Design, Construction and Manufacturing of Advanced Sheet Metal Cold Forming Tools

Nowadays, high-quality and rapid tool manufacturing is very important in the market, which is also reflected in the production itself in the automotive industry.

Solution and Method

Nowadays, high-quality and rapid tool manufacturing is very important in the market, which is also reflected in the production itself in the automotive industry. Customer requirements are increasingly focused on the quality of tool manufacturing, quality tool design, so that material consumption and manufacturing time are economically viable. In the ** automotive industry**, the manufacturing time and delivery of various products, including tools for production, are very important.

The market for the metal industry is very large, as is the competition, so the entire tool shop team must be very flexible, and quality must prevail in their projects. During the design process itself, there are often changes in shapes or ** dimensions of the final product, which means that one must constantly adapt to the client's needs. In the initial phase, ** simulation programmes are very useful to us, enabling easier tool design that we process into formed sheet metal.

Simulations often reveal critical points such as: bending, drawing, shrinking and expansion, and when cutting complex shapes. All these simulation data can be used and entered into the 3D shape for easier selection of how to approach the forming process, and if it turns out that the critical limits are too high, we can consult with the client about changing the product. In every tool shop, an important factor is that teamwork amongst employees is carried out so that they can exchange various experiences.

In the diploma thesis, they demonstrated how to properly select the working process from the initial design of the method to the final realisation of the progressive tool. The entire set of selection of various materials as well as the content of elements that are installed is shown. The emphasis of the diploma thesis is on how to achieve the correct selection of materials and how to begin the design of the progressive tool in order to create the final product for the client.

In tool shops, there is great emphasis on precision and how to ensure a quality product, primarily with tolerance ranges. With this designed tool, they gained a great deal of knowledge about 3D modelling, as well as the programming part for machine processing, because the project from start to finish is left exclusively to us. The aim of the diploma thesis is to show the complete manufacturing of the progressive tool from the first part, which is developed in offices on 3D models, to the final mechanical processing with all the different processing procedures and the final assembly of the progressive tool, which proceeds to realisation.

Above all, the emphasis is on tolerance ranges and compliance with certain regulations provided by the client themselves. In order, they also showed how we arrive at the final product in a certain sequence. Without tools and tool shops, there is no market today, as every product, regardless of material, requires its own tool for manufacturing.

In all tool shops today, the trend is towards the best possible quality of work and timely completion of scheduled work. The purpose of the diploma thesis is primarily to learn the way of working with progressive tools and to learn all the work operations, such as product design, which the supplier offers us, and to ** carry out all the required tolerances and dimensions** of the set tool. Today, there is very strong competition and quality is paramount.

Every tool manufacturing requires education of certain people in the field of ** design and modelling**, and good teamwork is also necessary. The realisation of all this is that we must be very time-coordinated due to the rapid manufacturing of tools. For such work, quality CNC machines are needed for faster and quality work.

With machines such as CNC milling centres, ** lathes** and ** wire erosion machines, we can achieve high tolerances on tools that are necessary for a quality product. CNC machines are accurate to at least ** one hundredth or more. Work in tool shops or in offices where design and modelling takes place is very demanding, but at the same time also interesting from the point of view that there is no product they have manufactured that would be exactly the same as the next project.

Likewise, we must programme each processing plate separately, because there are no identical plates. Each new project is a new challenge for everyone in the team, each tool has a different design and different problems that must always be solved anew. When the tool is manufactured, it does not yet mean that it is functionally well designed and will work flawlessly.

The most important is the final work of the toolmakers, who give the tool its final appearance and functionally prepare the tool for operation. If we want a well-manufactured tool, especially for large series, we must lap the tools with a paste that we apply to the surface to see if the tool has sufficiently large clearances and if it fits completely on the flat surfaces between individual plates. We test the tools until we obtain a product within the tolerance range.

Every product that comes from the progressive tool must be measured at certain points to check whether the product is within the tolerance range or whether a tool correction will be necessary. Therefore, tools are an important factor and part of their life.