MANNINGS CHOSEN FOR EUROFIGHTER PROGRAMME

Mannings Thermal & Environmental Engineers Limited of Southport, England has become part of Europe's biggest military aircraft programme by supplying a heating system to be used during production of the new Euro fighter.

The new equipment is for BAE SYSTEMS, Samlesbury Site, Lancashire and is used to heat specially designed NC machined aluminum tools for the manufacture of the engine bay doors of the fighter. The heating is required to achieve rapid curing of the liquid shim compound used to create a void free interface between the two skin surfaces of the door.

The top surface of the tool is formed to the same contour as the outside surface of the aircraft. By positioning the door on the tool and applying a vacuum, the desired shape is achieved. The heating system, which is an integral part of the tool, reduces the cure time of the liquid shim by up to 80%.

Mannings worked closely with the tool design team during the project and had to satisfy strict criteria. The tools are approximately 600Kgs in weight and need to be uniformly heated to a temperature of 65 degrees centigrade. To meet the requirements of the application, Mannings provided specially designed low voltage heating elements which had to be inserted in machined recesses inside the tool itself. Temperature control is carried out in six heating zones and probes accurately measure the temperature of each zone. Bob Cross, a Manufacturing Technology Development Engineer for BAE SYSTEMS, said "due to our tight production schedule it is necessary to complete this operation as quickly as possible and through acceleration of the curing time, using the Mannings heating system, we have been able to achieve this".

Mannings have supplied systems for similar applications in the past and have been able to reduce production times for numerous processes by specially designed heating systems. Les Oliver who is Manager of Industrial Heating at Mannings said "we are very proud to have been chosen for this project. There is considerable expertise and experience available within our company and we are confident that we can solve any heating problem by accurate assessment and careful design, often in collaboration with the customer".