Doncasters gains contracts to produce castings for Innovative Boeing, Airbus Ventures.

As the commercial aerospace race continues between Airbus, Toulouse, France, and Boeing, Chicago, for the latest innovations in air transport, Doncasters Group Ltd., Melbourne, Derbyshire, England, has found itself on both sides. During the last three months, the firm was awarded contracts to produce components for both the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 aircrafts.

Hamilton Sundstrand, Windsor Locks, Conn., entered into an alliance with Doncasters in February to manufacture turbo-machinery for the Boeing 787 auxiliary power unit, the APS5000. With potential revenues exceeding $300 million, this represents the largest single contract secured by Doncasters in its 226-yr. history.

With assistance from facilities in North America and Europe, Doncasters will manufacture the entire turbine section, all structural components and most of the key compressor components for the APS5000. Using multiple parts, including single crystal castings and equiaxed grain castings, Doncasters will supply kits, subsystems and assemblies for this and other Hamilton Sundstrand programs.

Additionally, the company is co-locating an engineering team at Hamilton Sundstrand Power Systems in San Diego to support component and subassembly de sign efforts. Doncasters New England Air-foil Products, Farmington, Conn., will manage the overall supply chain, coordinating the manufacture and supply of the required components from across the firm.

"This contract marks a significant step forward for Doncasters in the North American market," said Eric J. Lewis, CEO of the Doncasters Group. "Our flexible multi-facility manufacturing capabilities, supply chain expertise and effective customer support package meant that we are uniquely positioned to secure this long-term partnership with Hamilton Sundstrand."

Doncasters took on the other side of the race when the firm was selected by Dunlop Aerospace (Meggitt plc), Coventry, West Midlands, England, in April to manufacture torque tubes for the A380 brake. Dunlop Aerospace, in collaboration with Honeywell Aircraft Landing Systems, South Bend, Ind., will supply wheels and brakes for the A380.

Doncasters is manufacturing the torque tubes via centrifugal investment casting using a titanium alloy, which will add strength to the torque tubes while minimizing their mass. This is the first time investment castings will be used as part of a European undercarriage.

The tubes will deliver torque to the axle on the A380 and constitute the main structure of the brake. There are 16 torque tubes for each aircraft. Each tube then is lined with a special composite material to help withstand the extreme operating temperatures.

"Securing this important agreement with Dunlop Aerospace is testament to Doncasters' skills and expertise in investment casting techniques," Lewis said. "Dunlop chose Doncasters' centrifugal technique over the more conventional methods as they were confident that it had the edge in terms of surface aspect, properties, grain size and structure."

Further, Doncasters also is supplying the slat cans to the Airbus A380 Wing Build facility at Broughton, Cumbria, England, as well as the aft pylon fairing and several parts on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine, which will be used on the A380.