Charles Maltby, Technical and Commercial Director at the precision engineering company Shearline, explains that the company has put together a consortium of leaders in the industry to bid for European funding (FP7) that could see the company developing the largest facility for Magnesium Thixomoulding in the UK.

“Magnesium is an exciting metal, and Thixomoulding allows alloys to be moulded into structures that are strong and light, and require reduced processing. An ideal application is seat structures for airplanes; reducing the weight of seating by 35% will make a huge difference to the energy consumption of the aircraft.

“Our bid team includes: Magnesium Elektron, a UK company that has developed the alloys; JSW/Buhler, makers of injection moulding equipment; Sirris, a Belgian research organization with their own existing generation Thixomoulding machine; and AM2 a German company led by Bernd Wendinger, an authority in this field. These commercial partners together with the University of Sheffield and the Advanced Forming Research Centre, linked to the University of Strathclyde offer a strong team with worldclass expertise.”

The consortium will look to expand knowledge of the commercial applications of the technology. Thixomoulding uses a semi-solid state for the alloy to allow it to smoothly fill even complex shape moulds. The resulting structures can have thinner walls than conventional die-casting and a higher resistance to fatigue and corrosion. These qualities mean a wide range of industries could benefit from using Magnesium, with applications ranging from medical devices to defence equipment.

Shearline already has a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate from the University of Shefield, Rachel Peachey, working in the company to evaluate the properties of the new alloys, which offer significant improvements over existing ones.

She explains that repeatability is one of the advantages of Thixomoulding: “With traditional casting there can be a lot of scrapage because the parts are not of consistent quality. One company we have spoken to are forced to reject about two in every five gearbox housings because the process they are using cannot ensure that each box is of a sufficient standard. Thixomoulding can overcome this problem because each part a mould produces is identical, so the company is excited by its potential.”

Thixomoulding can produce accurate and complex shapes, which means that multi-part assemblies can often be modified to use just one or two parts, reducing the energy used during both the manufacturing and assembly processes.

The company is keen to explore the potential of using the process for relatively large structures within the aerospace, automotive, defence and other high tech sectors, so part of the proposal is to install a ‘large-size’ Thixomoulding machine at Shearline’s Ely premises. This would enable industries all over Europe to access the many benefits of Magnesium Thixomoulding.

Charles concludes: “Thixomoulding has many environmental benefits – the manufacturing process reduces energy usage and waste, and the lightweight parts it can produce have the potential to make huge improvements to efficiency in the transport industry. We’re very excited to be developing the process and exploring its vast range of applications.”

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John Hayes, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, said:

“The annual Apprenticeship Awards recognise individuals who have achieved so much through hard work and good instruction and highlight the commitment many employers have made to invest in their workforce.

“Apprenticeships play a huge role in providing the skills we need to build an advanced economy. They help get young people into work, boost productivity and improve competitiveness. For this Government, skills are a priority and Apprenticeships are at the heart of our determination to produce a new generation of craftsmen capable of building a highly skilled, competitive economy.”

Wayne Harrison, Apprentice Training Officer from Shearline said:

“I am extremely proud of our Apprenticeship programme at Shearline and it is fantastic to be recognised on a national scale.”

The cutting-edge company offers Engineering and Technology Apprenticeships and currently employs four apprentices. It is extremely dedicated to investing in staff training and Apprenticeships. Over 15 years, the firm has prided itself in nurturing apprentices with a range of transferable skills and producing a dynamic programme to meet the unique demands of the business and the industry it works in.

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Aerospace and Automotive capability enhanced with scale-up

Aerospace and defence clients have welcomed the news that precision manufacturing company Shearline has extended its capabilities and has established the new ShearXL division. This will enable it to handle large-scale precision engineering of infrastructure components for rotary and fixed wing aircraft, vehicle gearbox housings, and wind turbine parts.

With this development, the company will be uniquely positioned to offer rapid prototyping and manufacture for a much wider size range of components in materials from lightweight alloys through to steels.

The capabilities of the existing company and its new division are highly complementary, as Charles Maltby, Technical and Commercial Director of Shearline, explains.

“Shearline’s work has until now typically been CNC machined components that fit in a shoe-box. We now have the ability to accurately manufacture on a much larger scale, with 5-axis machines able to handle parts up to 700mm cubed and 3-axis to 900mm cubed. For one of our MoD clients this now means we can do the whole job in-house.”

The expansion has occurred following the acquisition by Shearline of a nearby engineering firm which had a strong reputation in the automotive and auto sports industries and held a key role within the cluster of these industries in the East of England. The news that this resource was to be retained and enhanced by Shearline has been welcomed by companies across the region.

Mark Cullum, recently appointed Sales Manager for ShearXL, comments,

“There are many synergies between the autosports and aerospace industries. Both require stringent quality standards and knowledge of handling aluminium alloys, steel, ceramics and other specialist materials. We are encouraged by the discussions we are having with companies such as Prodrive in Banbury. There are lots of opportunities out there and Shearline has reached the critical size needed to provide the full range of supply chain services these companies require.”

Shearline offers a full manufacturing service, from technical consultancy, prototyping and design-for-manufacture through to full scale production, assembly and finishing. The company now holds BS EN 9100 (AS9100), ISO9001 and ISO 14001:2004 certification for environmental management systems.

The company is particularly proud to have been awarded the prestigious AS9100 international quality standard, which was originally developed to standardise aerospace quality expectations on a global level. This achievement has opened the door to significant new work for the company.

Ultra lightweight, very strong, complex moulded components are now possible with a new approach to magnesium moulding. Precision manufacturing company Shearline is creating a test rig with the support of the University of Sheffield and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, in order to evaluate the process for its clients, particularly with regard to new alloys for the aerospace, automotive and defence sectors.

Rachel Peachey, Knowledge Transfer Programme Associate, will be driving forward Shearline’s new magnesium injection moulding initiative, seen here holding the type of ultra lightweight, very strong, complex moulded components that will be possible with a new approach,flanked by David Littlechild, Chairman, (left) and Charles Maltby, Technical & Commercial Director of  Shearline (right).

Charles Maltby, Technical & Commercial Director of Shearline, comments that the new injection moulding process offers significant benefits.

“Thixomoulding is a relatively new process which enables the precise moulding of magnesium alloy components with thin walls and complex shapes within a single process.

“Magnesium alloys are already widely used for low cost, high volume components for computers and mobile phones and also in high performance cars where strength and lightness is required. We see an opportunity to provide similar magnesium components for low volume, high value manufacture particularly for prototypes and first production cycles.

“Metal injection moulding via Thixomoulding and new additive layer methods for producing tooling can reduce the overall cost of tooling and construction. Components that may previously have required several manufacturing processes, or to have been constructed in parts and then assembled, can now be integrated within a single mould.

“Magnesium is an exciting metal and removes constraints from product designers. We think there is significant potential for the process and this has been supported by our industry research.”

Shearline has been working closely with the University of Sheffield and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and has secured a Knowledge Transfer Programme from the university to work on the new activity.

KTP Associate Rachel Peachey said, “I am really looking forward to working at Shearline and with University of Sheffield support and knowledge this will be an excellent opportunity to bring advanced manufacturing methods to the UK.”

Shearline will be the first commercial facility in the UK to offer design for manufacture knowledge in magnesium Thixomoulding. There are currently only a few sites capable of providing this service in Europe and they are almost all in research labs.

Sustainability is a growing issue and magnesium is completely recyclable and can be used to replace some plastic applications. It is environmentally clean and from a sustainable source. The process also requires low energy consumption compared to aluminium for example.

The Shearline facility will initially include a test rig for magnesium alloy injection moulding and services will include design for manufacture, tool design and procurement, moulding, finishing and assembly, as required by the customer.

The company already supports a client that has incorporated moulded magnesium components within their products and has experience of handling and finishing such components for use in final assemblies. The Magnesium Thixomoulding process will allow Shearline to offer a greater range of services on site and complement the existing precision engineering, sheet metal fabrication and assembly activities.

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is a £60million partnership which builds on the shared scientific excellence, expertise and technological innovation of the world’s leading aerospace companies, including Boeing and Rolls Royce, together with world-class research within the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering. By working with the AMRC, Shearline is able to ensure that the processes it is developing will be addressing the stringent quality requirements of the aerospace, automotive and other high tech sectors.

Iain Todd, Reader in Metallurgy and Director of Materials, University of Sheffield AMRC with Boeing said, “Shearline is a progressive company and this project provides a great example of the way universities can work with world-class organisations to bridge the gap between emerging research and industrial application. We see tremendous potential for this process with some compelling applications.”