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TO DESIGN A PROGRESSIVE DIE TO PRODUCE AN AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENT WITH A NARROW
STOCK WIDTH
01 August 2007 - ESI Group
| “Computer simulation reduced the amount of time and money required to determine a successful forming process based on the defined stock width from an estimated $18,000 to only $3,600, concluded Rick Barnard, Precise Engineering’s General Manager. “The key to these savings was the use of PAM-STAMP 2G to quickly and inexpensively simulate the performance of a wide range of die designs. |
Creating a virtual reality progressive die takes the try-out process off the shop floor and into the engineering office where it can be carried out faster and without tying up presses. We determined the process, developed the initial blank, accurately determined the flow of
material during the first draw form, evaluated the impact of springback on finished tolerances, and monitored thinning percentages before we even began building the die.” Precise Engineering USA based company, designs and builds complex progressive dies. Engineers simulate every die to validate the process before the actual design stage begins. Precise Engineering faced the challenge of designing a progressive die to produce an automotive component with a narrow stock width that made it difficult to accomplish a successful draw. Originally, the part had been designed to be run two across with a stretch carrier on each side and one in the middle to avoid the risk of thinning. As a cost reduction measure, the customer requested that the stock width be reduced by two inches, making it necessary to eliminate the middle stretch carrier. If Precise Engineering had designed the die based on experience, President Pat Quinlan estimates that it would have cost $18,000 to overcome the inevitable thinning problems during startup. Instead the company’s engineers simulated the drawing and forming process until they perfected the die for a total cost of $3,600. Deep draw creates thinning risk the part is challenging to produce because the combination of a deep draw and a tight material allowance makes it difficult to absorb the stretch during the drawing operation without thinning. Precise Engineering engineers originally set out to carry the parts two across with three stretch carriers. The original strip provided to the customer for approval had a stock width of 27 inches and a pitch of 12.1 inches. The customer asked Precise Engineering to reduce stock width to 25 inches to comply with the quoted material usage that the customer had submitted to the original equipment manufacturer. The only way to accomplish this reduction in stock width was to remove the inside stretch carrier that had previously been between the two parts. The challenge was to produce a successful draw without the luxury of this stretch carrier and without exceeding the 20% thinning allowance. The depth of the draw makes it necessary
to provide a pad on the blank to hold the material during the drawing operation. The stretch carriers are created by a trimming operation that precedes drawing and creates a weaker area that allows the blank to pull in, compensating for the stress of the drawing operation, and avoids damage to more critical areas.
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About: ESI Group
ESI Group is the world leading software editor for the numerical simulation of prototype and manufacturing process engineering in applied mechanics. The key to ESI Group's success is the use of realistic material physics, providing "as good as real" virtual solutions, in order to replace the lengthy trial and error processes on real prototypes.ESI Group has developed an entire suite of coherent industry-oriented applications to realistically simulate a product's behavior during testing, to fine tune the manufacturing processes in synergy with the desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment's impact on product usage. ESI Group's product portfolio, which has been industrially validated and combined in multi-trade value chains, represents a unique collaborative, virtual engineering solution, known as the Virtual Try-Out Space (VTOS), enabling a continuous improvement on the virtual prototype. By drastically reducing costs and development lead times, VTOS solutions offer major competitive advantages by progressively eliminating the need for physical prototypes. A sustained growth Total consolidated revenue for fiscal year 2003, ending January 31st 2004, increased by 15% in real terms and 22% at constant exchange rates, compared to the previous year reaching 49 million euro. The software activity remained stable with 73% from licenses and 27% from services. The major acquisitions made in 2002 and 2003 accounted for 15% of revenue growth and took part in the strengthening of the Group's position on the American market. As in previous years, ESI Group maintained a strong international presence with 50% of turnover generated outside Europe and 79% of revenue outside. Listed on the Nouveau Marché of Euronext Paris, ESI Group employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide.
ESI Group and its global network of agents provide sales and technical support to customers in more than 30 countries. A key investment area: Research and Development ESI Group is making substantial R&D efforts and forms partnerships with leading academic and research laboratories in order to offer state-of-the-art solutions. ESI Group also provides high value-added services, worldwide through its subsidiaries located in Europe, Asia and Americas. Consulting projects with strategic industrial partners as well as European R&D contracts exemplify ESI Group's strong engineering knowledge and scientific expertise. |
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