Aerospace
Precision welding and fabrication for aerospace projects
Aerospace test, tooling and support equipment often combines precisely welded tube, small circumferential components and rigid stainless frameworks. DMS Stainless Fabrications brings machine TIG, orbital and manual TIG welding together with fabrication and in-house assembly, so these elements can be made and checked under one roof.
Our team can review drawings for welded tube assemblies, fixtures, frames and enclosures used in development, test and ground support work, and suggest a welding and fabrication route for each part.
Send us your drawings for a quotation.
Welding and fabrication services for aerospace work
Each service can be used on its own or combined, depending on the component:
- Machine TIG welding: precision welding lathes for repeatable butt and socket welds on circumferential parts.
- Orbital welding: autogenous butt welds on small to medium diameter tube, with auto-programmed weld cycles.
- Manual TIG welding: skilled welders for fabrications, brackets and assemblies in a wide range of materials and thicknesses.
- Inconel and nickel alloys: welding procedures for Inconel 625, Monel and Hastelloy.
- Inspection and testing: in-house visual and borescope inspection, with other NDT through an independent laboratory.
We will confirm which process suits the material, joint and quantity when we look at your drawings.
What our welding offers aerospace projects
Controlled weld parameters
Machine TIG lathes control current, travel speed, arc gap, pulsing and gas flow for each weld.
Repeatable tube welds
Auto-programmed orbital weld cycles give consistent results across a batch of tube assemblies.
Weld data capture
Our bespoke software records coded welding operations in real time and links each weld to its component.
Internal weld inspection
Flexible borescopes up to 3 m long let us check the inside of welded tube.
Special alloys
Welding procedures cover stainless steels, nickel alloys and UNS 17400 martensitic steel.
Assembly under one roof
Fitters can build welded parts into frames, fixtures and test equipment before despatch.
Aerospace applications we can support
Stainless and nickel alloy work our services are suited to includes:
- Welded tube and pipe assemblies for test rigs and ground equipment
- Circumferential components such as couplings, adaptors and housings
- Jigs, fixtures and frameworks for assembly and testing
- Frames, guards and enclosures for test and support equipment
Where a component has to fit existing equipment, include the interface drawings with your enquiry.
Stainless steels and nickel alloys
DMS holds welding procedures for 300 series stainless steels, UNS 17400 martensitic steel, Inconel 625, Monel 400 and K500, Hastelloy C276 and C22, Nitronic grades and carbon steels, together with dissimilar combinations of most of these. We are prepared to qualify welders where a particular procedure is not yet available.
Give the exact material specification and any restrictions on substitution or filler metal. See our approved materials.
From development parts to production batches
Development work often changes as a design is proved. Our team can work from your 2D or 3D CAD data and accepts .dxf, .dwg and .sat files.
- Share drawings, material specifications, quantities and weld requirements.
- Agree the welding process, fixtures and checks for the first parts.
- Weld and inspect first-off parts for your review.
- Weld the production quantity using the settings agreed on the first-offs.
Find out about our CAD and sheet metal services.
Inspection and weld records
Welds are visually inspected in-house, including the inside of welded tube with flexible borescopes. Other NDT, including digital radiography, is subcontracted to an independent test laboratory. Our bespoke software controls coded welding operations with real-time data capture and component traceability.
If parts are for flight or other controlled use, tell us which approvals, standards and records the order requires, so we can confirm whether the work suits our processes before we quote. Read about inspection, assembly and testing.
