5-axis titanium bracket three shops had declined
A flight-critical structural bracket needed ±0.01 mm in titanium with complex contours — three suppliers turned it down. We held tolerance and shipped ahead of schedule with full AS9102 documentation.
Background
An aerospace OEM approached us after three machine shops declined a structural bracket: the combination of titanium (Ti-6Al-4V), thin contoured walls and a ±0.01 mm positional requirement on its mounting interfaces sat at the edge of what most shops will quote. The program could not slip.
The challenge
Titanium's low thermal conductivity and tendency to work-harden make tight tolerances hard to hold, and the part's thin walls were prone to deflect and chatter under cutting forces. Every critical feature had to be verified and traceable for a flight-critical application under AS9100D.
Our approach
- 1
Programmed the part for 5-axis simultaneous machining so contoured faces and mounting bores were cut in one setup, removing setup-to-setup error.
- 2
Designed custom fixturing to fully support the thin walls and keep the part rigid against cutting loads.
- 3
Ran proven titanium parameters — lower surface speed with steady feed and high-pressure through-tool coolant — to control heat and tool wear.
- 4
Used in-process probing to verify critical features before the part left the machine.
Quality & inspection
Every critical feature was CMM-verified and an AS9102 First Article Inspection report shipped with the order, alongside full material certification tying the part to its titanium heat lot.