Closed-loop feedback control of product properties in flexible metal forming processes with mobile tools
✍ Scribed by Julian M. Allwood; Omer Music; Ankor Raithathna; Stephen R. Duncan
- Publisher
- International Academy for Production Engineering
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 526 KB
- Volume
- 58
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0007-8506
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
High value-added manufacturing is generally associated with small batch production, and this has driven 20 years of innovation in metal forming process development, led from Japan [1]. Four broad categories of flexible process design have emerged:
Reconfigurable tools-where the process operation remains the same for all products, but by some means the tool geometry is modified between process cycles. Examples include tools made from clamped strands [2] or modular tools [3]. Increased actuation to increase control over deformation during the process cycle. Examples include the use of controllable segmented blankholders in deep drawing [4], laser assisted spinning [5] or an array of controllable pins [6]. ''Web'' processes in which a long product passes in one-direction through an array of adjustable tools. Examples include water spray control in strip rolling [7], roll forming lines [8] and use of a line array roll set in plate rolling [9]. ''Mobile tool'' processes in which a small tool moves in a controllable path over a workpiece, incrementally building up a desired shape. Examples illustrated in Fig. 1 include incremental sheet forming with its many variants, spinning (possibly without a mandrel), and craft processes such as the English Wheel or Power Hammer.