Precisely! - Makino Europe

SUCCESS STORYBENCHMARKINGFaster and more reliable than the competitionMTU Aero Engines is not only Germany’s leading engine manufacturerbut also a powerful global player and driving forcein the development, manufacturing and repair of commercialand military engines. The company is proud of its systemsintegration capability for commercial and military enginesand aeroderivative industrial gas turbines. Globally, MTU isalso the No. 1 independent provider of commercial aero enginemaintenance services. At MTU’s Munich plant Makino EDMsare used for high-precision machining of stator componentsand materials’ production.Hermann Peters (l.) and Immanual Schmidt-Streckenbach with a brush seal;in the background the Makino U86 EDM machineEach one of the Makino machines wasordered after comparative machiningtests involving various manufacturers.Hermann Peters, the man in charge ofmachine procurement at MTU, andImmanual Schmidt-Streckenbach, aproduction engineer, applied strictstandards in their evaluation of themachines. In 2003 MTU asked a numberof EDM manufacturers to segmenthigh-pressure compressor rims madeof inconel. As Hermann Peters pointsout, “Makino was best prepared forthe task at hand” and the MakinoEU64 not only delivered the bestresults in quality terms but was alsofaster than the other machines, reducingthe total machining time for rimsegmentation by 32%.Since March 2004 a Makino EU64 featuring650 mm x 400 mm x 420 mmtravels (X, Y, Z) has been segmentingthese rims. As Immanuel Schmidt-Streckenbach explains, “we wireerodethe rims to an accuracy of±0.075 mm. That means 15-32 individualsegments, depending on theengine stage in question. One reasonfor this segmentation is that maintenancework can be carried out onthese high-pressure compressor rimswithout having to take the entire turbineapart, another is to compensatefor thermal expansion. We need to beable to adjust the flushing and wireguide with great precision because ifthe wire breaks while eroding, it ishighly probable that the whole componentwill be ruined.”High-quality production andstable processesA second Makino EDM machine –a U86 featuring 800 mm x 600 mm x500 mm travels (X, Y, Z) – was alsochosen after a benchmarking process.In 2004 MTU tested the performanceof several manufacturers in machiningtitanium split-cases. The 420 mmhigh cases for the medium-pressurecompressor of the TP400-D6 turbopropengine for the new AirbusA400M military transport aircraft aresplit into two halves for assemblyreasons. This has to be done in asingle cutting operation with strict10