Page 36 - MetalForming December 2016

Die Build Simplified
Through innovative use of die-face-design software, Autodie can quickly and economically engineer and construct auto- panel tools.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, with a support facility in Salem, OH Autodie is a jug-
gernaut in the realm of die engineer- ing, program management, build and tryout. It’s 500,000-sq.-ft. plant in Grand Rapids features 24 CNC machines with a maximum table size of 43 ft., and 32 stamping presses with capacities to 4000 tons. Autodie, with 300 employees across two shifts, serv- ices the spectrum of automotive OEMs, specializing in stamping dies mainly for Class A body panels, door openings, fenders, hoods and lift gates. Agricultural and aerospace customers also benefit from the company’s expertise. More than 30 full-time engi- neering and design professionals sup- ply tool and die builders with a 3D solid die design at Autodie.
Software Excels
in Quoting and Beyond
With its behemoth operation, the company reasons that it can best con- trol manufacturing costs through accu- rate and effective engineering. It must
design, build and repair dies tasked with shaping mild and advanced high- strength steels as well as, increasingly, aluminum. Catia v5 software powers Autodie’s engineering efforts in design- ing dies made from primarily common tool materials. At one time, Autodie used software from AutoForm Engi- neering, Troy, MI, mainly in the quoting process to perform one-step forming analysis and determine blanks, accord- ing to Jon Brouwer, Autodie CAE team leader. More recently, the company has implemented the use of AutoForm- ProcessDesignerfor Catia, which seam- lessly integrates into the Catia work environment, and is designed to rapidly create CAD-quality surfaces.
“We are currently using AutoForm’s incremental standalone product to simulate the forming process of a part from start to finish, including spring- back and overbend compensation,” says Brouwer.
Autodie began using AutoForm- ProcessDesigner late in 2015 and has expanded its use this past year into unique areas. One task for the software:
In a quality loop, if, for example, an out-of-tolerance condition on a panel necessitates a change that must be retied to the die addendum surface. Catia alone can handle the task, but ProcessDesigner eases the process.
“ProcessDesigner is made for the sheetmetal and tool-and-die world,” explains Brouwer. “While tolerances are tight for radii and other die features, having to work within a software envi- ronment with tolerances well beyond what is required slows and complicates the process.”
Explains Michael Wright, Autodie assistant leader of programming: “We deal with parts having plus or minus 0.030-in. tolerances. ProcessDesigner provides the liberties to retie in that tolerance range in a timely manner. We see a 30-40-percent time reduction in tie-back when using ProcessDesign- er within Catia.”
This forgiveness of tolerances and the ability to work with less-than-stellar data is a major selling point with Autodie’s engineers.
“We deal with customer data
34 MetalForming/December 2016
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Autodie, Grand Rapids, MI, designs and builds tools used to stamp Class A auto panels, among other parts. CAD-based software has paid dividends across the business, from quoting to validation to tool-path generation.