We've been working with 80/20 for almost four years now, the first demo van visit I made with them back in 2007. We were looking to build mockups of the interiors of the new launch vehicles (at the time we were a part of the Constellation program) and were looking for something different than the wooden constructions they had used in the past. We immediately saw great benefits in using t-slotted aluminum for this purpose as it was light, easy to machine and most of all, was reusable.
The first hurdle was the fact that we needed to simulate the interior of a round object. Our machinist spent a lot of time talking with your technical support folks and a lot more time experimenting and found that he could bend both the 10 series and 15 series extrusions to a large diameter. The first test ring was made out of 1030 and 4040 posts. At one time we actually had it on its' side in a track we made out of some extra stock, which made the entire structure look like an 18' tall hamster wheel.
We were so impressed with that first ring that we were awarded funding for the next two sets of test rings (even with funding for the Constellation program cut). These new rings are made out of 1530 exclusively and are all non-anodized for grounding issues. These new structures consist of a mitered outer wall and bent inner wall. We use custom cut standoffs to mount flat aluminum panels to the interior rings. You may also notice that both rings are using the heavy duty leveling floor casters. Even when fully loaded with the equipment, one person can easily move the entire setup across the lab floor.
Robert Hoffman, the man who has been in charge of the project from the very start, really can't say enough about 80/20 (and the customer service he's received). He is hoping to use this success to convince the other areas doing testing on different aspects of the launch vehicles to duplicate this platform, as well as create a standard, modular setup that can be used to test any launch vehicle in the future by simply increasing or decreasing the number of sections used.
The first hurdle was the fact that we needed to simulate the interior of a round object. Our machinist spent a lot of time talking with your technical support folks and a lot more time experimenting and found that he could bend both the 10 series and 15 series extrusions to a large diameter. The first test ring was made out of 1030 and 4040 posts. At one time we actually had it on its' side in a track we made out of some extra stock, which made the entire structure look like an 18' tall hamster wheel.
We were so impressed with that first ring that we were awarded funding for the next two sets of test rings (even with funding for the Constellation program cut). These new rings are made out of 1530 exclusively and are all non-anodized for grounding issues. These new structures consist of a mitered outer wall and bent inner wall. We use custom cut standoffs to mount flat aluminum panels to the interior rings. You may also notice that both rings are using the heavy duty leveling floor casters. Even when fully loaded with the equipment, one person can easily move the entire setup across the lab floor.
Robert Hoffman, the man who has been in charge of the project from the very start, really can't say enough about 80/20 (and the customer service he's received). He is hoping to use this success to convince the other areas doing testing on different aspects of the launch vehicles to duplicate this platform, as well as create a standard, modular setup that can be used to test any launch vehicle in the future by simply increasing or decreasing the number of sections used.
Want to share your solution with the 80/20 world, send us your 80/20 solution pictures and story to mypictures@8020inc.com
- Click Here - to see more 80/20 case studies.
