FlexMate Fittings

Advanced Aerospace Fittings

FTI's FleXmate Advanced Aerospace Fitting process is a new system for installing hardware that is beneficial to your aircraft structure in multiple aspects - from design and manufacturing, to operation and maintenance. This system supports current manufacturing practices and is flexible in its uses – from fuel and gases fittings to hydraulics, electrical and drain fittings.

Legacy Fittings are usually large and heavily flanged requiring a thick or large diameter pad up. The assembly is often complex with multiple penetrations that require satellite fasteners around the fitting. This adds weight to the structure and limits the design of the aircraft.

The FleXmate system offers a better way of installing these fittings. Using our advance knowledge of the cold expansion process, we can provide a fitting that gives you design flexibility, offers structural durability, saves weight, and reduces production and maintenance costs.

Benefits of FleXmate Fittings

Weight reduction
Smaller footprint and simplified assembly
Simple one-piece designs
Electrically conductive
Fast and consistent interference fit installation
Typically 2:1 life improvement of the structure
Elimination of satellite holes (saving manufacturing time and eliminating areas of future crack growth)
Excellent sealing characteristics

FleXmate uses all the same PowerPak and puller units as other cold expansion processes. The durable tooling, such as nosecap, mandrel and fitting are specially designed for FleXmate installations. A split sleeve is not required for the FleXmate process, as the inside of the fitting is pre-lubricated to ensure even radial expansion and to reduce the amount of pull force required. Typically the FleXmate process uses a tang mandrel, in place of a threaded mandrel to provide easy tool removal. A complete FleXmate system includes (but is not limited to):