The Aerospace industry OPTS for OTEC

Aviation: IFT uses OTEC to manufacture its high-precision parts

OTEC customer IFT GmbH & Co.based some 30 miles south of Frankfurt in Ober-Ramstadt, specialises in high-precision parts for the motorsport, medical technology and aerospace industries.

“Technical innovations and reliable process performance in the surfacing techniques and systems we use are e ssential because we’re constantly optimising our portfolio. We’re uncompromising in our choice of machinery and processes. They have to be absolutely right for the order and help us deliver the quality, efficiency, fast turnarounds and absolute deadline reliability that we promise our customers. We also review existing processing steps again and again to see how we can improve them.” explains IFT Junior General Manager Robin Breitwieser.

OTEC disc finishing machine up to 20 times more effective than trough vibration? Challenge accepted!

“OTEC assured us that surface processing with its disc finishing machines was up to 20 times more effective than conventional trough vibration. That sparked our curiosity. Our trough vibration processing time for aerospace hydraulic control pistons was four hours, which was simply too long. With these particular workpieces it was all about deburring and smoothing – we wanted to deliver better surfaces without compromising the sharpness of the edges . So the specification we gave the experts at the OTEC Finishing Center how we can improve them,” explains Breitwieser.

OTEC disc finishing machine up to 20 times more effective than trough vibration? Challenge accepted!
“OTEC assured us that surface processing with its disc finishing machines was up to 20 times more effective than conventional trough vibration. That sparked our curiosity. Our trough vibration processing time for aerospace hydraulic control pistons was four hours, which was simply too long. With these particular workpieces it was all about deburring and smoothing – we wanted to deliver better surfaces without compromising the sharpness of

were exacting down to the last micron, because precise surface roughness and edge rounding meets the quality our aerospace customers demand, and which of course we always aspire to meet,” sums up Breitwieser.

Achieve more with μ precisionfinish!

OTEC accepted the challenge. At our Finishing Center in Straubenhardt on the edge of the Black Forest, we processed some samples free of charge using the CF series disc finishing machine with the gap during wet finishing set to normal. Fifteen minutes later we delivered the goods to specification – complexity and all!

Safety that is out of this world : OTEC supports space research

Yes, really! Ceramic parts made by CeramTec GmbH and processed using OTEC Präzisionsfinish are flying around Earth in space. What’s the story behind the collaboration? It all began with a research project. Completely homogeneous metals cannot be produced on Earth because of various physical limitations, such as the Earth’s gravitational pull. To overcome these, a series of tests was carried out on board a crewed space station where certain physical limitations no longer come into play. In space, metal can be melted in a contactless process by suspending it in electromagnetic fields. Ceramic sleeves were used to allow researchers to observe and document the process safely from up close. The specially designed cavities in the sleeves allowed researchers to see exactly what was happening during the experiment and acted as a buffer zone and fire precaution in case hot material leaked from the melting area.

Why use OTEC technology to process the ceramic sleeves?
Although ceramic is extremely heatresistant, flammable residue from production can sometimes remain on the surfaces of the sintered parts. OTEC was contracted to polish and clean the ceramic sleeves in order to remove all remaining residue, and with the help of the SF series machine, we did exactly that in a process time of just five minutes.

“We had to find a process that would suit the delicate surface of the ceramic components. It needed to create the necessary surface finish without damaging the intricate geometry and thin walls. This was an opportunity for OTEC to demonstrate its competence and reliability. We achieved excellent results that exceeded all expectations and went far beyond the necessary tolerances. What’s more, our working relationship with OTEC was always professional and friendly.

We won’t hesitate to choose them again in the future,” said Bibi Sevdic and Sydney Arendt from CeramTec. The space station crew can now carry out their research safely, all thanks to OTEC’s finishing touches.