Unison Tube-Bending Machines Reduce Lead Times for Aerospace Company

The machines were obtained to bend thin-wall section titanium tube for the manufacture of hydraulic brake and actuator pipes used in the undercarriage systems of commercial aircraft, including the systems on Airbus models A320, A330, and A340. The hydraulic brake and actuator pipes have diameters from 3/8″ (9.53 mm) to 3/4″ (19 mm).

Unison said that Safran’s Breeze tube-bending machines are well-suited to manipulating exotic alloys, such as titanium and Inconel, and that they provide high-quality thin-wall bending.

The Unison machines replace two hydraulically operated tube-bending machines that Safran has had for a number of years.

Jonathan Crewe, Safran assembly flow line manager, said: “I am really impressed with the performance of our two new machines and, in particular, the opportunities the technology opens up for us to streamline our workflow from design engineering through to production, with electronic translation of a CAD model into a bending program. This both dramatically reduces the lead time of new product development from around eight months to just three days and improves the accuracy of the finished pipe to the initial design intent.”

Crewe added that: “We have produced right-first-time components since day one with our new Unison Breeze machines, which our operators rate highly.”

Unison makes tube- and pipe-bending machines.

www.unisonltd.com