Those helicopters zipping through the air over Kiwi and Aussie communities in pursuit of law and order, timely healthcare, tourism or news updates need to be serviced at regular intervals like any other vehicle – or preferably daily, depending on the level of one’s pteromerhanophobia. Chances are that Aerospace Thermal Coatings (Aerotherm) will play a part in this overhaul process.

by Jenny Pretorius

Aerotherm operations manager, Phil Brown with the new Okuma M560V vertical machining centre

Aerotherm is one of a very small number of Australasian niche companies that repair aircraft turbine and transmission components, notably for engine types Rolls Royce A250, Honeywell LTS101 and Garrett TPE331, for New Zealand and Australian aircraft service companies.

Aerotherm and Air New Zealand’s two aircraft engineering facilities in, respectively, Auckland and Christchurch are the only workshops in the country that operate under a NZCAA Part 145, P1 approval (thermal spraying). Aerotherm’s welding facility is also qualified to American Standard AWS D17.

In addition to this highly specialised engineering work, Takanini-based Aerotherm has a substantial and loyal base of domestic and offshore customers in industrial and automotive businesses for which it produces a sophisticated and diverse range of coatings, both metal and ceramic, for either repair and maintenance customers or OEM applications.

In November 2013 Aerotherm added a new Okuma M560V vertical machining centre to its impressive stable of engineering plant. Director Derek Stent says the business has been growing to such an extent in the past few years that the team had to take its capacity to the next level. A decision was taken that investment in new plant had to future-proof Aerotherm’s operations by nothing less than a quantum leap.

“We have always known about Okuma…everybody knows about Okuma, that it’s a leader in its field and produces premium equipment. We’ve now experienced first-hand that it produces premium results in terms of time, cost effectiveness and precision engineering. And we have found that the buying procedure, after- sales service and training are premium, too,” he says.

Mr Stent, a qualified fitter and turner, says that the company has grown not only in terms of size and factory floor throughput since he started it in the early 1980s, but also in terms of its range of product offerings. Originally known as Flamespray Engineering, which focused on thermal spraying, as well as some grinding, welding, and machining, in the late 1980s one of Flamespray’s customers approached the team with a proposal to do an aircraft turbine and gearbox refurbishment job.

Aerotherm operations manager Phil Brown aligning the fixture on the new Okuma M560V vertical machining centre

Aerotherm was established, and Flamespray “gradually sort of faded into the background” as word of mouth spread the message to the point where aircraft work now constitutes around 70 percent of Aerotherm’s daily tasks. Operations manager Phil Brown, who has been with Aerotherm for eight years, says the two days’ training on the Okuma M560V was a very good investment, as it not only sharpened and broadened his skills set, but also gave him a few new general ideas about quality control, time management and cost-efficient diversification, all which will add value to Aerotherm’s reputation and bottom line.

The Okuma M560V’s major work the past two months has been making jigs for fixtures, prototypes and producing components for a US valve manufacturer. “The Okuma’s full CNC function and fourth axis has upped the game for us. The accuracy and workmanship are excellent…the machine has expanded the capability of what we can make and repair significantly,” Mr Brown says.

Fred de Jong, General Manager Okuma New Zealand Ltd, told New Zealand Engineering News more about the machine. He says the Japanese assembled M560V is of a highly rigid box frame design which lends itself well to the application of Okuma’s ‘Thermo Friendly Concept’ resulting in comparatively very high thermal stability and therefore accuracy over a wide range of ambient temperatures.

A feature of this design that is of particular benefit to one- off and delicate work applications like Aerotherm’s is that the table moves only in the Y direction which allows it to move closer to the front of the machine. This makes work piece loading easier and provides better vision of the process when operating.

Also utilised in this, and now most Okuma machining centres, is the highly reliable built-in spindle motor with oil air mist lubrication for long life, even at extended full speed running, and separate thermal control (TAC-S) for reliable and continuous dynamic stability and accuracy.

“The M560V is yet another example of the long-time Okuma principle of ‘single source responsibility’. This means that the machine, motion control, controller and software are all built by Okuma. The machines are therefore fully integrated solutions, right from the design phase so when support is required there is only one place necessary to call.

“It’s also worth noting that Okuma is the only true factory owned and operated CNC vendor domiciled in the New Zealand. For the customer, that means better service through faster response times at a lower cost with nothing getting lost in translation,” Mr de Jong explains.

The other 30 percent of Aerotherm’s daily tasks include, in addition to the US exports, thermal spraying, plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings as well as corrosion control coatings such as SermeTel, Alseal and Ipseal, precision grinding and welding, and 3D mapping and measurements of part profiles.

“We’re a good team that gets on well amongst ourselves and runs a stable company,” Mr Brown says. “Most of our six employees have long service, and we have a number of long-standing big contracts with some of the major players in our target markets. We hope to build a similar association with Okuma.”

The Okuma joins a comprehensive range of equipment in the orderly workshop. These include metal thermal spray equipment set up for combustion powder and wire, twin wire arc, plasma spray, and liquid-fuelled HVOF, and an extensive machine shop equipped with high capacity centre lathes, cylindrical grinders, a surface grinder, a vertical borer, a milling machine, T.I.G. and MMA welding equipment suitable for both ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, air circulating ovens to 700 degrees C and a CNC controlled Brown & Sharpe Co-ordinate Measuring Machine with an envelope of 700mm by 500mm by 500mm capable of reading as small as 4 microns and calibrated to the ISO 10360-2 standard.

Mr Stent says his already favourable impressions of Okuma and intention to acquire one finally tipped into action following an advertisement and accompanying article in New Zealand Engineering News a year ago. “I went into the buying process well informed. With the Okuma team’s expert advice, I bought the machine that is perfect for Aerotherm’s requirements and even exceeding the high expectations I had.”

For more information: Visit www.aerotherm.co.nz.