Process monitoring strategies allow wear-related conditions of forging dies to be detected and predicted. The prediction of the wear condition allows intelligent maintenance strategies. This allows residual tool life to be fully utilized, scrap to be reduced and downtime to be calculated. The content of this article is an economic analysis for calculating the payback period of a process monitoring system.
forging, process monitoring, economic efficiency
In manual solid forming, hand-guided forging tongs are used when processing forged parts. During the forging process, employees are physically stressed by high forging part weights and transmitted impacts. This physical stress leads to employee health limitations and increases absenteeism rates. Ergonomic forging tongs have been developed at IPH that lead to a relief of the forging employees.
ergonomics, forging tongs, forming technology, prevention
In the automotive and mechanical engineering industries, forged parts are used in many applications. The dies for the forged parts are subject to high wear during forging due to high forming forces and temperatures. In order to enable economical production operation, methods to reduce the wear in warm forging have been investigated. One promising method is the use of Diamondlike-Carbon (DLC) wear-resistant coatings.
Warm Forging, Coating, DLC, Wear
In the forging industry, which is dominated by SMEs, the tool life of forging dies is usually determined on the basis of empirical values and subjective decisions. In order to avoid considerable logistical and economic expenses as a result of unplanned downtimes and die failure, the tool life is often set many times lower and a waste of existing residual tool life is caused. One possibility to determine the remaining tool life of forging tools is a combined measuring method, which is to be developed at the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover (IPH) gGmbH.
Forming technology, tool life, process monitoring
IPH has made it its business to integrate the core idea of sustainability into its mission statement – in research, but also in its daily work.
In numerous research projects, the scientists are working on recycling plastics, reducing the energy requirements of vehicles, developing lightweight construction concepts, reducing waste in components produced by forming technology and intelligently integrating renewable energies into production – and for example they are also shedding light on questions relating to the environmentally compatible dismantling, repowering and new construction of wind turbines.
In addition, IPH and an interdisciplinary team of employees are committed to making the entire company more sustainable as part of the "ÖKOPROFIT" program.
sustainability, resources, environmental protection, economic efficiency
The manual handling of forged parts is physically demanding for forging employees. These physical stresses are reflected in damage to the hand-arm system and back and lead to forging employee absenteeism. In order to protect the health of forging employees, the aim is to reduce the basic stress caused by the dead weight of the forging tongs by using lightweight forging tongs.
forging tongs, ergonomics, lightweight design
Within the project "Development of ergonomically optimized forging tongs for force-supported and vibration-damped handling of forged parts (ErgoZang)", the IPH is concerned with the stresses and strains on employees in the forging industry.
In particular, the stresses caused by transmitted shocks and vibrations of the employees' hand-arm system are in the foreground.
Within the lecture, several novel forging tong concepts were presented, which can reduce the shocks and vibrations.
Ergonomics, forging tongs, shock and vibration reduction
This paper presents concepts for shock and vibration reduction of a forging tongs. In the forging industry, hand-operated forging tongs are often used for the machining of forged parts. Here, the employees are exposed to high loads from shocks and vibrations of the forming machines. A simulation model that has been created evaluates concepts for reducing the shocks and vibrations during forging
Ergonomics, forging, shock and vibration reduction
Handling hot steel parts weighing several kilos is physically demanding. A new type of forging tongs is designed to reduce stress at work, prevent pain and reduce sick leave.
forging, ergonomic, stress reduction
Bulk-formed components are used in many applications in automotive and plant engineering. The conditions under which the components are manufactured, often at more than 800°C and thousands of tons of forming force, lead to high die wear. One way to reduce wear is to use suitable protective coatings. Initial basic investigations showed that the use of hard Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) wear-resistant coatings can significantly reduce the tribological effects on the die surface. With new methods such as the use of multilayer layer coatings and temperature measurement on the die surface by use of thin layer sensors, the potential of wear protection for semi-hot massive forming is to be investigated and expanded.
DLC, hot forging, wear
