Critical Manifold Block Forging

A marine defence equipment producer approached us with a unique problem; their customer had specified a component in a material that had never before been produced in such a large section.

The material was a high-strength cupro-nickel to the defence standard DSTAN 02-835, which is typically produced up to 12" in diameter.

The component was a manifold block which was part of a system that controlled seawater, where significant pressures and strain were present. The item was also a Class 1 component meaning it was critical to the operation of the submarine. The section was 16" cubes.

An elegant solution

With every quotation, we pre-plan the production route ensuring there are no surprises when orders are placed and projects go live. The production planning is entirely contained within our custom-built business management software package and was already complete when contracts were agreed.

There is full transparency of this process for clients, as the subsequent route card captures all of the requirements to the point of delivery and the post-project "lessons learnt" meeting.

Material creation

Eight ingots, each weighing 1500kg, were cast and prepared for forging, taking care to ensure test samples were taken at the time to ensure full traceability back to the melt.

During the kick-off meeting, it was identified that if a forging or a component was scrapped further down the production process, then the impact upon the build programme would be unacceptable, as a replacement would take 12 weeks to produce. Therefore, to manage this risk, we produced enough material for two extra components should the need arise.

Component machining

Having fully conformed material in such a large section was a relief to all involved and now focus shifted to the machining process. Taking a solid block weighing 550kg to a precision machined component weighing 130kg took the latest in CNC technology and hands-on management to ensure protocol was respected.

Risk mitigation

The scenario planning at the front end did prevent a problem from becoming a disaster, as a forging was scrapped due to human error at the finish machining stage. As planned there was a forging available to slot into the process at no impact to the delivery schedule. Although this was not a requirement of the contract, we put project delivery above profits, with the aim to continue the development of our leading reputation as a deliverer of non-standard projects.

A happy customer

Upon their customer's inspection of the pressure-tested components, they could see that the attention to detail had made all the difference, especially the fact that all the items were pre-packaged with a sling making it easy for them to lift them out of the boxes.