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Optimum selection of variable punch-die clearance to improve tool life in

blanking non-symmetric shapes

Article  in  International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture · December 2013

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2013.09.004

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 International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Optimum selection of variable punch-die clearance to improve

tool life in blanking non-symmetric shapes
Soumya Subramonian a, Taylan Altan a,n, Bogdan Ciocirlan b, Craig Campbell b
a
Center for Precision Forming, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
b
Tyco Electronics Corporation, a TE Connectivity Ltd. Company, 2901 Fulling Mill Road, Middletown, PA 17057, USA

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Punch-die clearance is a well-known parameter affecting both tool life and edge quality of parts in
Received 7 June 2013 blanking and piercing. Selecting the optimum or best punch-die clearance can give a significantly longer
Received in revised form tool life by minimizing tool wear. Previous studies have shown the effect of punch-die clearance on
5 September 2013
various sheet materials and thicknesses during blanking of round parts while non-round geometries are
Accepted 9 September 2013
more commonly found in industrial applications. Therefore, in this study, the effect of part geometry is
Available online 17 September 2013
considered to select the ‘best’ punch-die clearance to minimize tool wear. In blanking non-round
Keywords: geometries, the punch and die undergo non-uniform wear, with higher wear observed in areas with
Variable punch-die clearance sharp radii and abrupt changes in geometry. In the present study, the effect of punch-die clearance on
Punch stress
punch stress for blanking various shapes is investigated using Finite Element (FE) analysis. The punch-die
Wear
clearance that gives the lowest value of the punch stress for the different part geometries is identified.
Blanking
A method is developed to select a geometry dependent variable punch-die clearance to obtain more
uniform wear on the punch, thereby increasing the punch and die life.
& 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Blanking is a common manufacturing process used in the produc-
tion of a variety of parts ranging from (a) very small electronic and
electrical components like pins and connector parts to (b) compo-
nents from high strength and stainless steels. Sheets of 0.2–20 mm
thickness and higher are blanked or punched depending on the
application. Regardless of the type and thickness of the sheet
material used, a longer punch and die life is desired to improve the
productivity of the process. Improving the punch and die life is
especially useful in the blanking precision parts in large quantities.
In such high volume production, increase in die life reduces (a) the
changeover/tool sharpening time, and (b) the time required for
alignment of the punch, die and other tooling components when
the tools are put back into the press after changeover. The punch and
die life and edge quality in blanking depend on various parameters
such as (i) punch-die clearance (‘s’ in Fig. 1) (ii) punch and die corner
radius (rp and rd in Fig. 1) (iii) punch and die material and coating
(iv) sheet material (v) stripper pressure (fb in Fig. 1) and (vi) lubrica-
tion [1]. In this study, the effect of punch-die clearance is investigated
further to improve punch and die life.
n
Correspondence to: 339, Baker Systems Engineering Building, 1971 Neil Ave,
Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Tel.: þ 1 614 292 5063; fax: þ 1 614 292 7219.
E-mail address: altan.1@osu.edu (T. Altan).
The literature review indicates that many studies have been
conducted to understand the effect of punch-die clearance on
punch life and blanked edge quality. Wiedenmann et al, [2] con-
ducted blanking studies on DP590, 1.4 mm thick. The effect of
clearances on part edge quality in the range of 5–20% was studied
during blanking of 10 mm diameter holes. Roll over and fracture
zones (Fig. 1) increase while the shear zone decreases with
increasing punch-die clearance.
Grünbaum et al. [3] also observed the same effects as [1] when
blanking low carbon steels, high carbon steels, copper, aluminum
and brass at clearances ranging from 5% to 20% sheet thickness.
12.7 mm diameter holes were blanked. Experiments were con-
ducted at blanking velocities ranging from 0.15 m/s to 3.6 m/s.
It was shown that the length of the shear zone, Fig. 1, decreases
with increasing punch-die clearance for all materials investigated
in this study.
Bell [4] conducted a study in which 1400 MPa grade sheet
material, 1 mm thick was blanked at three different punch-die
clearances, 6%, 10% and 14% of sheet thickness. Punch wear was
measured after 200,000 strokes. It was found that smaller punch-
die clearance caused galling while higher clearance caused high
bending stresses in the cutting edge increasing the risks of edge
chipping in the punch. There is an optimum punch-die clearance
that results in lower tool wear (Fig. 2).
Husson et al. [5] conducted blanking simulations with FEA with
a copper alloy sheet of 0.58 mm thickness and compared the
simulation results with experimental data. The effect of punch-die

0890-6955/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2013.09.004
64 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71

Roll over zone (Zr)

Shear zone (Zr)

Fracture zone (Zf)

Burr zone (Zb)

Fig. 1. (left) Schematic of blanking process; (right) zones of blanked edge (obtained from simulations).

Fig. 2. Effect of punch-die clearance on tool wear [4].

clearance on the part edge quality was studied in the range of

2.5–19% in blanking of 3.5 mm diameter holes. From the FE
simulations and experimental studies, it was found that rollover
and shear edge increase and fractured edge decreases with
increasing punch-die clearance. Högman [6] studied the influence
6mm

of punch-die clearance on the life of a square punch. Experiments

were conducted using 1 mm thick Docol 800DP sheet material.
Two radii (0.2 mm and 0.5 mm) were used in a 12 mm  12 mm
square punch for the corners in the experiments. A constant
punch-die clearance of 10% was maintained in the case of
0.2 mm radii. A punch-die clearance of 10% was maintained along
the straight edge but it is increased to a maximum value of 20% at
the corner, in the case of 0.5 mm punch corner radius as shown in
Fig. 3 [6]. With a punch-die clearance of 10% at the corner of the
square, the punch lasted 45,000 strokes before chipping. When a
punch-die clearance of 20% was used at the corner of the part, the
punch lasted 200,000 strokes without chipping.
Most of the earlier studies, except [6], were conducted for
blanking of round parts. The study by Högman [6] is the only
published example demonstrating the effect of part geometry
dependent punch-die clearance. However, it does not provide
guidelines for designing varying punch-die clearances depending
on the part geometry.
Numerical analysis of blanking has been used by several
researchers in order to predict the shearing process. Fracture in FE
analysis of blanking is predicted by using a damage criterion [7].
Various ductile fracture criteria have been proposed to predict
crack initiation [2]. Some of the common fracture criteria that have
been implemented in FE codes to simulate sheet metal blanking
are Cockroft and Latham [8], Oyane [9] and Rice and Tracy [10].
Giojearts [11] suggested a modified fracture criterion, adapted Rice
and Tracy, which could predict fracture in blanking more accurately.
Different methods like the element deletion method and the finite
elements separation method have also been proposed to simulate
the crack propagation in blanking [1].
6mm
Fig. 3. Schematic of punch-die clearance (left) 10% uniform clearance (right) 20% at
the corner of the rectangle, 10% on straight edge [6].
Picas et al. [12] used FE analysis to predict the effect of punch
corner radius and punch-die clearance on the punch stress. The
punch corner radius was found to have a significant influence on
the punch stress. The punch stress reduced from  2000 MPa to
 1600 MPa when the punch corner radius was increased from
0.01 mm to 0.1 mm.
The tool wear curve obtained by Högman [6] shows the
relationship between tool wear and punch-die clearance. Fig. 4
shows that there is an optimal cutting clearance that gives the
least tool wear for a given sheet material and thickness.
Fig. 5 shows the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of
worn out punches that were observed by the authors. Observa-
tions of these worn punches show that wear and chipping initiate
at locations on the punch which have a small radius or change in
geometry. The stress state in the sheet changes with the part
geometry, thereby affecting the stress in the punch [6].
2. Objective
The objective of the present study is to illustrate how to
(a) improve the punch/die life by selecting the optimal punch-die
 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71 65

clearance depending on the localized punch geometry, and
(b) obtain a more uniform wear and reduce the probability of
chipping of the punch. The hypothesis is that the variation in wear
or corner chipping on a non-round punch/die is directly related to
the distribution of the normal/contact stress in the punch/die.
Hence, a more uniform stress distribution on the punch (by varying
the punch-die clearance along the perimeter of the punch) should
result in a more uniform wear pattern, thereby improving the
punch/die life. The terminologies used in this study are:
 Punch corner radius (rp in Fig. 1) – radius between the face and
flank of the punch.
 Punch radius (dp/2 in Fig. 1) – radius on a round punch.
 Part geometry – the geometry that is punched out (same as
punch face geometry).
4. Effect of part geometry and punch-die clearance on punch
stress using FEA
The influence of the following two parameters on punch
stresses during blanking is studied: (i) part geometry (ii) punch-
die clearance. FE simulations are conducted using the commercial
software DEFORM 2D/3D to study the effect of these two para-
meters on punch stress and blanked edge quality. The parameters
used in FE simulations are shown in Table 1. The validation of FE
model was done by comparing the blanking load obtained from
simulations and experiments, the details of which can be obtained
from Subramonian et al. [13].
Table 1
Parameters used in FEA of blanking.

3. Approach Parameters Used in Value

Simulations

The approach taken in this study includes the following steps:  Sheet material
 Flow  AISI1010  s ¼698.63ε0.2057 [14]
(1) Investigate the influence of part geometry and punch-die stress mode  SS301  s ¼1929.9ε0.0804
clearance on punch stress using FE analysis, for different sheet  C51100  s ¼842.42ε0.1355

materials. [Flow stress for SS301 and C51100 are obtained from
biaxial bulge tests conducted at Ohio State's Center
(2) Identify the relationship between part geometry and punch-
for Precision Forming]
die clearance to obtain the lowest value of the punch stress on 0.25 mm, 0.8 mm
 Sheet
punch/die for different sheet materials and thicknesses. thickness
(3) Compare the wear pattern on the punch experimentally in a
production environment for the two cases (i) uniform punch-  Material model Plastic
 Fracture model Adapted Rice and Tracy [10]
die clearance and (ii) variable punch-die clearance.

Punch / Die
The critical damage value which determines the onset and
 Material model  Elastic
propagation of crack is an important parameter in simulating  Material  AISI D2
blanking since it would determine the blanked edge zone length.  Corner radius  0.0127 mm
However, in this study, the stress on the punch for the initial 30%  Clearance  Varies from 5% to 20% of sheet thickness
of the punch penetration into the sheet is of interest (as explained
in Section 4.1.1). During this period, the sheet material is under Coefficient of friction 0.1 Shear Friction
Blank holder 10 MPa
pure shear and no fracture is observed and hence, fracture is not
(stripper) force
simulated.

Fig. 4. Relationship between tool wear and punch-die clearance obtained experi- Fig. 6. Example showing how the part geometry can be divided into simple shapes
mentally when blanking Docol 1400 DP, 1 mm thick by Högman [6]. of different radii (thin line) and straight edge (thick line).

Fig. 5. SEM images of irregularly worn out punches [6].

66 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71

For the sake of simplicity in conducting FE analysis in this the position in stroke (i.e punch penetration) showing maximum
study, the part geometry will be broken down into simple shapes stress is about 0.25–0.3 t into the sheet material where ‘t’ is the
of different radii and straight edges, an example is shown in Fig. 6. thickness of sheet material. This stroke position also corresponds
approximately to stroke position where the blanking load is the
maximum.
4.1. Effect of part geometry
Fig. 8 shows the contact stress along the curvilinear length AC
during blanking various part radii (R). Contact pressure on the
FE simulations are conducted to understand the effect of part
punch increases with decreasing part radius. The highest contact
geometry on the punch stress and part edge quality, Table 2 and
pressure is between A and B, closer to B. It is also observed that
Fig. 6.
when the radius of the punch is 0.6 t, very high stresses are
observed on the punch. But as the radius (R) approaches 4 t, the
4.1.1. Influence on contact stress stress levels are similar to that on the straight edge of the punch,
The contact pressure is estimated along the most critical region as the radius becomes infinitely large.
of the punch, i.e. the curve AC along the punch corner radius (at Variations of contact stress along the punch corner radius (rp)
the face-flank interface of the punch), seen in Fig. 7. The calculated for 0.25 mm thick SS301 and C51100, estimated by FEM, were
stresses change with changing punch stroke position. In this study, similar to those seen in Fig. 8. Fig. 9 shows the influence of part
radius, R, (Fig. 6) on contact stress on the punch for different sheet
materials. The average stress on the punch during blanking a hole
Table 2 of radius 0.6 t is  50% higher than the average stress during
Simulation matrix used to study the effect of part geometry on punch stress. blanking of a straight edge. It can also be observed that the
relation between contact stress and punch radius (dp/2 in Fig. 1)
Parameter Value
is independent of the sheet material (for the materials studied).
The absolute values of the contact stress changes with material.
Sheet materials AISI 1010, SS301, C51100
Sheet thickness 0.25 mm However, the percentage increase in contact stress for different
Geometries Radii (R) – (i) 0.15 mm, (ii) 0.25 mm, (iii) 0.5 mm, part radii with respect to the contact stress for straight edge is the
(iv) 1 mm same for all materials investigated in this study.
Straight edge (S) (Fig. 6)
Punch/die clearance 8%

1.6
SS301 0.25mm thick
stressradius/stressstraight edge

1.5
AISI 1010 0.25mm thick
Normalized Stress

1.4
C51100 - 0.25mm thick
1.3

1.2

1.1
A = 0mm
1

0.9
straight edge
0 2 4 (radius = ∞)
C = 0.05mm B = 0.02mm
Normalized Part Radius (radius/sheet thickness)

Fig. 7. Curvilinear length AC: Punch corner radius (rp in Fig. 1) where calculated Fig. 9. Influence of part radius (R in Fig. 6) on contact stress for different sheet
stresses are plotted on the punch. materials, 0.25 mm thick (at  0.25 t penetration, which gave maximum stress).

1600

1400
Normal/Contact Pressure (MPa)

0.15mm radius
1200

1000
0.25mm radius
800
0.5mm radius

600
Straight edge 1mm radius

400

200
A B C
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Curvilinear length AC of Figure 6(mm)

Fig. 8. (right) Effect of part geometry on contact pressure obtained for round and straight edges using FE analysis – Sheet material: AISI 1010, 0.25 mm thick (when the
punch has penetrated 0.25t into the sheet, corresponding to maximum stress).
 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71 67

4.1.2. Influence on part edge quality
The part geometry, such as the one shown in Fig. 6, has a
significant influence on the blanked edge zones, as shown in Fig. 10.
FE analysis shows that:
 The rollover and fracture zones increase with increasing part
radius up to a normalized radius of 4.
 The shear zone length decreases exponentially with increasing
part radius, R. A possible explanation could be that smaller the
radius of the punch, the higher is the compressive stresses in
the sheet along the deformation zone. This high compressive
stress delays the onset of fracture and hence causes an increase
in shear length. This could also explain the reason for high
contact stresses on the punch shown in Section 4.1.1, Fig. 9.
As seen from the photographs of Fig. 11, the rollover and
fracture increase and shear zone decreases with increasing part
corner radius (R). Fig. 11(c) shows the corner of a rectangular part
with a part corner radius, R, of 0.15 mm and the straight edges. It is
seen that the radius has a large shear zone, but the straight edge
has a smaller shear zone.
5. Relationship between part geometry and punch-die
clearance for uniform punch wear
Optimal punch-die clearance for blanking a straight edge of
0.8 mm thick AISI 1010 sheet is illustrated in Fig. 12. Similarly,
using FE simulations, the “optimal” punch-die clearance that gives
the lowest average punch stress was selected for 0.8 mm thick AISI
1010 and 0.25 mm thick SS 301 sheets for different part radii. The
technique used in Section 4.2 was used with the different radii and
different sheet materials to obtain the optimal punch-die clear-
ance for each of the data points shown in Fig. 13. The optimal
punch-die clearance decreases exponentially until normalized
radius of 1.5–2, after which it remains constant. This is true for
both the sheet materials/thicknesses (AISI 10-0.81/mm and SS301-
0.25 mm) used in this study.
Hence, it is seen that the optimal punch-die clearance for
blanking a straight edge depends on the sheet material and
thickness. The optimal punch-die clearance for the different radii
depends only on the dimension of the radius (once the clearance
for the straight edge is determined) and can be calculated using
the curve/relationship shown in Fig. 13.

4.2. Effect of punch-die clearance

Average Contact Stress (MPa)

1200
The effect of punch-die clearance on normal/contact stress is 1150
studied for blanking of a straight edge and is seen in Fig. 12. When 1100
there is a very low clearance, the sheet material shears severely 1050
applying higher stress on the punch. As the clearance increases, 1000
the shearing decreases and bending of the sheet material 950
increases. There is a range of clearance where the average contact 900
stress has a minimum. This explains the ‘V’ or ‘U’ shaped relation-
850
ship between the punch-die clearance and contact stress on the
800
punch. For this specific case of blanking a straight edge on 0.8 mm 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
thick AISI 1010 sheet, the optimal punch-die clearance that results Clearance %
in lowest punch stress is 7–8% of sheet thickness.
Fig. 12. Effect of punch-die clearance on average contact stress on the punch (sheet
A “V” shaped experimental curve that illustrates qualitatively the material – AISI 1010, 0.8 mm thick, Geometry punched – straight edge), as
variation of tool wear with punch/die clearance is given in Fig. 4 [6]. estimated by FEA.
This experimental data indicates that there is an “optimum” punch/
die clearance that reduced wear while the shape of the curve is
expected to depend upon the sheet material and thickness. 25%

60 20% AISI 1010 - 0.8128mm thick

Optimal Clearance
(% of sheet thickness)

50 SS 301 - 0.25mm thick

Zone Lengths

15%
40

30
10%
20

10 5%

0
0 2 4 6 8 Straight edge
10 (radius = ∞) 0%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 straight edge
Normalized Radius (radius/ sheet thickness) (radius = ∞)

rollover shear fracture Normalized Radius(radius/sheet thickness)

Fig. 10. Effect of part geometry (radius and straight edge) on blanked edge zones Fig. 13. Optimal punch/die clearance selected for different part corner radii (R in
obtained through FE analysis (sheet material – AISI 1010, 0.25 mm thick). Fig. 6) for different sheet materials and thickness.

Fig. 11. Effect of geometry on blanked edge zones obtained through experiments (a) straight edge (b) round hole with 0.25 mm radius (c) corner of a rectangular part with
the part corner radius (R of Fig. 6) of 0.15 mm (sheet material – AISI 1010, 0.25 mm thick).
68 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71
6. Effect of geometry dependent punch-die clearance
on tool wear
6.1. Simulation of Högman's [6] experimental results
6.1.1. Experimental setup [6]
Högman [6] conducted blanking experiments to determine the
influence of punch-die clearance on punch failure. Two different
radii (0.2 mm and 0.5 mm) are used in the rectangular punch, as
shown in Fig. 3. A uniform clearance of 10% is maintained in the
case of 0.2 mm radius while a clearance of 20% is maintained
along the radius in the case of 0.5 mm radius. The blank used in
this study is 1 mm thick Docol 800DP. The tool material used is
Vanadis 4 with a hardness of 60 HRC.
6.1.2. Simulation setup
FE simulations corresponding to the experimental conditions of
Högman [6] are conducted in this study to obtain the punch stress.
The simulated stresses in the punch are correlated to the wear and
chipping that occurred in the experiments.
6.1.3. Comparison of experimental and FE results
6.1.3.1. Experimental results [6]. The punch which had 0.2 mm
radius at the corner of the rectangle (10% punch-die clearance)
chipped at 45000 strokes. The punch which had 0.5 mm radius at
the corner of the rectangle (20% punch-die clearance) lasted
200000 strokes without chipping. Comparison of the punches at
the end of the experiments is shown in Fig. 14.
6.1.3.2. FEA results. The maximum effective punch stress in the case
of 0.2 mm part/punch radius is 2270 MPa while in case of 0.5 mm
radius the corresponding stress is 2095 MPa. This is a reduction of
the stresses by 8%, while the maximum clearance was increased
from 10% to 20%.
6.1.3.3. Correlation of experimental and FEA results. This correlation
between experiments and simulations, as shown in Table 3, further
illustrates the relation between stress on the tool and tool wear.
6.2. Effect of variable punch-die clearance upon tool wear
In the present investigation, the concept of geometry dependent
variable punch-die clearance is tested by applying it to a progressive
die used in a production environment. The wear on the punch and
dies is compared for the two conditions: (i) using uniform punch-
die clearance and (ii) using variable punch-die clearance. The
following methodology is used to implement the geometry depen-
dent variable clearance.
(1) The complex shapes of the punch are broken down into simpler
features. Key features such as straight edge and different radii
are identified.
Displayed region of
the punch
Fig. 14. Punches after blanking experiments: (left) Punch with radius 0.2 mm at the corner of the rectangle (10% punch-die clearance) chipped after 40000 strokes (right)
Punch with radius 0.5 mm at the corner of the rectangle (20% punch-die clearance) did not chip after 200000 strokes [6].
(2) The optimal punch-die clearances according to the geometry of
the simple features are obtained from Fig. 13, which gives the
“optimum” punch-die clearance as a function of part corner
radius.
(3) Clearances are ‘blended in’ along the perimeter of the die
insert to obtain the variable clearance along the perimeter of
the part.
6.2.1. Experimental parameters
In this study, we considered a progressive production die with
several stations used progressively to blank a nickel coated AISI
1010 steel sheet, 0.8 mm thick. The punches and die inserts were
made of powder metallurgy (PM) steel. Punches are coated with
TiAlN coating. It was observed that the punch coating wears away
at the corners first before progressing to straight edges as shown
in Fig. 15. This observation further indicates that the variable
clearance in blanking non-round parts is a good approach to
alleviate the issue of non-uniform punch wear.
Based on the punch shapes shown in Fig. 16, four simplified
geometries were identified to optimize the clearance using simula-
tions. They are (i) straight edge (ii) 0.127 mm radius (corresponding to
all corners with ‘sharp’ edges) (iii) 0.5 mm radius (iv) 1.27 mm radius.
Based on the graph developed in Section 5 (shown in Fig. 13),
clearances were selected as shown in Table 4 for the four geometries.
The dies corresponding to all the punches, shown in Fig. 16,
were redesigned to implement variable punch-die clearance, Cv.
An example is shown in Fig. 17.
6.2.2. Experimental procedure
The following procedure was used to conduct the experiments
and evaluate the results.
(1) Experiments were conducted with two clearance designs
(i) uniform punch-die clearance Co and (ii) variable punch-die
clearance Cv under production conditions.
(2) The tests were run until the punch coating showed excessive wear
and/or burr height reached the maximum acceptable level of 5 m.
(3) Pictures of the worn punches from both cases were taken to
compare the performance of the two different clearance
conditions.
Table 3
Correlation of calculated punch corner stress with punch failure/corner chipping
(sheet material – DP 800, thickness – 1 mm).
Punch-die Stress at part corner radius Tool Life
Clearance (%) (Estimated using FE) (MPa) (Experiment – [5])
10 2270 45,000 strokes
20 2095 200,000 strokes
 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71 69

Fig. 15. (left) Wear starts around the corners; (right) and then progresses to the straight edges of the punch used in production.

Fig. 16. Punch shapes that are blanked in the progressive die (overall size ranges from (a)  2.5 mm diameter to (e)  25 mm   8 mm).

Table 4 clearance punches have about 2.8 times more hits on them than
Geometry dependent variable punch-die clearance. the uniform clearance punches, they have more uniform and
significantly less wear than the uniform clearance punches. This
Geometry Original Clearance Selected Clearance
(Co) (%) (Cv) (%) result proves that geometry dependent variable punch-die clear-
ance gives a more uniform wear on the punch. The result also
Straight edge 5 8 proves that correlating punch stresses to punch wear is also a good
Round (1.27 mm radius) 3 8 approach to select the optimum punch/die clearance.
Radius in oblong (0.5 mm 5  12.5
radius)
Corner of rectangle (0.127 mm 5  18
radius) 7. Summary and conclusions

7.1. Summary

6.2.3. Experimental results
The uniform punch-die clearance could blank 126,000 parts
before the coating on the punch showed excessive wear and the
part showed excessive burr (greater than 5 m). The punches with
variable clearance were run for 350,000 strokes. The blanked edge
after 350,000 parts still met all the tolerances specifications for the
part. The burr height also remained below 5 m. The punches did
not see excessive wear on them either. Since it was difficult to
measure the exact burr height (below 5 m), pictures of worn
punches were used as the parameter to evaluate the effect of
variable clearance on wear. Fig. 18 shows the wear on three
punches using uniform clearance and variable clearance, along
the part perimeter. It can be seen that although the variable
 The effect of part geometry (different radii and straight edge)
and punch-die clearance on punch stress is obtained for
different part radii (R in Fig. 6).
 Blanking of 3 materials, investigated in this study (Fig. 9), showed
that the punch stress decreases exponentially with increasing
punch radius until the radius is about 1.5–2 times sheet thickness
after which the stress on the punch remains nearly constant.
 There is a range of punch/die clearances where the average
contact stress on the punch has a minimum. The clearance that
gives the minimum punch stress depends on sheet material,
thickness and part radius.
 The optimal punch-die clearance for any given sheet material and
thickness varies with the part geometry. Using FE simulations and
70 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71

punch
Die – original clearance 5%
Die – variable clearance

12.5% clearance
at radius of
oblong

18% clearance at
corners

8% clearance along
straight edges

Fig. 17. Example showing the variable punch-die clearance design (for the part seen in Fig. 16(e)).

Uniform Clearance Variable Clearance

Sharp after 126000 parts after 350000 parts

Fig. 18. Comparison of punch wear between regular clearance (after 126000 strokes) and variable clearance (after 350000 strokes); also shown are pictures of the sharp punch.

“lowest punch stress” criterion, the optimum punch-die clearance punch than uniform punch/die clearance while maintaining
is selected for different part radii to obtain more uniform punch part quality.
wear for two sheet materials, AISI 1010 and SS301.
 The concept of variable punch-die clearance was evaluated 7.2. Conclusions
experimentally under production conditions on a progressive
die with different punch shapes.  In blanking, contact stress on the punch obtained using FE
 The variable punch-die clearance which was tested experimen- analysis of blanking can be used as an indicator of experimental
tally gave a more uniform wear and  3 times longer life on the punch wear.
 S. Subramonian et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 75 (2013) 63–71
 A punch-die clearance variable at the contour of a part gives a
more uniform punch stress and hence punch wear, thereby
improving punch life considerably.
 The clearance vs. geometry curve can be used to design variable
punch-die clearance for blanking applications to improve
punch life, as illustrated with an application in production.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by
NSF and industry that supported the Center for Precision Forming
as well as the support provided by Tyco Electronics Corporation.
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