Page 28 - MetalForming June 2016

A Data-Driven Approach to Lubricant
Selection
Automotive supplier Shiloh Industries has embarked on a rigorous lubricant-testing and evaluation process, with the goals of streamlining its inventory of stamping-lubricants; eliminating the
use of chlorinated paraffins; and identifying the right lubricant for stamping advanced high- strength steels.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in lubricants soon will be banned by the Environmental Protec- tion Agency, possibly as early as July 2017. Faced with that stark reality, tech- nical specialist Cliff Hoschouer at Shiloh Industries, Valley City, OH, has embarked on a proactive and engi- neering-driven course to evaluate the company’s stamping-lubricant options moving forward.
Hoschouer’s mission is to identify the ideal lubricants to handle the firm’s current projects—Shiloh employs CP- containing lubricants for difficult deep- drawing applications. At the same time, he’s looking ahead at the influx of work requiring the forming of advanced high- strength steels (AHSS). For this work, a new lubricant strategy also is required.
“We’re deep-drawing mild steels, for oil pans for example,” shares Hoschouer. “We also form a lot of TRIP 780 and
The Irmco iTool,
shown in use in a 300-
ton Komatsu servo press at
Hyson, is outfitted to measure and compare the frictional forces and deformation temperatures exhibit- ed by one lubricant versus another. It features eight temperature sen- sors to monitor die temperature during testing, a load cell in the die, and an FLIR thermal-imaging camera (inset) to capture part- temperature data during drawing.
DP600 AHSS grades and blank DP980 steel, and we stamp some stainless steel and aluminum.” That combination of work has led to the use of about 10 dif- ferent lubricants throughout the com- pany—Shiloh operates several stamp- ing plants throughout North America,
and also has two plants in Europe. Some 20 percent of its work requires the use of CP-containing lubricants.
“As we look ahead to more and more AHSS work coming in,” continues Hoschouer, “and the banning of CPs, we felt it was time to reevaluate our
26 MetalForming/June 2016
www.metalformingmagazine.com