Cryogenic Machining of 787 Fuselage
Starting early next year, Boeing South Carolina will mill and drill composite fuselage sections for the 787 Dreamliner through cryogenic machining.
Share




At one of the newest Boeing manufacturing locations, a new machining technology will be used to process a new choice of material within a new aircraft. Starting early next year, Boeing South Carolina will mill and drill composite fuselage sections for the through cryogenic machining.
The technology was developed by Mag. This company’s six-axis FTR AutoDrill (pictured) will perform the machining. Cryogenic machining involves delivering liquid nitrogen cooled to –321°F through the tool. The fluid absorbs heat from the machining process, resulting in extended tool life, reduced material adhesion, and the chance for increased cutting speed, not to mention chips that are both dry and cool. Because only a low flow rate of liquid nitrogen is needed, Mag’s formal name for the technology is “MQC,” or Minimum Quantity Cryogenic.
To hear about the latest in cryogenic machining, come to Chicago in September. The 3TRAM aerospace manufacturing conference at will include a presentation from Mag called “Cryogenic Super Cooling for Aerospace Machining.”
Related Content
-
4 Commonly Misapplied CNC Features
Misapplication of these important CNC features will result in wasted time, wasted or duplicated effort and/or wasted material.
-
CNC Machine Shop Honored for Automation, Machine Monitoring
From cobots to machine monitoring, this Top Shop honoree shows that machining technology is about more than the machine tool.
-
How to Successfully Adopt Five-Axis Machining
While there are many changes to adopt when moving to five-axis, they all compliment the overall goal of better parts through less operations.