Delta TechOps is responsible for the repair and overhaul of the Delta Air Lines' fleet of more than 750 aircraft as well as the aircraft of more than 150 other aviation and airline customers around the world. Quality and safety are paramount and there is a very significant environmental pressure to reduce the use of materials such as wax and solvents. At the same time they have to ensure short turnaround times (TAT) as any aircraft on the ground represents a huge loss in earnings and operational opportunity.

To protect from corrosion and wear, most landing gear components undergo electroplating with various coatings such as nickel, chrome and cadmium. With the target of reducing TAT, increasing capacity and cost reduction, Delta TechOps and Elsyca have set up a project for hard Cr plating the barrel and axle journals of a Nose Landing Gear (NLG) part.

Elsyca has designed a conforming tooling set comprising anodes, robbers and shields. The tooling set performance is predicted up front, entirely by computer.

From a 3D CAD model of the NLG, Elsyca's software technology provides an accurate prediction of the chrome layer thickness distribution, enabling the optimised placement of the active tooling components while targeting plating-to-specification, all done virtually. The aim of this approach is to deliver a substantial reduction of labor costs associated with further post-processing operations such as grinding, waxing and degreasing. Further, the tooling achieves the plating of the barrel and journals in one step, saving process time by allowing hydrogen de-embrittlement heat treatments in only one step.

For more info on Elsyca's tooling design and process optimization capabilities, please contact us!