Peen forming by blasting with steel shot is now carried out by Dassault Aviation at their Seclin site (northern France) to correct the distortion of mechanical parts after their shapes have become altered during the manufacturing process, or to complete the shape of the Falcon 7x wing panels after hot forming.
The new 108m² Wheelabrator blastroom is equipped with two generators with continuous flow allowing the projection of steel shot with a diameter of 0.8 to 2.0mm. This new equipment has improved ergonomics and has speeded up the process of the forming tests on Falcon 7x wing panels.
The Wheelabrator blastrooms are equipped with two closed circuit machines and represent the preferred solution for various applications. The air and dust filtration system, available for all equipment in the range, is completely integrated and therefore needs no additional ducting. The blastrooms are compact, self-contained and provide easy access for maintenance operations.
The encouraging test results so far mean that Dassault Aviation will also trial peen-forming for a different application to create the curve of the Falcon wing panels – this will replace the tooling currently used (press, boards, mallet) and will generate a substantial cost reduction.
Further training for the operators of the process has been included in the annual training plan, and the extension of the system by two further blastrooms is planned.
