Fabrication of Stainless Steel Aircraft Structural Support for the Aerospace Industry

U.S. Components & Packaging Specialties, Inc. was awarded a contract by the United States military to construct a stainless steel and aluminum structural support element to be used within a tactical ground support military aircraft. Drawing from experience strategizing fabrication efforts and managing the critical production and quality work flow elements involved in manufacturing vital components for the United States armed services and with highly specific customer-supplied print and 2D CAD drawings, we set about our task with the sense of purpose and efficiency to match the hallmark qualities of our military. This project first required our design team to arrange for a re-drafting of the technical drawing in order to clarify and verify the precise customer requirements of the part version called for by the contract.

The aircraft grade 17.7 PH stainless steel base material was laser cut and then precision press-die formed and combined with similarly worked 7075-T6 aluminum with specified fastening hardware into a component with overall dimensions of 28" by 3", a 0.32" thickness in aluminum, and a .016" thickness in stainless steel. Special bedding and sealing compounds were required in the assembly process and the finished product received an aircraft grade epoxy finish. The finished structural support element of 5 pounds in total weight to tight tolerances as precise as ±.005" resulted. For additional information, please contact US Packaging Specialties today, or refer to the table below.