Delcam's PowerMILL aids move to five-axis machining at Messier-Bugatti

Messier-Bugatti, a leading provider of aircraft braking systems, has switched to Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system to support its move into five-axis machining. Previously, Messier-Bugatti only had equipment with up to four axes. However, with the move to continuous five-axis machines, the company felt that it needed a more efficient CAM system to make the most of its new capabilities.

A SAFRAN Group company with a global workforce of 1,500 employees mainly based in France, the US and Singapore, Messier-Bugatti specialises in aeronautical braking systems and carbon brakes. The company has equipped more than 3,500 commercial aircraft. It has been an Airbus partner for more than 20 years and was recently selected to design, develop and manufacture the wheels and carbon brakes for the new A350XWB long-haul commercial jet. Messier-Bugatti is also an OEM supplier for Boeing, Bombardier and Dassault Aviation.

The Molsheim works in eastern France, where the PowerMILL seats have been installed, is the company’s historical birthplace. It is now the production plant for wheels and brakes, hydraulic systems and equipment, as well as handling carbon-disk refurbishment for customers worldwide.

Production Manager Mr. Fonferrier and his team ran trials with PowerMILL on landing gear components and hydraulic manifolds. The results were so conclusive that the company bought the software in 2007. The most important factors in the decision were the flexibility offered by PowerMILL, together with the high efficiency of the resulting programs.

In addition, even though most of its parts are made of aluminium, Messier-Bugatti also machines titanium. This is a very demanding material, which requires high-quality toolpaths.

Stéphane Schneider, Manufacturing Process Engineer, described how the Delcam software has become a major asset for them. "We find it easy to import CATIA parts into PowerMILL, thanks to Delcam’s Exchange translation software,” he explained. "Then we create the programs within PowerMILL. Finally, we check the toolpaths in Vericut. If needed, we can modify any sections of the toolpaths quickly before machining the parts.”

Among the many advantages that PowerMILL bring to his work, he appreciates especially the control over the different high-speed machining strategies, the smoothness of the toolpaths and the significant reduction in the vibration of the parts during machining. As well as helping to maintain accuracy, this protects the tooling and the machines.

"Thanks to PowerMILL, the Messier-Bugatti team saves programming time and avoids programming errors by reducing the number of manual operations,” he added. "The Delcam support is very quick to respond, no matter what request we have. In fact, we have a very good relationship with the whole Delcam team.”