The straight and narrow

摘要

The strict requirements for an aerospace application can make even a simple-looking part challenging to manufacture. Arrow Grinding Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., is a grinding shop that services aerospace customers as well as others. Among the demanding aircraft parts the shop makes is a stainless steel, low-friction linear bearing called a slide rail. Although the part looks like a plain chrome-plated tube, it is a critical component of a hush kit for a large twin-jet business aircraft. A hush kit is a system of movable deflectors added to an engine to reduce noise in response to tightening environmental regulations. The deflectors move along the rails, which have to offer low friction and high wear resistance. Each engine features two slide rails per side, for a total of eight per aircraft. John Goller, AITOW president, said his company worked with the customer to develop a process to grind the rails, chrome-plate them, and then finish grind them to provide maximum precision, long life and rigidity.