Materials Testing Reports Generated in Record Time

The Company
Dirats Laboratories of Westfield, Massachusetts, a leader in materials testing and analysis for over 60 years, performs mechanical testing, chemical analysis, and metallurgical evaluation for aerospace, automotive, defense, electronics, medical, power generation, and other industries. Prime contractors, vendors, and agencies serving these industries come to Dirats for accurate and reliable testing, coupled with quick turnaround. Dirats makes aggressive investments in new technology in order to continuously improve their throughput, automation, accuracy, and efficiency.

The Challenge
To test a material, Dirats must first cut it into sample parts that incorporate a variety of angles and curves. Dirats cuts only a few pieces of each part and they rarely cut the same part twice. Once the parts are cut, they are subjected to chemical analysis, metallographic examination, and mechanical testing against prescribed standards, to test the durability of materials. Materials include titanium, stainless steel, carbon and high-strength steel, cobalt, aluminum, and nickel-based alloys.

Dirats had been using band and abrasive saws to cut the sample parts. However, because quick turnaround is required for all projects, Dirats found cutting with these methods too time consuming. An operator was needed to monitor the machine and only one part could be cut at a time. Heat produced from the saws was also a problem since it caused metallurgical changes that could result in erroneous test data.

The Solution
A front-line member of Dirats' staff learned about ultrahigh-pressure waterjet technology from one of the company's distributors. After evaluating the technology, Dirats purchased a Flow International BENGAL® 2' x 4' waterjet cutting system with a FlowMaster® controller and PASER® 3 cutting head. The Flow BENGAL is a fully-enclosed, low-cost, integrated machining center that fits easily into a small space. This proven X-Y axis machine tool is key in helping shops complete prototype and short-run production machining. Due to the success of the BENGAL 2' x 4', Dirats recently added a BENGAL 4' x 4' to its operation.

The Results
Since implementing the waterjet systems, Dirats has realized significant time and cost savings, with a dramatic reduction in cost per unit. Using a waterjet to cut materials such as titanium, high-strength steel, and nickel-based alloys is less expensive than band and abrasive saws. In one time study, Dirats clocked 2 hours on a project using abrasive and band saws. The same project on the waterjet took just 14 minutes. In another example, Dirats created 20 specimens from a titanium compressor disk slab in less than 2 hours using a waterjet.

FlowMaster software also saves Dirats valuable time due to the program's short learning curve. Using FlowMaster, an operator can simply pre-program the machine, turn it on, and walk away to complete other tasks. FlowMaster has the ability to jump immediately from layout to cutting, a huge benefit that reduces overall production time. These time savings enabled Dirats to triple their capacity with no increase in labor costs, helping the company to meet demand during a time of increased sales and labor shortages.

For Dirats, specimen quality is just as important as speed. With waterjet cutting, parts are perfectly dimensioned, near net shape, and have excellent edge quality-unlike edges produced by an abrasive saw. Using Flow waterjet equipment has helped Dirats grow, and has been a key element in the company's success.