Literature > Case Studies > Wrapping It Up: Vortex Air Gun Aids in Aerospace Applications

Wrapping It Up: Vortex Air Gun Aids in Aerospace Applications

Company Overview

The global corporation MAG offers a comprehensive line of equipment and technologies serving a wide range of industries including aerospace, automotive and truck, heavy equipment, oil and gas, rail, solar energy, wind turbine production and general machining. Their services include process development, automated assembly, turning, milling, automotive powertrain production, composites processing, maintenance, automation and software development. The company has facilities in the Americas, Asia and Europe. The headquarters for MAG Americas is located in Erlanger, KY and they have five main production facilities in North America, including one located in Hebron, KY, which is the center of excellence for composites technology.

The Challenge

Milo Vaniglia is Senior Project Engineer at the Hebron facility where he directs mechanical design of new products. Vaniglia’s team developed the company’s VIPER® Fiber Placement Systems (FPS). This composite fiber placement machine combines the advantages of tape laying and filament winding with advanced computer control and software. The fiber-reinforced graphite composite parts the VIPER® produces offers significant advantages over metal for the aerospace industry. Essentially, the VIPER® provides an effective method to make graphite/epoxy one-piece structures for aerospace applications.

The VIPER® machines have seven separate axes of motion, making them particularly suited to highly contoured structures such as cowls, ducts, fuselage sections, pressure tanks, nozzle cones, tapered casings, fan blades, spars and “C” channels. In developing this innovative system, Vaniglia realized that a cooling component was essential to prevent the tow or ribbon of composite tape from adhering to itself prior to placement, thus guaranteeing wrinkle-free, near net shape lay-up. In providing its high-profile aerospace customers with this technology, MAG demands excellence of all the components used inthe VIPER® FPS. Vaniglia needed an air products company capable of meeting this challenge.

The Solution

Vaniglia chose Vortec because he was confident the company possessed the engineering expertise to meet the VIPER®’s need for cool air delivery. Vortec’s Cold Air Gun 610 converts compressed air into chilled air which conditions the pre-impregnated graphite fiber resin, resulting in the highest possible dexterity, flexibility and range for large to complex aerospace parts. “Vortec’s product makes it easier to dispense the pre-impregnated raw material,” Vaniglia notes.

How MAG Benefits from Vortec Products

“I have found Vortec to be very responsive to our needs,” Vaniglia observes. “They offer a product which is both consistent and versatile.” He notes that because the Vortec Cold Air Gun is so effective, MAG not only uses the product in all of the different models of VIPER® systems, but it has also increased the volume of Vortec products in each of these systems, using Cold Air Guns to cool other parts of the machine.

Conclusion

“We provide our clients with a high-quality machine, “Vaniglia states. “Vortec contributes a product which helps make our system excellent.“ The Senior Project Engineer, who has been using Vortec products since 1988, says he has found Vortec“very easy to work with. I would definitely recommend them.”
Literature > Case Studies > Wrapping It Up: Vortex Air Gun Aids in Aerospace Applications

Wrapping It Up: Vortex Air Gun Aids in Aerospace Applications

Company Overview

The global corporation MAG offers a comprehensive line of equipment and technologies serving a wide range of industries including aerospace, automotive and truck, heavy equipment, oil and gas, rail, solar energy, wind turbine production and general machining. Their services include process development, automated assembly, turning, milling, automotive powertrain production, composites processing, maintenance, automation and software development. The company has facilities in the Americas, Asia and Europe. The headquarters for MAG Americas is located in Erlanger, KY and they have five main production facilities in North America, including one located in Hebron, KY, which is the center of excellence for composites technology.

The Challenge

Milo Vaniglia is Senior Project Engineer at the Hebron facility where he directs mechanical design of new products. Vaniglia’s team developed the company’s VIPER® Fiber Placement Systems (FPS). This composite fiber placement machine combines the advantages of tape laying and filament winding with advanced computer control and software. The fiber-reinforced graphite composite parts the VIPER® produces offers significant advantages over metal for the aerospace industry. Essentially, the VIPER® provides an effective method to make graphite/epoxy one-piece structures for aerospace applications.

The VIPER® machines have seven separate axes of motion, making them particularly suited to highly contoured structures such as cowls, ducts, fuselage sections, pressure tanks, nozzle cones, tapered casings, fan blades, spars and “C” channels. In developing this innovative system, Vaniglia realized that a cooling component was essential to prevent the tow or ribbon of composite tape from adhering to itself prior to placement, thus guaranteeing wrinkle-free, near net shape lay-up. In providing its high-profile aerospace customers with this technology, MAG demands excellence of all the components used inthe VIPER® FPS. Vaniglia needed an air products company capable of meeting this challenge.

The Solution

Vaniglia chose Vortec because he was confident the company possessed the engineering expertise to meet the VIPER®’s need for cool air delivery. Vortec’s Cold Air Gun 610 converts compressed air into chilled air which conditions the pre-impregnated graphite fiber resin, resulting in the highest possible dexterity, flexibility and range for large to complex aerospace parts. “Vortec’s product makes it easier to dispense the pre-impregnated raw material,” Vaniglia notes.

How MAG Benefits from Vortec Products

“I have found Vortec to be very responsive to our needs,” Vaniglia observes. “They offer a product which is both consistent and versatile.” He notes that because the Vortec Cold Air Gun is so effective, MAG not only uses the product in all of the different models of VIPER® systems, but it has also increased the volume of Vortec products in each of these systems, using Cold Air Guns to cool other parts of the machine.

Conclusion

“We provide our clients with a high-quality machine, “Vaniglia states. “Vortec contributes a product which helps make our system excellent.“ The Senior Project Engineer, who has been using Vortec products since 1988, says he has found Vortec“very easy to work with. I would definitely recommend them.”