Aerospace deburring for precision machined parts needs to account for the fact that these components must meet critical tolerances that are sometimes measured in thousands of an inch. These machined aerospace parts also need a surface finish that’s free from burrs, raised areas that are created by operations such as drilling, milling, and turning. If aerospace burrs aren’t removed completely, problems with parts mating, seating, and sealing may occur. Yet, some aerospace deburring methods risk changing a component’s surface finish or dimensions. That’s an unacceptable risk for aerospace manufacturers working on military or civilian projects.
Aerospace Deburring and Hard-to-Reach Part Features
Aerospace manufacturers face other precision deburring challenges as well. For example, some precision parts have blind holes or cross-holes. In addition to a burr-free surface finish, these holes need to maintain their radiused edges. Manufacturers can remove burrs with bench operations, but manual deburring is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and sometimes inconsistent. Burrs in blind holes and cross holes can also be hard-to-reach, and aerospace materials are relatively expensive. If a part is out-of-spec, the manufacturing waste can be significant.
Manual Deburring vs. Automated Deburring
Burr removal from undercuts, grooves, and slots is also challenging. Some hand-held deburring tools simply can’t reach these features. Others can reach them but can only debur one part at a time. Automated deburring technologies can process batches of aerospace parts, but manufacturers want solutions that won’t add excessive time, costs, or complexity to projects. Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deburring, a computer-controlled batch process, is faster and more consistent than manual deburring, won’t affect surface quality or part geometry, and can access hard-to-reach part geometries.
Cryogenic Deburring for Precision Aerospace Parts
Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deburring uses very low temperatures and polycarbonate media to safely, quickly, and cleanly remove burrs. First, the plastic or metal parts are placed in a chamber and cooled to a cryogenic temperature so that the burrs become brittle. The parts are then impacted with a non-abrasive polycarbonate media. Because the deburring process is computer-controlled, Nitrofreeze® can save your “recipe” and re-use it for future batches of the same part. Plus, unlike manual deburring, the results are consistently high-quality.
Surface Finish and Part Geometry
Importantly, cryogenic deburring removes only the surface imperfections (burrs) from precision aerospace parts. In other words, Nitrofreeze® aerospace deburring will not affect a part’s surface finish or geometry. Edges are maintained without rounding and this deburring process won’t harm the surface quality. Cryogenic aerospace deburring can accommodate thin-walled parts as small as 0.025” and larger, inch-based parts with greater mass.
Media Sizes and Part Geometries
Cryogenic deburring is especially effective at removing machined burrs from blind holes, through holes, and other hard-to-reach geometries in precision aerospace parts. The non-abrasive media that Nitrofreeze® uses is sized from 0.015” (smallest) to 0.060” (largest) to accommodate specific challenges. We can also develop low-cost custom fixtures to ensure burr removal from hard-to-reach holes and other recessed areas.
Engineering Plastics and Metal Materials
Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deburring can be used with engineering and commodity plastics such as Delrin®, Teflon®, Tefzel®, Torlon®, polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This proven aerospace deburring technology is also used with machined parts made of ABS, PET, HDPE, PEEK, DAP, PPS, CTFE, Viton®, and nylon. In addition, cryogenic deburring is used with liquid crystal polymers (LCP), precipitation hardening (PH) stainless steels, and beryllium copper.
Ask Nitrofreeze® About Aerospace Deburring
Is cryogenic deburring suitable for your precision aerospace parts? Contact the experts at Nitrofreeze® to review your requirements. No job is too large or too small, and our standard turnaround time is two days after receipt. If your metal or plastic part is a viable candidate for cryogenic aerospace deburring, we can perform sampling to demonstrate our process. The consultation is free of charge.
To learn more, contact us at the phone number and email listed below.
(508) 459-7447 x109 | mailto:info@nitrofreeze.com