Page 21 - MetalForming August 2019

blanks, then develop and adjust within the hot stamping cell.”
Trumpf three- and five-axis laser cutters trim the blank material, and within the cell, two AP&T 500-ton, NC- controlled presses perform the form- ing, with a Kuka KR210 robot respon- sible for material transfer between the presses and furnace. The cell also pro- vides automated material clamping.
Of course, process timing is criti- cal—in many cases, with Boron steels for example, material temperature must drop from 1500 to 600 F within 10 sec. to achieve the needed marten- site concentration.
“That’s impossible to do repeatedly without robotic control,” Bischoff offers. “And, water-cooling the tool depends on the needed volume. For a low-volume run of, say, six parts/day, we don’t need to water-cool. For higher volumes of 40 or 50 parts/day, we’ll employ a chiller along with laser scan- ners to verify tooling temperatures.”
The cell also offers cover-gas capa-
bility for blank heating. In addition, Urgent provides material testing and finishing capabilities for the hot stamped parts.
As for production times, the general rule calls for 7 min. of furnace blank baking, with a total of nearly 10 min. cycle time for a part.
Cooling channels in tooling represent quite a challenge in hot stamping, with Urgent employing various techniques as needed. To keep tooling under 300 F, Bischooff and the Urgent team opt for water jackets, as large as possible given the geometry. As tool profiles become more complex, cooling becomes even more challenging and must be addressed with various strategies.
Tour attendees will have access to some facets of the hot stamping process at Urgent, and the ability to interact with technology experts there, as well as during the technical sessions.
“Making a good part once is an achievement,” says Peterson. “Certify- ing a process and making a good part
every time is what our customers need to verify their designs for safety and production. This is the confidence that 3-Dimensional Services offers at the prototype and low-volume levels.”
Overall, “when attendees come through our facility, they’ll be impressed by the size of our operations and our range of capabilities,” says Peterson. “Customers on our tours always are impressed by how much we can take on and how many different processes we can support inhouse.”
Another huge asset of 3-Dimension- al Services and Urgent Design & Man- ufacturing: “Our people,” Peterson says. “We have a dedicated, highly skilled team. The majority of the work we sup- port is on a 3- to 5-week timeline, which keeps us on our toes and provides a good understanding of where the indus- try is going, especially regarding hot stamping. It's an exciting time for us because we're seeing the change. It will be interesting to see where this tech- nology goes 10 years from now.” MF
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