The bi-directional TC61 touch-probe system also allows ‘pulling measurements’ of grooves and bars to be made.

Meanwhile, the new TC63-RG and TC64-RG Digilog surface-roughness gauges provide a ‘quantum leap’ in roughness measurement for machine integrated quality-control methods. The gauges can evaluate the surface roughness of a part while it remains clamped in the machine.

For aerospace manufacturers — particularly for those machining blisks for engine turbines — there is a need for both dimensional accuracy and a defined surface roughness. In this case, the new TC64-RG is used to ensure machining faults and poor surface finishes are detected during the process. If ultra-precise DIN-compliant measurements as small as 0.1µm are required, the roughness gauge is guided across the workpiece surface at a comparatively slow measuring speed. When it comes to detecting machining errors in the micron range, measurements can be carried out up to 20-times faster. Reject parts are reduced by allowing immediate re-working while the part is still clamped.

The latest RG 2.0 software now allows parameters such as waviness, skew or contact-area ratio to be presented for the measured surface (in addition to the calculated roughness values). Moreover, this system can now be integrated with the Digilog software in machine tool control systems.

Mirka UK (www.mirka.com/uk) — stand O190 — will be showing a wide range of tools that have been designed and developed to offer increased productivity, efficiency and a reliable high-quality finish.

Taking centre stage will be Mirka’s new brushless battery-driven spot-repair sanders — the AOS-B 130NV and AROS-B 150 NV. The new sanders are suitable for a variety of operations and will produce a highly-quality and consistently smooth finish while also maximising productivity. Their ergonomic design makes them easy to move from job to job and allows users to operate them for a long period of time while delivering good control over the sanding process. They also provide economical and consistent performance for the duration of the sander’s battery life, which can last up to 16hr when used on spot-repair applications.

Mirka will also be showing the new updated Mirka Deros, which features a free-of-charge app designed to place the health and safety of users at the forefront of the technology. Called My Mirka, the app is connected to the sander
via Bluetooth and provides real-time measurements of vibrations.

Machinery Market (www.machinery-market.co.uk) — stand O83 —will be distributing free printed copies of the weekly magazine. Vistors to the stand will find out why Machinery Market is the best place to source new and used machinery (www.machinery-locator.com) and how it can promote UK manufacturers, machine tool companies and suppliers of related production equipment to a world-wide audience — in print, digital and on-line.

Conference programmes

The IMechE, one of the fastest-growing engineering institutions in the world, will be running its two co-located conferences: Aviation Aerodynamics 2016 and Brakes 2016. The Aviation Aerodynamics conference, taking place on Wednesday 2 November, will give visitors an opportunity to explore the latest developments and network with specialists in aircraft manufacturing, testing and design. A series of key topics will be addressed by leading experts in the field, including Airbus, the European Space Agency, Reaction Engines, Qinetiq and Rolls-Royce.

On Thursday 3 November, the Brakes 2016 conference will give visitors the opportunity to learn from leading vehicle OEMs and experts about key engineering solutions for the integration of new technologies and braking systems of the future. As well as participating in round-table discussions with industry peers, visitors will be able to hear from industry experts such as McLaren Automotive, Honda, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo Truck. For more information on the conferences and the delegate rates, visit www.imeche.org.

Meanwhile, Rail Alliance — the rail sector’s largest dedicated B2B networking organisation and an official show supporter — will host its own ‘Rail Technology Hub’ and run dedicated presentations covering this sector. In addition — and new for 2016 — The Manufacturer will run its Smart Factory Expo in partnership with Advanced Engineering, as part of a series of events to examine Britain’s response to Industry 4.0.