more than 100 Flexform systems in operation at the plants of major aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Embraer, Alenia, BAE Systems, EADS and Mitsubishi. The aerospace industry began using fluid cell pressing more than 50 years ago as a replacement for the rubber pad forming technique that had been in use as an economical method of forming sheet metal parts since the advent of metal aircraft (multi-piece metal tooling was too expensive for the small volume of aircraft parts). The advantages offered by Flexforming include better part definition and more complex shapes thanks to the higher forming pressure, deeper and more intricate shapes, better productivity and larger parts. At high pressure, parts can also be formed to their final shape in one forming operation, eliminating the need for downstream manual corrections. Testimony to these advantages is offered by J.J Rousse, of the French aerospace company Daher-Socata: “For many parts, hand correction of incompletely-formed shapes has been completely eliminated. Even very large parts can now be formed to tolerance in a single pressing. We have documented cost savings of 25 to 42 per cent on sampled parts thanks to fewer required cycles and reduced manual rework”. 134 Industry Europe
“Ninety per cent of our sheet metal forming equipment business is concerned with the production of structural aluminium parts for the aerospace industry,” explains Mats Sjostedt. “There can be as many as 7000 different such parts in each aircraft and our Flexform systems are ideal for their costeffective low volume (2000 to 3000 units per year) production.” The latest orders for Avure’s fluid cell presses include a hydroform deep-draw press for Kale Pratt & Whitney, the joint venture between Pratt & Whitney of the USA and Kale Holding of Turkey. The press will enable the Turkish facility to produce high quality sheet metal engine components with great accuracy, repeatability and lower costs. A new Avure high pressure fluid cell press has also just been installed at the Ohio plant of Jones Metal Products Co; it will provide JMP with economical parts-forming solutions to customers in industries such as aerospace, defence, medical, rail, lighting and power generation where there is zero margin for error. Avure offers application support in the form of training courses and tool design consultancy services in order to help its customers get the best result from the Flexform process. This also helps them to understand where they can make improvements in their
businesses, focusing on the complete process from determination of materials blank to the final pressed part.
Auto applications Flexform is also widely used in the automotive industry for fast, low-cost prototyping, validating tools and parts and saving time in new model development. And although auto-making, unlike aerospace, typically involves very high volumes, there are parts of the industry where Flexform is the preferred method for parts production too. These include limited edition cars, buses, trucks and farm and construction equipment. Formed automotive components include bumpers, doors, bonnets, roof and floor panels, pillars and support beams. In fact in the auto industry, Flexform is considered to be economically viable for parts with production volumes up to several thousand parts per year, Avure has supplied Flexform solutions for decades to major auto OEMs such as Ford, Daimler-Benz, Volvo, BMW, GAZ and Saab.
Total service Over nearly six decades Avure engineers have installed high pressure systems for customers worldwide, with many of these presses
