Into Space: With 5-Axis Machining and Turn & Mill
Ouroboros Space and Defense was founded in 2016 in Lakewood, Colorado. The tenmember team has years of experience in demanding industries such as aerospace, defense, and nuclear.
With this expertise, Ouroboros specializes in the high-precision machining of components for rocket engines. Customers include NASA and well-known industry giants such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin. To meet the increasing demand for these critical components while maintaining high-quality standards, the company has added three high-end DMG MORI machines – a DMU 95 monoBLOCK, an NTX 2000 and a DMU 50 – to its machine portfolio since 2021.
14 % growth in the field of rocket propulsion systems
“We are experiencing rapid growth in the aerospace sector, especially in rocket and hypersonic propulsion applications. Annual growth in the sector is over 14 percent,” says Nathan Bourgeois, Owner of Ouroboros Space and Defense, describing current developments in his market environment. As a result, he says, his team is in greater demand than ever to manufacture innovative technologies that provide sufficient thrust – literally – to forward-looking aerospace projects. “To do this, we first solve the major challenges in manufacturing with our team, and then build the most advanced hardware in the industry.”
DMG MORI – 5-axis machining in the ten thousandths range for space travel
Ouroboros achieves the high precision requirements with tolerances in the ten thousandths range with modern machining technologies and precision welding. The best surface qualities, complex geometries, and even single-part production are part of the daily business. Machining alone accounts for 75 percent of annual sales. “For us to produce these types of components quickly, we depend on productive and highly accurate machine tools,” says Nathan Bourgeois. He added that Ouroboros had found the perfect partner in DMG MORI. “The DMU 95 monoBLOCK was able to significantly exceed our expectations for consistent accuracy – especially compared to our previous machine tools.” With traverse paths of 950 × 850 × 650 mm, the DMU 95 monoBLOCK offers sufficient space for a wide range of components. Only at a diameter of ø 1,040 mm and a workpiece weight of 1,000 kg is the limit reached. The machining center offers 5-axis simultaneous milling with a positioning accuracy of 5 μm on a footprint of only 12 m2. This is due to the rigid machine concept with high stationary masses and weight-optimized moving components as well as extensive cooling measures.
DMG MORI – 5-axis machining in the ten thousandths range for space travel
“Since purchasing the DMU 95 monoBLOCK, we have been able to completely machine even complex components very efficiently,” says Nathan Bourgeois, citing the added value. “The complex and feature dense hardware we regularly work with necessitates highly accurate machine tools and powerful controls to match. When running tests between our HEIDENHAIN control and our previous FANUC based systems, the difference in speed was truly incredible.” On a recently installed DMU 50, Ouroboros is expanding its capabilities in 5-axis simultaneous machining. The more compact model offers travels of 650 × 520 × 475 mm and is designed for components weighing up to 300 kg. Thus, the DMU 95 monoBLOCK can be increasingly utilized with larger components.. In its search for more innovative manufacturing technologies, Ouroboros in 2022 went a step further. “We also wanted to implement complete machining for demanding turbomachinery components with turning operations. DMG MORI also had a solution here with the NTX 2000,” Nathan Bourgeois recalls. “Now we can finish-machine components from all six sides without manual reclamping while the compactMASTER spindle offers us high milling performance with over 100 Nm of torque. Also beneficial is the flexibility the large work envelope gives us for workpieces up to ø 670 × 1,538 mm.” With a length of just 350 mm, the compactMASTER turn & mill spindle contributes to the size of the work envelope, as does the Y-axis travel of ± 150 mm. The additional lower turret has ± 40 mm of travel in the Y axis. Nathan Bourgeois is more than satisfied: “The NTX 2000 is extremely versatile and also absolutely convincing in terms of machining quality.”
Strong partner for significant growth
“As soon as we bought the DMU 95 monoBLOCK, we realized that DMG MORI provides us with substantial support in producing precision parts with consistent quality,” says Nathan Bourgeois, describing the collaboration with the machine tool manufacturer. This consistency is essential to achieve the planned growth targets. By 2027, Ouroboros plans to continue growing by 100 percent annually. “DMG MORI‘s CNC technology will continue to sustain our development in the coming years.” A new manufacturing site is already being planned, he said. “We will install six to ten more DMG MORI models there.”
Ouroboros Space and Defense
5815 West 6th Ave unit
2C Lakewood Colorado 80214, USA
www.ouroborosspace.com