Brief
This company is a relatively large aerospace sheet metal contractor with multiple facilities throughout the US. They produce high-end welding for titanium–sheet metal on jet engine nacelle rings. The company had approximately six people cleaning large nacelle rings by hand in giant vats with scrub-like brushes and a produced a daily throughput of ten nacelle rings. The customer was seeking more consistent cleaning results and a reduction in labor costs.
Challenge
The customer was manually cleaning nacelle rings, with a throughput of ten rings a day and wanted an automated cleaning method that produced more consistent results, and reduced labor costs.
Approach
Because of the variety of part sizes and complex part geometries, engineering was heavily involved. BE team members toured the aerospace manufacturing facility, evaluated their needs/challenges, performed rigorous testing at BE’s lab, which resulted in the design of an extensive, large immersion wash system.
Results
- Automatic Immersion Tank
- Automated Basket Indexing System
Conclusion
To address their challenge, BE created an automatic immersion tank system with wash, two rinse stages, and a dry stage, which combined platform oscillation and spray under immersion jets for added turbulence. The custom system has an elevator on both ends for basket loading and unloading. Parts are put into the basket, which can manage nacelle rings up to 82” X42”, the baskets are loaded onto the elevator using a forklift, then the baskets are raised on the elevator to the tank level From there, a series of retractable pushing arms move the baskets through each stage of the cleaning cycle. Custom platforms were constructed to accommodate the most significant aircraft nacelle ring, 78” X 40”, while securely managing a variety of smaller part sizes. Overall, the immersion washer promoted labor savings and increased throughput to five parts an hour. BE produced an eco-friendly industrial wash system with an oil skimming removal system on the wash stage. The system saves on water and energy usage with recycling and reuse capabilities, ultimately helping this customer achieve their sustainability goals
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