Intro
Within the aerospace industry, there are so many places where an advanced sheet metal design can save you time, save you money, and make your design easier to fabricate. At Rapid Axis, we’ve been helping the aerospace industry for decades, and a lot of our work involves sheet metal to some degree.
In this expert guide, our manufacturing pros will discuss 6 places to make use of advanced sheet metal design in the aerospace industry. We’ll provide real-world examples, and plenty of scenarios that your company might find itself in.
Structural Components
People usually don’t think that “structural” and “sheet metal” go together, but a common example of this partnership can be found in the structural parts of your aerospace project. With advanced sheet metal design, you can optimize the weight, aerodynamics, and load-bearing aspects of every structural component you have.
Whether it’s a single bracket or the entire fuselage, sheet metal can be used as structural components across aerospace projects.
While sheet metal can’t be used in every high-stress load-bearing application, there are countless examples where you might use an aerospace sheet metal design for structural parts.
Aerodynamic Surfaces
One of the more popular examples of advanced sheet metal designs in aerospace applications is aerodynamic surfaces. These surfaces need to have low drag, and often they need to be molded over existing structural parts of your design. To keep the operation low-cost, reliable, and easy to machine, a lot of people choose sheet metal.
If you make the body of your aircraft out of sheet metal, you’ll dramatically reduce the weight, while improving the aerodynamics of your design. Sheet metal can easily be shaped, rounded, or bent at steep angles — three scenarios that can help with the aerodynamics of your aircraft.
Plus, sheet metal parts can be crimped, riveted, welded, or bent. With more assembly options, there’s a better chance sheet metal designs will fit in your project.
Enclosures and Housings
You can find examples of sheet metal being used for enclosures and housings across industries. As a common example, look at a junction box or electrical box — oftentimes these are made out of sheet metal. Sheet metal is a low-cost way to create a shell around your assembly, and it’s a great choice for any aerospace project.
We can make sheet metal enclosures around electrical parts, small assemblies, or protective cases around sensitive components. In other cases, sheet metal is a great way to make a protective housing around dangerous spinning parts, to ensure no one gets hurt.
Heat Shields and Thermal Protection
In addition to electrical applications, advanced sheet metal designs can be used to protect heat-sensitive parts. When you use sheet metal for heat shields or thermal protection, you’re opening the possibilities for your design.
Sheet metal can be a great insulator, diverting thermal energy away from temperature-sensitive parts like electronics.
Fuel Tanks and Propellant Systems
You can find examples of sheet metal fuel tanks and propellant systems across multiple types of vehicles — from motorcycles to buses and tanks, plenty of road vehicles use sheet metal fuel tanks to keep fuel safe, pressurized, and contained. The same is true for aircraft like helicopters, jets, and airplanes.
Using sheet metal for your fuel tanks has quickly become an industry standard. Using sheet metal allows you to make a low-weight, low-cost, airtight container to hold whatever fuel you’re using.
Access Panels and Doors
A high-quality aerospace sheet metal design is one of the best ways to manufacture panels and doors across your aircraft. You will often see sheet metal doors used on commercial aircraft, and most paneling is also done with sheet metal.
This goes back to the flexibility of designing with sheet metal. You have the ability to create structurally sound parts that are significantly lighter and easier to manufacture as compared to making the same part out of stock metal.
Conclusion
During your next aerospace project, take some time to consider where and how an advanced sheet metal design can help. Sheet metal is lightweight, easy to manufacture, and comes with a more flexible design space. For any of your sheet metal needs, you can rely on Rapid Axis.
Rapid Axis is a full-service machine shop that offers sheet metal work, in addition to dozens of other manufacturing and finishing services. We position ourselves as your one-stop shop for any aerospace parts or assemblies that you need to be manufactured. Contact us today for a free quote to get started.