Flowdrilling: a Preliminary Analysis of a New Bush-Making Operation

Flowdrilling is a bush-making operation applied to thin walled products for joint engagement. Fastenings exhibit mechanical properties which depend largely on the shear strength of the parent material and the area of engagement. Flowdrilling is specifically designed to increase the latter. Developments during the last six or seven years have resulted in a number of industrial usefull applications. Previous attempts to use “rotary plunging methods” failed due to low tool life and the inability to obtain an acceptable finish. The paper describes the different process variables and gives the results of a preliminary analysis of the different mechanical and physical aspects. Manufacturing properties like cycle time and tool life are also dealt with

Design study of the geometry of a punching/blanking tool

The cost of tooling in sheet metal industries contributes a considerable part to the overall cost of manufacturing a component. It is therefore imperative to keep down this cost by ensuring that the tool works for a long period in production without interruption. One way of achieving this objective is to reduce the stress on the tool during punching/blanking.\ud \ud This paper deals with the study of this problem by using the finite-element technique. 3-D finite-element models of various type of punching/blanking tools have been developed, these models enabling the analysis of the effects of variations in tool geometry on the punching/blanking force and on the deformation of the punch, a parameter highly relevant to the assessment of tool performance in terms of the accuracy of the manufactured components. The model caters also for variation in the characteristics of the tool material, in the sense that a highly wear-resistant tool is normally composed of carbide tips around its cutting profile. Computed results by FE models are checked against design standards by American Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). Some suggestions are offered as to how the efficiency of a punching/blanking tool can be improved

Tolerancing and Sheet Bending in Small Batch Part Manufacturing

Tolerances indicate geometrical limits between which a component is expected to perform its function adequately. They are used for instance for set-up selection in process planning and for inspection. Tolerances must be accounted for in sequencing and positioning procedures for bending of sheet metal parts. In bending, the shape of a part changes not only locally, but globally as well. Therefore, sheet metal part manufacturing presents some specific problems as regards reasoning about tolerances. The paper focuses on the interpretation and conversion of tolerances as part of a sequencing procedure for bending to be used in an integrated CAPP system

A process model for air bending

A so called `three-section¿ model for air bending is presented. It is assumed that a state of plane strain exists and that Bernoulli's law is valid. The material behaviour is described with Swift's equation, and the change of Young's modulus under deformation is addressed. As compared with other models, the model described in the paper is capable of generating information such as required punch displacement and the unfolded blank size, very accurately. With in-process measurement of the spring-back angle, the punch displacement can be calculated even more accurately

The generation of bending sequences in a CAPP system for sheet-metal components

An important process-planning task in sheet-metal manufacturing is the determination of bending sequences for individual components. Computer-aided generation of these sequences, as part of a computer-aided process-planning (CAPP) system, can relieve the workload of process-planning departments, this being especially important in small batch manufacturing environments. This paper discusses the functions that have to be performed during the determination of bending sequences, focusing on accuracy aspects. The generation of bending sequences is also put into the broader perspective of an integrated CAPP system such as PART-S, which is under development presently in the author's laboratory

Process planning for small batch manufacturing of sheet metal parts

The paper describes process planning for order-based small batch sheet metal part manufacturing. In this domain, general purpose CNC machinery and standard tools are being used. An example of a process planning system is given and some areas of special interest are discussed in more detail. Process planning for sheet bending and tolerance reasoning are important and intricate tasks within process planning, whereas abstractions in design and nesting are important due to their relations with other manufacturing functions. In general, manufacturing functions tend to become increasingly intertwined and traditional boundaries become blurred. Sheet metal industries, customers and suppliers alike, can benefit from this