CAD-friendly modular
fixturing helps job shop
grab opportunity
When Neil Porter, founder of
NCAD Products Inc., added
his first initial to CAD (
com-puter-aided design), he created a name that
spoke to the very “CAD-centricity” of his
new company.
Located in Oviedo, Fla., a suburb of
Orlando, NCAD Products is a manufacturing job shop founded in 1996.
“I started the company by moonlighting
CAD services. Besides CAD, I also have a
background in fluid power, pneumatics,
and project management. These disciplines
taught me the value of scrutinizing every
job to figure out how to maximize the
application of technology—by which I
mean CAD and CNC capabilities—to production of every project,” Porter explained.
The strategy of driving operations from
this digital perspective makes NCAD
extremely competitive. As a result, the company has grown into a 15,000-sq.-ft. facility,
encompassing everything from 3-D-model-
ing and 3-D-laser scanning, used for reverse
engineering and digital enlargement of
models, to 5-axis foam sculpting, multiaxis
milling and routing, CNC press brake
forming, vacuum forming, and all types of
finishing.
16 PRACTICAL WELDING TODAY
May/June 2009
First-time customers typically come to
NCAD for overflow. But the range of capabilities the NCAD team offers is such that
it is not unusual for a customer to return at
a later date for additional services.
Tale of a Tail
In November 2007 a manufacturer of military simulation and training devices, also
located in Florida, asked NCAD to propose
an approach using 3-D laser scanning of the
tail section of a non-airworthy UH-60
Blackhawk helicopter (see Figure 1). The
3-D scans were to be used to generate 3-D
models required for the manufacture of
full-scale, remove-and-replace simulators.
The Army used these simulators for maintenance training on Blackhawk tail systems
and components.
Ultimately, NCAD’s laser scanning
technology was not selected; however, the
evaluation process led the simulator manufacturer’s project management team to visit
NCAD’s facilities.
At that time the manufacturer was seeking to broaden its roster of fabricators. Based
on a demonstration of NCAD’s capabilities,
the simulator manufacturer decided to place
a multifaceted job with NCAD for turnkey
fabrication of Blackhawk stabalator mock-ups. Stabalators are small, horizontal stabilizing winglets, approximately 34 by 72 in.
long, one each located on both sides at the
rear of the tail boom. Project scope included
the right- and left-hand winglets (mirror
images), as well as the center actuator box,
which mechanically controls the winglets’
angle of attack, to which they are attached.
Besides requiring dimensional accuracy, the
winglets had to be within ± 10 percent of
actual weight. All in all, this project proved
to be the perfect challenge for NCAD’s integration capabilities.
NCAD’s design called for machined
metal components and a square-tube weldment to be sandwiched within CNC-cut
foam. The resulting assembly was then to be
sheathed in plastic. Finally, vacuum-formed
plastic elements were to be added externally,
and the whole assembly painted. With the
exception of welding, all work was to be
completed in-house.
Bring in the Welding
NCAD had planned to outsource welding
until the customer proposed an expanded
assignment. While NCAD was still in the
initial stages of machining the stabalator
