Page 22 - MetalForming July/August 2009

A Change in Stamping Lube
The 350,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant of Martinrea Intl. in Hop- kinsville, KY, supplies chassis frame cradles, suspension assemblies and other automotive stampings and assemblies to a host of OEMs. It, like other automo- tive suppliers, is focused on improving efficiency to remain competitive. Plant management has focused on many areas to reduce costs and implement contin- uous-improvement projects, and a cou- ple of years ago it discovered a signifi- cant opportunity by focusing on improving its position as a steward of the environment.
In 2007, Martinrea embarked on a mission to devote significant work and study to change stamping lubricant. Ultimately, it found a product and sup- plier-partner to provide dramatic changes to improve productivity, reduce its impact on the environment, and sig- nificantly reduce costs.
Paul Bosler is business development man- ager, Fuchs Lubricant Co., Harvey, IL: pbosler@fuchs.com; www.fuchs.com.
... exemplifies this automotive-stamping plant’s goal to be stewards of efficiency and the environment.
20 METALFORMING / JULY/AUGUST 2009
www.metalformingmagazine.com
BY PAUL BOSLER
Stamping Thick HSLA Steels Requires a Tenacious Lubricant, First and Foremost
Martinrea Hopkinsville, which stamps parts for and assembles auto- motive subframes, structural parts, cou- plings and beams, is a Tier One suppli- er to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. Martinrea purchased the Hop- kinsville facility from Thyssen-Krupp Budd in October 2006. Built in 1998, the facility produces automotive compo- nents for several vehicle models. It fea- tures 400- and 1500-ton Komatsu blanking presses, 2700- and 3000-ton Komatsu transfer presses, a hydro- forming cell featuring a 200-ton Schuler preform press and a 5000-ton hydro- forming press, and automated weld assembly using 160 robots. Parts make up the heavy-duty components of a vehicle and as a result can be some of
the most difficult to form.
The plant stamps primarily high-
strength low-alloy steels—50 to 63 ksi minimum yield strengths—in heavy gauges, as thick as 0.154 in. The alloys work-harden during forming. All of these elements lead to a significant potential problem for the metal stam- per: friction. Friction causes tool wear, galling on parts, and part fracturing. Success in this niche of the industry requires attention to tooling, tool coat- ings, and the use of workhorse stamp- ing lubricants.
In the United States, chlorinated paraffin-based petroleum lubricants frequently are used to protect tooling and the parts during forming, particu- larly in severe metalforming applica- tions. Measured by their cost per gallon, these products are relatively inexpensive.
However, Martinrea understood
Lubricant is automatically mixed in a central system and pumped to spray manifolds at each press. The manifolds feed spray nozzles hard- plumbed into each die. Each nozzle, individual- ly programmed per job, strategically applies the lubricant to the appropriate area of a blank or stamped section. Color-coded tubing (below) ensures that the properly programmed line is attached to the correct nozzle.