Mecelec Design case studies


	Case Studies Within a complex, and often changing, industrial world many specialist problems need a multidiscipline approach for successful solutions. Mecelec Design has developed a technique, which integrates expertise from all the important engineering disciplines with an ability to work across the traditional boundaries. This unusually flexible project team allows mecelec design to provide turnkey solutions to complex technical problems. A rare capacity indeed, and one commissioned by a wide variety of industrial customers.

	Production Hydraulic Hose Test Equipment - The quest for better production quality makes an ever-increasing demand on product testing. This machine is a good example of such requirements. The facility shown is used to test Aerospace Hydraulic hoses up to a pressure of 350Bar. Faced with a wide variety of product sizes requiring different test conditions, Mecelec Design were able to offer a comprehensive facility allowing technicians to build their own test specification.				Production Leak Test Machine - This machine tests precision alloy castings for porosity following a final machining operation. It has been integrated as part of a fully automatic high volume production process, requiring no operator input under normal running conditions. A purpose designed accumulating type conveyor was designed and built by Mecelec Design to convey components through the facility. Special seal elements were produced to close all cavities prior to the leak test operation. An interesting feature of this machine is the temperature compensating facility that was included with the leak test circuit. This allows parts to be tested under the maximum and minimum temperatures that they could potentially be when delivered to the machine.



	Production Leak test equipment – Production assembly and testing have been combined within this semi automatic facility. This machine demonstrates Mecelec Designs’ experience in the field of production leak testing and detailed assembly mechanisms. The facility is controlled via an industrial touch screen PC and National Instruments PCI card running a bespoke C++ software program. In this example we are interfacing with a proprietary leak detector and a number of inductive read/write tags.

					Production Shock Test Machine – This production machine conducts a 100% test on a safety critical automotive part. It vibrates the component at a very high frequency prior to running a PC based functional programme on the unit. All physical connections to the component following the shock, prior to the functional test is carried out automatically. The machine is linked to the client’s factory server, with all data gathered during the test logged against the unique barcode attached to the component.


	Pressure Cycle Durability Test Equipment - Durability testing of products represents a significant process in the development and ongoing ratification of production products. This facility represents one of Mecelec Designs’ standard designs for pressure impulse testing of many air conditioning and cooling system components. Mecelec Design has many years’ experience in such equipment and has recently developed a semi standard circuit to fulfil customer pressure pulse requirements.

					Production Inspection Machine – This machine tests for the presence of critical parts prior to assembly into a car engine. Due to the nature of the parts they could be missed out of the assembly operation, or miss-assembled leading to catastrophic failure in service. Robust devices capable of repeatable measuring within microns form the heart of the inspection operation in conjunction with a series of precision ground type-change tooling allowing the full range of factory-produced parts to be tested.

	Production and qualification testing of aerospace components - This represents an excellent example of two machines used to qualify and production test aircraft Fan Cowl actuators and power system. Both facilities test two variants of components through pressure profiles; the qualification facility subjects the components to a thermal cycle and has control of the aircraft hydraulic power unit. The qualification rig is PC controlled using a PCI national Instruments card and operated under a bespoke C++ program, the production test facility is PLC controlled.

					Production Inspection Machine – This production machine was integrated into clients’ existing palletised conveyor system. It is built around a multi head laser-checking instrument that transmits two diametrically opposite beams across the component. This checks a critical diameter of the component prior to an assembly operation to within microns. The machine was designed to work within a high volume production environment.

	Aerospace Land assessment facility - For many years the process of grinding “lands” on an aerospace spool and bushings used in a flying control unit has been a time consuming process of manual grinding and re testing. This facility assesses the condition of the spool relative to the bushing and gives the operator a detailed listing for each land condition; the operator is informed exactly how much material to remove from each land. The equipment is PC controlled and interfaced with a precision stepper drive mechanism, flow meters, leak detection device and a range of pressure transducers.




	Bespoke electrical control equipment - As well as assembly and test equipment Mecelec Design are also involved in the design of bespoke processor control systems, the picture represents a recent design and build project which involved the design of a high speed control card and relevant analogue amplifier cards.This is a typical example of a semi standard servo hydraulic control rack specifically designed to interface with a PLC.