May 11, 2023
Impression Technologies Limited (‘ITL’) and EMI Aerospace (‘‘EMI’) have entered into a licensing and technical services agreement to develop applications and manufacturing capability for advanced aluminum structures using Hot Form Quench (HFQ®) Technology in international aerospace markets.
Accessing HFQ® Technology and support from ITL’s technical specialists will widen the range of applications that EMI can serve, enabling it to offer hot-formed aluminum structures for aerospace OEMs with reductions in part count and part cost. The partnership brings together EMI’s production capabilities, decades of experience, and strong channels to market with ITL’s expertise in materials characterisation, simulation, applications engineering and hot forming (HFQ®) process technology for the highest available strength grades of aluminum sheet.
“We are delighted to embark on this journey with EMI to establish HFQ® manufacturing in the USA for commercial aerospace structures. Our new partner is proactive and ambitious, and extends our commercial reach into major aircraft OEMs and subsystem suppliers”, said Jonathan Watkins, Chief Executive Officer of Impression Technologies.
“EMI Aerospace is excited to partner with Impression Technologies and is eager to offer the HFQ® forming process to our trusted aerospace partners. We look forward to collaborating with the HFQ® team on current and future projects as we expand our forming capability of complex aluminum parts,” said Stan Kenner, President of EMI Aerospace.
About EMI Aerospace
EMI Aerospace is a leading aerospace parts manufacturer specializing in complex metal formed parts since 1959. Headquartered in Sterling Heights, Michigan, they produce OEM and MRO aircraft engine nacelles, bulkheads, heat shields, and duct sections. They also produce spacecraft parts including thermal shields, structural components, and fuel system components.
EMI Aerospace specializes in speed to market, utilizing their on-site foundry that allows them to support rapid developmental projects with prototype tooling and simulations followed by full production tooling and components. They are AS9100D and Nadcap certified, and are ITAR compliant. EMI Aerospace is a division of Quality Metalcraft / Experi-Metal, Inc Holdings.
About Impression Technologies and HFQ®
Impression Technologies developed and commercialised the Hot Form Quench (HFQ®) process for the hot forming of ultra-high strength aluminum sheet. This breakthrough was pioneered at Imperial College, London. HFQ® enables high-strength aluminum precision forming at high speeds into complex-shaped parts reducing part count, weight, costs and tool investment, whilst improving dimensional repeatability. This disruptive technology encompasses advanced materials science, alloy processing and sophisticated forming simulation models. HFQ® structures have been in serial production for automotive platforms since 2016, with manufacturing in Coventry, Achern in Germany (with its partner, fischer group) and Chengdu, China (with its partner Jet Wagon). From the company’s headquarters in Coventry, UK, ITL’s team of design, metallurgical and process experts support growing ecosystem of partners for sustainable automotive and aerospace lightweight solutions.
For further technical information:
Tim McGuire, Director of Aerospace, Impression Technologies
Richard Kraft, Aerospace Business Manager, EMI Aerospace
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