Northwest Aerospace News June | July 2019 Issue No. 9 | Page 25

J
orgenson is modest, but he said that at one point the
perception was that he was one of the best two in the world
for figuring out how to make parts from these materials.
Leach added that years ago he was working for one of the
materials suppliers and Jorgenson was known in the indus-
try as someone who could solve problems.
The thermoplastics composites have fibers running in
different directions, which increases the design opportunity
but also the complexity. Jorgenson added, “This is not an
isotropic material and all the properties vary with direction,
including through the thickness.”
Leach noted that with the Boeing 787 there has been a con-
certed effort to remove parts with metal due to the corrosion
effects, “Parts formed with aluminum have been going
away,” he said. Jorgenson added that the lighter weight of
their products is important for the aerospace market. “A
lot of parts that would have previously been formed from
aluminum on heredity aircraft have gone to carbon fiber,”
said Leach.
The product is 40 percent lighter for the same strength.
Currently the company only produces parts for Boeing,
but they do plan to diversify into other commercial aircraft
programs and other applications such as helicopters and
unmanned systems in the future. The parts are cheaper com-
pared to epoxy carbon, “Our thermoplastic parts are about
30 percent cheaper,” Jorgenson said.
While they do have a standard 12-week lead time, the parts
are created quickly; the lead-time is due to obtaining the
composite materials from suppliers. Through rapid-forming
techniques using thermoplastics, they can create a product
in a matter of a few minutes, Leach shared.
“If it is a part that we currently make, we can turn it around
in a day.”
This is possible because ATC performs all processes on site
including machining, non-destructive inspection, surface
preparation and painting.
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