| For Advanced Technology Machine Development in the aerospace/military industries, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. (a United Technologies company) asked FALA to solve a mission-critical manufacturing problem for the military's Comanche Helicopter program. Sikorsky's helicopter development team required assistance in the process of building its next generation transmission clutch. The company needed a spiral clutch assembly made of a particular high-alloy steel and machined USING a manufacturing process that did not create heat-affected zones in the material. Heat-affected zones create premature stress failures that could cause a helicopter to crash. Before its conversation with FALA, Sikorsky had approached many companies who had said it was impossible to do. FALA's manufacturing team decided to try a new idea. Using an abrasive waterjet in a novel way, we developed a precise technique that cut only halfway through the clutch without damaging critical precision features within the interior. FALA provided Sikorsky with a series of prototype versions, all of which the company's design team evaluated and tested; incorporating the final version into its certified product design.
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