Scales For Weighing Aircraft Parts

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Vast arrays of different types of parts are used to build an aircraft. A jet engine alone can contain almost 25,000 individual parts and take up to two years to build and several more years to test. Aircraft parts are made from a wide variety of different materials and vary widely in shape, size, and function.

They are also made using many different methods. Using the jet engine as an example, a fan blade is forged through the molding of molten titanium in a hot press, the turbine disc is created by powder metallurgy, and combustion chambers and compressor blades are made through casting. It is vital that these parts are as light as possible, because the heavier an empty aircraft is, the more expensive it becomes to operate. Even though the diversity of aircraft engine parts is great, the parts for a specific type of aircraft engine are typically built in the same factory. This is sometimes similar and sometimes different from the other parts of the aircraft, which can be made at the same factory or created by many different suppliers for specific, specialized parts.

Lightweight, durable, corrosion resistant, ...
... and thermally stable components must be used in all aspects of aircraft building and design. The preferred material is titanium, which is found in the majority of critical engine components and other important aircraft parts. Its extreme hardness and resistance to intense heat makes it an attractive aircraft construction material, as well as unfortunately being exceedingly difficult to work with. To alleviate this, titanium is often alloyed with nickel or aluminum to improve malleability. These metals also have quite a high strength to weight ratio.,/p>

Types of Scales Often Used

Drum scales. Specialized operations such as chemical milling, which is the removal of excess metal by using acids, and stretch forming are frequently used to create different aircraft parts. As previously mentioned, molten metals are also used. During the manufacturing process, these liquid materials must be measured and weighed to ensure the highest level of accuracy; most frequently, the acids and liquid metals are stored in drums and weighed using drum scales.

Parts counting scales. A high volume of the same part is often mass produced in aircraft parts factories. These need to be counted and weighed, and parts counting scales are ideal for this purpose. Usually, the average weight of a part is already known, or found through the weighing of several parts and the subsequent division of the weight by the number of parts. Then all parts are weighed, and the average weight of each part is used to determine the number of pieces.

Specialized scales. Sometimes, specific types of scales are created just for use inside the industry. For example, during the process of balanced turbine assembly, a computer numerically controlled (CNC) robot selects, analyzes, and connects the turbine blade to its hub. The robot then is able to weigh the blade and places in the appropriate place for the most balanced assembly.