Laminated Peelable Shims
Attewell specialises in the manufacture and supply of laminated shim materials and components for achieving close tolerance dimensions on complex aerostructures and engineering assemblies. Using foil materials from 0.025mm (0.001”) to 0.1mm (0.004”) the company has perfected a process of bonding multiple layers together under heat and pressure to produce a strong and rigid structure that functions as a solid but may be reduced to the precise thickness by peeling off layers.
The primary function of a shim is to provide dimensional adjustment within a mechanical assembly to compensate for:
- Tolerance accumulation
- Precision Alignment
- Wear Compensation
The ability to peel individual layers to achieve a shim of variable thickness provides time and process advantages when assembling components where top and bottom tolerances combine to produce a different dimension for each assembly. Laminated shims also offer economic benefits by reducing the need for customers to maintain a large stock of solid shims.
Laminated peelable shims provide:
- Reduction in assembly time
- Dimensional accuracy without expensive machining of components
- Quick production-line adjustments and field repairs
- Minimum costs and maximum precision with fewer items of inventory
They are used…
- Where rotating shafts, sliding surfaces or stationary surfaces must be parallel
- Where the end play is unacceptable
- Where stacked or accumulated tolerances are difficult to control
- Where rotating wear, sliding wear or crushed forces change dimensions of an assembly or component
- …and they eliminate the need for grinding to size
Laminated shims have applications in almost every manufacturing sphere:
- Pumps & motors, motor support struts, thrust reversers, fuselage, landing gear, gas turbines.
- Hydraulic controls, refrigeration and industrial machinery
- Injection moulding, extrusion, printing and paper machinery
- Machine tools
- Automation, Aerospace, Agriculture and Civil Engineering equipment
…and many more
A range of standard sheet materials in metals such as titanium, steel, stainless steel, brass, aluminium alloy and in polyimide (Kapton® and Apical®), polyester (Mylar®) film and polyamide nylon is offered. Shims are available either surface or edge bonded as required.
Components from sheet stock are easily manufactured since the material can be sheared, machined, punched, or water-jetted.
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