Full steam ahead for turbine technology developments  

The 2018 Starrag Turbine Technology Days showcased developments to further improve the efficiency of machining turbine blades, blisks and engine casings, including:

• A flexible manufacturing system featuring eleven Starrag NB 151 machines, for automated blisk manufacture.
• A tool changing angle head – a joint development with Benz – where a single head with HSK-B63 interface can replace the use of multiple angle heads.
• Adaptive roughing of turbine blades, to eliminate ‘air cuts’, by using in-machine probing in conjunction with Starrag’s RCS programming routines.

Also previewed was Starrag’s new larger capacity NB 151 blisk machine – for components up to 600mm diameter – as well as the ultra-high-accuracy Bumotec s191 mill-turn centre that was demonstrated machining aero-engine fuel injectors.

The two-day event at the company’s headquarters in Rorschach, Switzerland, attracted an audience of more than 160 aero-manufacturing professionals from all corners of the globe and it allowed Starrag’s recently-appointed CEO, Dr Christian Walti, to lay down a marker of what Starrag and its comprehensive group product ranges will likely have in store for the future.

“The technology advancements being demonstrated here reflect how we are continuously responding to the needs of our customers,” he said. “Indeed, the aerospace industry is not only constantly presenting opportunities, but for us it is also a case of demonstrating how Starrag is best-placed to satisfy those demands now and in the future.”

Starrag Group is a global technology leader in manufacturing high-precision machine tools for milling, turning, boring and grinding workpieces of metallic, composite and ceramic materials. This year’s Turbine Technology Days – supported by tooling specialist Haimer, as well as by a number of other industrial partners – continued its relentless quest for superlative manufacturing solutions for blades, blisks and casings, and a series of workstations gave visitors exclusive insights into how such workpieces can be machined most effectively and efficiently.