10.12.2018 Tooling by Design - Questions Regarding Stamping Challenging Materials?

New Conference Has Some Answers | MetalForming M…

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Tooling by Design
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QUESTIONS REGARDING STAMPING CHALLENGING MATERIALS? NEW

CONFERENCE HAS SOME ANSWERS
By: Peter Ulintz

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Thursday, September 1, 2016

Lightweight stampings typically are associated with challenging materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys,
and advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). Stainless steel seldom is part of mainstream lightweighting discussions,
but that appears to be changing.

Metal-stamping companies and tool shops experienced with plain-carbon (mild) steels often experience problems
producing parts from aluminum, stainless steel and AHSS. Negative past experiences and poorly designed
manufacturing processes often produce modest results that can fuel misconceptions and myths regarding these
materials.

Stamping high-tensile-strength materials can easily

push press-line performance requirements well
beyond the capabilities for which the equipment was
originally designed. Stamping such materials can
affect the size, strength, power and overall
configuration of every major component of the press
line, including coil-handling equipment, lubrication
systems, presses and tooling.

The stresses created during cutting, blanking and

punching produce unloading forces in stamping
presses called snapthrough loads, or reverse
tonnage. Because AHSS materials and many
stainless-steel grades require greater stress to punch
and cut compared to mild steel, they generate
proportionally increased snapthrough forces that can
destroy presses. These forces also introduce large
downward accelerations on the upper die half, which
essentially separate the upper die from the ram face
on every stroke. If the clamping system lacks sufficient clamping force, the upper die half could separate from the ram
on every stroke and cause fatigue to the upper-die mounting fasteners.

High-tensile-strength materials, due to their correspondingly higher yield strengths, also have a greater tendency to
retain coil set. This requires coil-feed equipment with a higher horsepower rating compared to that for mild steel, and
a greater number of working rolls that are smaller in diameter and backed up by larger support rolls to ensure proper
straightening. Assuming applications for higher-tensile-strength materials will create a business-as-usual condition for
an existing press line can be a very costly mistake.

Alumi n u m a n d Stainless Steel

Aluminum parts—one-third the weight of comparable mild-steel stampings of the same thickness—make the material
an attractive alternative for any mass-reduction effort. Many of the automotive alloys form much like steel with
100,000-psi yield strength, with half the stretching ability of steel. Because of its planar anisotropy and forming limits,
successfully forming aluminum stampings depends highly on alloy, temper, blank shape and part design. Of prime
importance: corner radii, draw depth, wall angle, steps and transitions. These interactive features combine to affect
the cost and quality of aluminum stampings.

Many stainless-steel grades have workhardening rates much greater than those for mild steel, which leads many to
believe that stainless steels are less formable than low-carbon grades. In reality, stainless steels are very formable
(see accompanying figure), and many grades are substantially more ductile than mild steels. Some stainless steels
can be deep-drawn into very complex shapes without the need for intermediate annealing, and even the less
formable ferritic grades have outstanding ductility.

Aluminum and stainless steel, immediately after exposure to air, will form a thin natural oxide layer (aluminum or
chromium oxide) on the sheet surface. This oxide layer can break down during forming and abrade forming and
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10.12.2018 Tooling by Design - Questions Regarding Stamping Challenging Materials? New Conference Has Some Answers | MetalForming M…
cutting tools. Even though the oxide layers are very thin, they significantly increase the level of friction between the
tool and workpiece. This increase in friction and the resulting heat generated combine to rapidly degrade tool life.
Higher wear rates increase costs for tool maintenance, downtime and production. Metalformers must select the
proper processing methods, tool coatings and lubricants to optimize tool performance.

Blank h o l d e r P r e ssure and Die Cl earance

Blankholder-pressure requirements for stainless steel will be much higher than those for low-carbon drawing steel.
The ferritic grades (430) require about 50-percent more pressure, while austenitic grades (304, 316) may require as
much as three times the applied force compared to forming low-carbon steel. Carefully consider this factor when
evaluating energy and tonnage capacity during press selection.

Increased blankholder forces also are required for deep drawing aluminum stampings, since aluminum’s Young’s
modulus is one-third that of steel. This reduction in Young’s modulus increases the likelihood of wrinkling, oil canning
and surface distortion, while also increasing the magnitude of springback by a factor of three compared to steel sheet
of equivalent yield strength.

Also, the required clearances between the draw post and die cavity will be greater for stainless steels compared to
mild steels. Austenitic grades require a clearance equal to the workpiece thickness plus an additional 35 to 40
percent per side; most ferritic alloys require workpiece thickness plus 10 to 15 percent additional clearance per side.

New C o n f e r e n c e Brings Clarity

If you or your company designs dies or produces stampings from a variety of different material types, it can be difficult
and time consuming to find the resources and technical information needed to solve these ever-changing challenges.
To help make life easier, PMA has developed a new annual conference that specifically addresses the needs of metal
stampers and their tool-and-die suppliers.

PMA’s first annual Metal Stamping Technology and Tool & Die Conference will be held in Chicago, IL, December 5-6,
2016. Presenters will address the latest technologies developed for processing metal stampings from mild and high-
strength steels, stainless steels and aluminum alloys. Topics include die design and construction, tooling, lubrication,
presses and press-line equipment. Conference sessions also include two keynote presentations: Industry
Benchmarking: Current Trends in the Metal Stamping and Tool & Die Industries; and Why Metal Fabricators Should
be Paying Attention to the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0.

Individual technical tracks are available, including: stainless steel 101, design guidelines for stamping aluminum,
transfer-press die simulation, sensor technology for progressive dies, lightweight stamping technologies, tooling
solutions for AHSS, new technology for measuring lubricant thickness, incremental microplastic forming for low-
volume metalforming, and scanning and surface morphing solutions for die design and reverse engineering. And,
tabletop exhibits will feature several industry-leading suppliers.

To learn more, contact Marianne Sichi, PMA technical programming manager; msichi@pma.org. MF

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