Aerospace - Automated Die Cleaning and Coating

Blue Arc was recently contracted to assist a large aerospace company in creating an automated die processing line. The purpose of the project was to increase throughput of the die cleaning/coating process while maintaining ergonomic and safety standards.

The existing process was very manual, using fork trucks and overhead manipulators to move the dies to the different processing areas. During the processing, the dies needed to be cleaned via CO2 bead blasting, then recoated with a powder lubricant. Using two different media in the same spray booth required a manual setup change by the operator, which added to the time it took to process each die.

To automate the process and speed up production, we designed and built a custom conveyor line, die heater, die tilter, and spray booth. There were several design challenges that we had to overcome as well, including:

Keeping the noise level of the process below 80dBA
Ensuring the dies remained above 300 degrees F
Maneuvering a die stack that was 6,000 pounds

The first requirement demanded a robust sound enclosure in which the robot could perform the loud bead blasting operation while an operator stood just outside the booth. To ensure the dies remained hot, we integrated a die heater into the conveyor line. We then used special bearings and other high-temperature components to handle the large amounts of heat coming off of the large mass.

To improve the process even more, we presented a die tilter into the operator inspection station as an option to the customer. They readily chose to include this because it helped them inspect the surface of the die without having to contact its hot surface.

A robot was also integrated into the process to do the ice blasting and recoating. The control system for the robot featured a series of push button stands that the operator could use to shuttle the die into and out of the robot room. Operators were able to activate the robot to automatically clean and re-spray the die without any interaction.

The customer is now ready to ramp up production utilizing their new automated system.