Customer
A large foreign shipyard that focuses on the development and production of Marine ships and submarines. This yard is the fleet supplier to the Navy of some 50 countries.
Challenge
This yard needed a quail shaft for a frigate they were producing. This is a fairly usual workpiece in itself, but because this shaft was flanged to a GE gas turbine, the tolerances were extremely precise. To be precise, the challenge required tolerances of H6, with swing requirements of one 100th. The shape and position tolerances of the hole pattern of the flange had to be within 5mμ, where the sum of the deviation from one hole to the other hole could be a maximum of one 100th. They had already been commissioned for the production of this part at four machine factories in different countries within Europe. However, none of these companies could promise the shipyard to produce an axle within the specified tolerances. In addition to the tolerances, the many combinations of the partial operations were also a challenge in this project.
Solution
Of course, we wouldn't publish this story if we hadn't taken up this challenge. Since the material of the torsion shaft had to be made of high alloy steel, the yard supplied the material of the workpiece. In view of the many partial operations, cooperation within GBS Machining Services was crucial for this project. As we often notice during projects, we believe that the technical knowledge and experience of our colleagues was the decisive factor in this project. From the technical sales engineer to machine workers, everyone involved in the project had a contribution to make.
Result
After production we sent the quail shaft to Germany, where they checked the shaft on a 3D machine. After it turned out the tolerances were met, the axle could be returned to the shipyard. Due to the successful outcome of this project, we gained the trust of this foreign yard to tackle similar projects later on.
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