editorial EFFORT IN INNOVATION, INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

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1 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 Nº 5 editorial CONTENTS special report The necessary cost reduction opens the door to automation pages 2-3 EFFORT IN INNOVATION, INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY news Accepted system developed by Tecnatom to Corse Composites Aeronautiques Tecnatom attends the most important trade fairs pages 4-5 technology New applications of 3D Vision tecnatom Group Tecnatom China markets page 6 page 7 Tecnatom reinforces its position in Asia by opening market in Malaysia page 8 We want to start with these two words our fifth newsletter s editorial. Two key words in Tecnatom s philosophy that reinforces its position in the market thanks to the powerful investment in R&D which, from its beginnings, allows having a proprietary technology for the next generation. The company works together with its clients in the specification of the inspection systems to be able to identify, design and develop the proper procedure. Within the goals pursued by the aerospace industry, the Non Destructive Testing (NDT) methods applied to this sector evolve in parallel to give response to the new demands: to reduce time and cost in manufacturing processes, as well as the automation of all its phases and improvement in the field of security; the use of lighter structures by incorporation of new composite materials, new designs and more complex geometries, among others. Because of the increasing demand for airplanes, all manufacturers are found themselves immersed in projects of supply chain integration and the industrialization of the manufacturing processes. Logically, it is required an inspection process with a greater level of automation, its implementation in the manufacturing line and its integration with other processes. In short, the demand for industrialization of the aerospace industry is leading the evolution and development of the methods, processes and tools. Tecnatom has no doubts to invest in research and development, to offer our clients the technological excellence in which we base our experience and background, unique in the market. 1

2 special report The necessary cost reduction opens the door to automation THE ADVANTAGES OF USING CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER (CFRP OR COMPOSITE), WHEN MANUFACTURING STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WITHIN AIRCRAFTS, INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY ITS USE IN THE NEW PROGRAMMES OF AEROSPACE MANUFACTURERS. Currently, all the manufacturers are immersed in automation processes. Compared to old techniques of manual inspection where reliability depends on the operator skills, automation has also reached the inspection process, starting a few years ago with the application of through transmission ultrasonic techniques using water jets. Another important progress was the application of pulse-echo technique, more intensive with the development of the A380 program applied to large composite structures. However, the A350 program has incorporated the phased array technology as a basis for improvement in the application of pulse-echo technique, providing thereby a higher speed in the inspection process and the consequent reduction of time and cost. What seems to be the future of ultrasonic inspection for composite materials are ultrasounds generated by laser. Laser Ultrasonics (LUS) incorporate significant advantages, particularly as it allows the inspection for small and complex geometry parts that today can only be inspected manually. So we can foresee the possibilities of this technology will be used more widely in the future of inspection during the manufacturing process of composite materials. THE INSPECTION BY NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING METHODS ARE APPLIED BY ALL MANUFACTURERS TO GUARANTEE THE RELIABILITY AND QUALITY REQUIRED FOR THE PROCESS Tecnatom has its own technology for next-generation ultrasonic inspections for the manufacturing processes and for aeronautical research and development activities in laboratories. This technology allows, for example, to define, simulate, and implement complex trajectories of inspection through the electronic controllers of all kinds of aircrafts components that are characterized by their large size and complex geometric configurations. It presents major operational advantages, as it gives the possibilty to inspect, at the high speed required by the industrial environment of production, with high quality and reliability. Part reconstruction using laser teaching technology The experience gained in the inspection of metallic materials, which are characteristic of the energy sector, has facilitated Tecnatom to extend their testing procedures to the typical materials of the aerospace sector: carbon fiber and titanium. The advantages of using carbon fibre reinforced polymers, when manufacturing structural elements, significantly have increased their uses in the new aircraft programmes of 2

3 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 Nº 5 Composite consumption growth in aerospace is reflected in concrete data: the 1,000 tones of composite material used in 1984, when the application of this material to primary structures of the aircraft started, increased to 7,250 tones in The current outlook for the composites demand is to increase to 18,100 tons by 2019 due to the fabrication of the A350, the B787 and the new types of other manufacturers. But this material also results advantageous for passengers comfort. If aluminium is used as main structural material, humidity inside the aircraft must be above 10º as a maximum. Thanks to composites, humidity within the Boeing 787 s cabin can be increased up to 50%. This creates a much nicer and more agreeable environment for passengers. The fact of considering this advantage has driven Airbus and Boeing to construct over 50% of their A350 and B787 airframes of composite material and Embraer and Bombardier among 30-37% of their new types. Automatic changer of inspection modules Naturally, we have to consider that this trend towards increasing volume of composite within aircraft is occurring simultaneously to a substantial growth of the annual demand and manufacturing volume of these aircrafts. TECNATOM OWN TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS INTEGRATING ALL PHASES OF THE ULTRASONIC INSPECTION PROCESS IN A SINGLE OPERATION INTERFACE adopted from automated inspection based on Cartesian systems, increasing the number of axes or degrees of freedom, today we have reached solutions much more flexible and industrially consolidated, as the use of robots. Robots provide greater versatility to the new and more complex geometries of the parts, being adapted to the potential needs of scalability of the inspection system, due to its modular concept. aerospace manufacturers. But the manufacturing of structural components with composite materials also demands the application of meticulous quality controls to ensure the absolute absence of defects both, on the surface and across the entire volume of the parts (delaminations, disbonds, porosities or inclusions). Non-Destructive Testing and especially Ultrasonic Testing (UT) is a must, as the only testing method to ensure reliable and quality detection, location, characterization and sizing of flaws. This is why it is widely applied by all manufacturers. The evolution in terms of inspection techniques has been great, starting with the mechanical solutions Twin-robots system for inspection by TTU and PE 3

4 news Accepted System developed by Tecnatom to Corse Composites Aéronautiques The French company Corse Composites Aéronautiques has expressed its full satisfaction with the inspection system by ultrasonics based in industrial robot, recently supplied by Tecnatom. CCA has approved the quality of the results obtained after the acceptance testing. This system incorporates the latest tools, on the basis of an advanced robot type mechanical system. It provides high versatility for inspection of parts with complex geometry. This system includes, for the first time in the aerospace sector, our software advanced in ultrasonics called InspectView. With this software, the operator has an interface that provides all necessary to complete the entire inspection cycle functions: recognition of the part, preparing the inspection, programming of paths, execution data acquisition, evaluation on-line and off-line, reporting and tracing, through some ultrasonic techniques. System for ultrasonic inspection system supplied to CCA Tecnatom extends and enhances the sale of its latest equipment all over Europe. It has recently signed similar contracts with Airbus Nantes, Aerocomposit Kazan KAI, COMAC and Premium Aerotec. This new award in the German country joins the good welcome that the European aerospace market is dispensing to our quality A year ago Tecnatom, to enhance its aerospace division, decided that Twitter could be a perfect channel of communication to share all the news not only of the company, but also of the sector. We have not been wrong. Through the we have been telling about our latest technological advances, our positioning in the international market with the expansion of our client portfolio and our participation in numerous specialized events. We want to thank the more than 200 followers that each day they are informed in real time what is happening in our division, and we hope to be able to continue adding friends in the coming months. Suppliers, customers, media and specialized professionals in the sector are part of our followers. Join our community! Follow us 4

5 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 Nº 5 Tecnatom attends the most important events of the sector Tecnatom had a full agenda of events last month of October. From 6 to 10 the XI European Conference on Non- Destructive Testing (ECNDT) took place in Prague, considered the main event related to all types of NDT technologies and applications for different industries. Tecnatom has participated with its own stand and has presented three papers under the section NDT in Aerospace : Detection of buried defects in conductive materials, both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic, Fast Scanning and Adaptive Beamforming: innovative algorithms to improve ultrasonic inspections and HW and SW developments and solutions for obtaining a non-destructive inspection process automated, integrated and industrial, the latter two moderated by Esmeralda Cuevas, Head of aeronautical NDT techniques at Tecnatom. Researchers, users, manufacturers and service providers from all fields of nondestructive testing meet at this long traditional Conference for exchanging experiences with European colleagues. This meeting, held every four years, helps to get in touch with the latest results in science and to learn more about new systems from the NDT manufacturers. TECNATOM WILL HOST A WELCOME DINNER OF THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON NDT AND AEROSPACE, AND WILL OPEN ITS FACILITIES WITHIN A PROGRAM OF TECHNICAL VISITS Moreover, from 13 to 16 October took place in Orlando (USA) the Composites and Advanced Material Expo (CAMX) where Tecnatom has also participated with its own stand. This is the most important meeting of the North American composite sector. Worldwide exhibitors show a wide range of materials, equipments, technology and software designed to improve the manufacturing process of composites. Tecnatom s participation has achieved the goal of developing business systems in USA, where it already had references to Boeing and Spirit. In addition, the meeting served to develop new partnerships with American companies in the field of NDT. Tecnatom also has attended Airtec (28 to 30 October), the fair of the aeronautics industry dedicated to the supply chain. The last meeting of the month took place again in Orlando: the ASNT Annual Conference 2014 (27 to 31 October), with the participation of two certified ultrasonic Level III experts of Tecnatom. Just on November, the 6th International Symposium on NDT and Aerospace will take place in Madrid, from 12 to 14 th. More than one hundred experts are expected to participate in. It should be noted the inclusion of previous conferences by qualified experts in the field of NDT during 10 and 11 November. The program of technical visits on 13 November, includes one at Tecnatom s facilities. From 17 to 19 November, Tecnatom will also be present in the JEC Asia, which will take place in Singapore. As well it participates in the 2nd annual China Summit on Aerospace Materials and Processes, to be held in Beijing from 18 to 19 November, where a paper about the advanced NDT techniques will be presented. We will close the year s events calendar with the assistance to the great fair Aeromart in Toulouse, from 2 to 4 December. 5

6 technology New applications of 3D Vision Optical metrology is the branch of optics that aims to make high precision measurements using light waves as scale. This technology is already implanted in the car industry for its high productivity, and Tecnatom has opened several lines of work, in collaboration with Airbus, to be used in the aerospace industry for its many advantages, for example: They are non-contact techniques, and can be used both metallic materials such as carbon fiber. Digitalization 3D Digitalization 3D Verification and characterization of aeroparts By assembling several shots from different angles, you can digitize the 100% of an object. Therefore allows the quality control of complex geometries that cannot be inspected by other techniques. The 3D information allows us to apply standard dimension metrology software or directly with CAD tools, compared to the nominal CAD and endless analysis of both on-line and a posteriori. Some equipment allows us to obtain 2D images with 3D data. This application leaves us, in addition, fully document the visual inspection and metrology. Specifically, it allows Image 2D full traceability of the process and statistical analysis of production (trends, tolerances, wear, etc), with high and selectable accuracy depending on the volume to digitize. In the parts manufacturing process, it allows the following checks: Quality Control and verification of rivets: flush, flatness, angle, analysis of deformations. Measure of settings between different parts, leveling, angles, relative position (flush and gap). Adjustment of hinges, gauges. Highlight a curious fact, that these tools have been used to manufacture and fit the thermal tiles of the space shuttle. Digitalization 3D Image 2D Image 2D Flap in titanium Another application of the 3D vision 6

7 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 Nº 5 tecnatom group Tecnatom China China is a strategic country for Tecnatom s aerospace market, where intends to continue its expansion plan and extends its technological capabilities. Tecnatom reached China in 2007 supported by the Chinese Research Institute and the company GNPC; the three together gave birth to join venture CITEC, in order to serve the booming Chinese nuclear market. In fact, Tecnatom has been mentoring the Asian country in this sector, creating in 2011 a proper company in Beijing, for the development of control rooms, training, building simulators and licensing. Although China has been one of the most prosperous markets in the last few years, its economy shows structural scarcity. In order to ease this weakness, China is working on a 5-year business plan ( ) with the investment of million dollars that can guarantee a long-term system sustainability. This budget will basically focus on some strategic lines, and Tecnatom may be a good technological partner in some of them: new materials and advanced inspection teams, for example. SINCE 2011 THE COMPANY HAS OPENED AN OFFICE IN BEIJING, FROM WHICH NOT ONLY PROVIDES SERVICES TO THE PROJECTS OF THE ASIAN COUNTRY, BUT THAT SERVES AS A SUPPORT TO OTHER ONGOING Ultrasonic inspection system installed in Airbus-Harbin Hafei PROJECTS IN THE CONTINENT In the aerospace sector, Tecnatom currently provides its technology products to COMAC (Aircraft factories in Shanghai and Beijing R&D) and Airbus-Harbin Hafei MC. From Beijing s office we will enhance the commercial activities in this sector. We also take care of the after sales service, ensuring greater proximity to the customer and quick response to their requests by counting on specialized resources. The aim of Tecnatom China is also to support other ongoing projects in this area of the world, like in Korea and Malaysia. 7

8 market Tecnatom reinforces its position in Asia by opening market in Malaysia The international expansion of Tecnatom is increasing thanks to its introduction into the Malaysian market. Recently he has been awarded a new contract for the supply of a last generation inspection system, which will be installed on the factory of the major aircraft manufacturers in Malaysia. This new system integrates the latest technologies, among others, the phased array technique for through transmission inspection by means of waterjet application, validated by Tecnatom. This technique is able to significantly increase the productivity, much more that with traditional ones. Its flexible configuration, with twin robot, enables to control either a complex piece of geometry transmission, by using twin-robots in collaborative way, or control two different pieces by pulse-echo, scanned by each robot independently. In Malaysia Tecnatom not only focuses in supplying inspection systems. Moreover, it carried out an exhaustive technical evaluation to get obsolete equipments updated, and it also provides consultancy services related to certification of NDT equipment according to the rules of Airbus AITM. Metalscan, a company acquired by Tecnatom in 2003, also provided several Galaxy equipments in Malaysia. In addition, this subsidiary provided services in Indonesia, one of the countries of Asia-Pacific area that is zone of influence of the Spanish company and for Airbus activities as well. The Malaysian client showed very interest in Tecnatom could become a long-term partner, either in providing new Concept of cell inspection based on robots THE COUNTRIES OF THE ASIA- PACIFIC ARE A PRIORITY IN THE INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION OF TECNATOM, ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST ASIA. THIS AREA OFFERS MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS WE CAN CONTRIBUTE A LOT inspection systems or in updating current equipments. The goal is to achieve the highest levels of quality inspection of composite aircraft components. Even though Tecnatom s expectations in the aerospace sector get through consolidating its sales in foreign markets where it is already present, Southeast Asia can offer many business opportunities. Especially, thanks to the policy of a closer service to clients along with a powerful Innovation R & D, the company will strengthen and expand its market share. Tecnatom,S.A. Avda. Montes de Oca, San Sebastián de los Reyes-Madrid María Teresa Aguado: taguado@tecnatom.es Miguel Torres Puya: mtorres@tecnatom.es Telf