Isolating the foundations at specialist Aerospace manufacturing facility

United Kingdom

Machine

Starrag Ecospeed F

Type

Machining Centre

Industry

Aerospace

Farrat Solutions

ISOFOAM120 was installed on the inertia block in 120-50 mm thickness, up to 3 m deep

25 mm thick ISOFOAM top layer

Project Overview

Farrat isolate the foundations of three high-speed machining centres at a specialist Aerospace manufacturing facility, producing aluminium and titanium components.

The Challenge

This UK facility manufactures parts from a range of aluminium, titanium and carbon fibre composites as part of the largest recorded weapons programme in history.

In a bid to increase machining times and fulfill customer requirements, three new Starrag machining centres were to be installed to machine the aluminium and titanium parts. It was crucial that there was no impact on production line cycle times or machine operating performance from surrounding disturbances, such as

The Solution

Farrat worked closely with the Structural Engineer early in the design stage, after Farrat ISOFOAM120 side wall vibration isolation material was specified to laterally isolate the machine foundations from vibration.

ISOFOAM120 is produced from a high-quality, closed-cell EPDM foam, and has high resilience / low damping characteristics, which means that it is a durable and economical material – ideal for this type of application. The ISOFOAM120 was installed on the inertia block in 120-50 mm thickness, up to 3 m deep. Direct support poles were then inserted to provide maximum machine stiffness, followed by a 25 mm thick ISOFOAM top layer, before backfilling the surrounding floor.

This has proved to be a highly-effective, typical construction method for a Lateral Isolated Foundation configuration, with the ISOFOAM120 preventing vibrations travelling through the floor-slab and radiating through the ground – acting as an effective, long-term isolation solution.