Excalibur Armament Actuator

Picatinny Arsenals Armament Research, Development and Engineering Centers ARDEC Prototype Manufacturing Team was tasked with producing prototype parts and a representative production process for the Excalibur 155mm Artillery Projectile. ARDEC personnel started producing the components with existing equipment at their facility. Their initial run time for the bottom plate was 7.5 hours with six different setups and unacceptable variations in part dimensional tolerances. ARDEC personnel called upon the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining NCDMM for their assistance in establishing a more efficient manufacturing process for both the initial prototype parts and to gain insight into the production cycle times and processing methods for higher rate part quantities. After reviewing the process and machine tools available, the NCDMM recommended the JUMPED trademark Joint Ultimate Manufacturing Process Evolution and Development process. The JUMPED process is a collaborative initiative that leverages the use of the NCDMM Testing and Development Lab for the performance of complete turnkey projects. Through JUMPED, comprehensive manufacturing processes are completely developed and verified in the NCDMM Lab by integrating advanced manufacturing technologies. NCDMM reviewed the component design and determined that because of required tolerances and complex features, 5-axis machining technologies would be required to process these parts efficiently. Modular fixturing was designed to reduce setups. Tailored form tooling with through coolant was designed to effectively machine special features. CNC programs were developed and optimized to minimize cycle times.