Page 16 - MetalForming January 2020

Servomechanicals Shine
to traditional hydraulic hot stamping presses, according to Seyi officials. Users can fully customize slide motion profiles and provide the necessary dwell times for in-die cooling, as Braito points out.
www.seyi.com
Reduced Reverse Tonnage in Production of Near-Fine Parts
The increased use of advanced- high-strength steel (AHSS) has led to an increase in cases of reverse tonnage, or snapthrough, according to Shrini Patil, product manager for Aida-Amer- ica. The condition results from the release of pressing force when part material fractures, with energy and vibration transferring through the tool-
ing. The bottom-stroke speed reduction lowers the noise level, from 101 to 75 dB, but also reduces forward force to 104 tons, and reverse tonnage to 2.6 tons, well within the recommended reverse-tonnage limit of 20 percent.
As part of its servo-technology- intensive exhibit, Aida-America pre- sented this demonstration of a 70-per- cent-plus reverse-tonnage reduction at FABTECH, via a model DSF-N2-3000, 300-ton, two-point straightside servo press, as part of a full progressive die production line blanking near-fine parts. The demo showed how servo near-fine blanking can produce a >90- percent burnished surface with a straight edge, exceeding the typical 70 to 80-percent burnished-edge require- ment of many applications, according to Aida-America officials.
The combination of DSF-series accuracy and programmability report- edly transitions production of near- fine parts from a high-cost, labor-inten- sive machining process to a more efficient, economical stamping process, leading to reduced per-piece costs.
Besides the Aida-America servome- chanical press, the demonstration line also featured components from Dallas Industries and Pax Products, and mate- rial from Heidtman Steel.
Also on display, the company’s new DSF-C1-800A 80-ton, direct-drive, gap- frame servo press, showcasing Aida’s Allen-Bradley control. Standard control features include a swing-arm-mounted 12-in. color touchscreen, Allen-Bradley servo motion controller on a Compact- Logix platform, 200-job recipe storage, job recipe download/upload capability to a flash drive, an integrated tonnage monitor, and a step-feed slide-motion control for improved setup. The control also includes eight PLS cams, eight- input die protection with PNP/NPN signals, display of actual and virtual crank angles, and ergonomically designed optical run buttons to provide a high safety level while helping to reduce operator fatigue.
The DSF-C1-A series offers higher pendulum speeds than Aida’s previ- ous-generation gap-frame servo press-
es, a capacitor-based Energy Conser- vation and Optimization (ECO) system that reduces peak energy draw, and an electronic overload-protection system that monitors applied torque through the complete stroke to prevent over- loading.
Additionally, the company exhibited its Allen-Bradley-based control (pic- tured) for servo-driven presses in capacities from 315 to 3500 tons, demonstrating several servo press stroke-motion profiles in real time on a virtual press. Control features include direct access to a pdf of the press man- ual and display of actual and virtual crank angles.
www.aida-global.com
Press-Line Data Assists Scheduling, Plus New Press Series, Feed Line
Predictive failure analysis, or PFA, is how Jim Landowski terms it. Landowski, vice president of Komatsu America Industries LLC, describes PFA as growing out of a recent relationship with a major automotive OEM, where the partners are exploring the use of sensors on Komatsu’s servomechanical presses to measure conditions such as bearing temperature, “not only how hot it gets, but how quickly the tem- perature has risen and how long it takes to decrease,” Landowski says. From such information, failure can be pre- dicted and maintenance planned.
“No longer are OEMs or Tier Ones happy with information such as ‘change the oil once a year,’” he explains. “An oil change may be needed sooner, depending on the application. Users need data to make determina- tions, and that is what PFA can do. OEMs have pushed us to do that. With this information, stampers can plan for downtime and not interrupt pro- duction schedules.”
PFA is on its way, Landowski says. Also new: Komatsu’s own compact coil feed lines. As the press serves as only one component of a line, Komatsu has noted the need for other components, such as coil handling equipment, to offer PFA capabilities that help the
ing and press, and possibly resulting in significant damage. Presses not built to deal with the stresses and strains of forming AHSS are candidates for suc- cumbing to reverse tonnage. The vari- able-stroke-speeds benefit of servo presses provides a solution to reverse- tonnage challenges.
As an example, Patil describes a blanking die placed in a standard crank-motion mechanical press. Meas- urement reveals 114 tons of forward press force and reverse tonnage of 9 tons. The same die then is placed in a servomechanical press, with the ram descending rapidly prior to slow blank-
14 MetalForming/January 2020
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