Mitsui Seiki has been an integral partner in an R&D project with Boeing for the last three and a half years. The goal: to determine the optimum machine tool characteristics required to cut the new triple nickel titanium materials productively and economically.
Much has been written as to the ‘why’ of the research – the number of parts made of the new triple nickel titanium materials, or ‘heavy metals,’ will be increasing to make up 15 percent of the weight of the new generation of aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. These include the skeletal structure as well as struts, floor ribs, window frames, door hinges, and engine mounts, all parts requiring structural integrity. In all, in each aircraft, there will be some 36,000 pounds (16,329 kg) of these heavy metal parts that will be machined out of 240,000 pounds of raw stock.