Public Funding for Ultrasonic Sciences Limited

Today's increasingly complex high value engineering parts are too valuable to discard when they are damaged. Unfortunately, current repair methods, often based on a series of complex manual operations, are difficult to control to ensure that high performance, often safety critical, parts have the required level of integrity. This problem is exacerbated when parts are repaired in remote, often inhospitable and hazardous locations, where it is difficult to provide the required level of repair skill. There is an urgent need for a flexible, efficient and automated method of repairing high value metallic parts, close to the point of use. Hybrid Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes, combining Directed Energy Deposition (DED) AM processes, with conventional 5 axes machining are already in production. Although very effective, this solution is limited to relatively small parts. In CONFIGURE a flexible automated repair unit, encompassing every stage of the repair operation (damage assessment, repair, finishing and final inspection) will be developed and demonstrated. Using a robotic platform with interchangeable inspection, deposition and machining heads it will allow parts of almost unlimited size to be repaired in a seamless operation. The new unit can be provided in portable and even mobile configuration, enabling it to be positioned wherever required. Digital manufacturing technology is a key aspect of the project. An array of sensors will be incorporated into the repair unit to provide both process and part quality data. This information, used to enable the unit to operate in an autonomous mode, will also be logged to allow detailed analysis to be performed and provide traceability. The CONFIGURE unit will be demonstrated in two end-use sectors, repair of damaged rail track and high value mining equipment but there are a wide range of potential cross-sector applications, including new part production.

Remanufacturing is a major manufacturing challenge due to the variation in the condition of incoming parts, as well as the need to react quickly to varying demand, driven by factors including in-service failure (such as casualty wheel flats in the rail sector) which makes accurate forecasting very difficult. Moreover, the approach presents important supply chain and logistical challenges to ensure that parts are collected and returned at the right time and place to meet complex repair schedules, involving multiple activities against fixed deadlines. Existing repair methods often entail a series of manual tasks, undertaken in different locations, making precise control impossible. A different approach is required for heavily utilised high value equipment where "out-of-service" time must be minimised. In the AURORA project, the world's first flexible remanufacturing cell for rail components, combining high performance cladding, machining and in-process part inspection, to ensure the accuracy and integrity of parts, will be developed and demonstrated. This new approach will enable novel business models to be investigated.