Automotive companies are actively pursuing to increase the use of high-strength-lightweight alloys such as aluminum, magnesium, and advanced/ultra high-strength steels (A/UHSS) in body panel and structural part applications to achieve fuel efficiency while satisfying several environmental and safety concerns. A/UHSS sheet materials with higher strength and crashworthiness capabilities, in comparison to mild steel alloys, are considered as a near-term (i.e., ~5 years) choice of material for body and structural components due to their relatively low cost when compared with other lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium. However, A/UHSS materials present an increased level of die wear and springback in stamping operations when compared to the currently used mild steel alloys due to their higher surface hardness and high yield strength levels. In order to prevent the excessive wear effect in stamping dies, various countermeasures have been proposed such as alternative coatings, modified surface enhancements in addition to the use of newer die materials including cast, cold work tool, and powder metallurgical tool steels. In this study, a new die wear test method was developed and tested to provide a cost-effective solution for evaluating various combinations of newly developed die materials, coatings and surfaces accurately and rapidly. A new slider type of test system was developed to replicate the actual stamping conditions including the contact pressure state, sliding velocity level and continuous and fresh contact pairs (blank-die surfaces). Several alternative die materials in coated or uncoated conditions were tested against different AHSS sheet blanks under varying load, sliding velocity circumstances. Prior to and after wear tests, several measurements and tribological examinations were performed to obtain a quantified performance evaluation using commonly adapted wear models. Analyses showed that (1) the rapid wear method is feasible and results in reasonable wear assessments, (2) uncoated die materials are prone to expose severe form wear (galling, scoring, etc.) problems; (3) coated samples are unlikely to experience such excessive wear problems, as expected; (4) almost all of the the recently developed die materials (DC 53, Vancron 40, Vanadis 4) performed better when compared to conventional tool steel material AISI D2, and (5) in terms of coating type, die materials coated with thermal diffusion (TD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) coatings performed relatively better compared to other tested coating types; (6) It was seen that wear resistance correlated with substrate hardness.

This master’s thesis presents a proposal for the technology of manufacturing sheet metal part, which is a part of a bicycle wall bracket. The component is made of steel sheet ČSN 11 325 with subsequent surface treatment by galvanizing. Due to the chosen method of manufacturing with a progressive stamping die, the research part is focused on the technology of shearing and bending. Technological calculations were performed for the most suitable production variant, on the basis of which a mechanical press ANDRITZ Metals with the designation KSTU 2000-20-4G-PSE was chosen. Furthermore, the design of the tool itself is presented, which is substantiated by drawing documentation. At the end of the work, a technical and economic evaluation of the produced series of 300 000 workpieces per year is calculated.

In product development there is still potential to decrease lead times with faster and more accurate simulations. The objective of this thesis was to study whether Finite Element (FE) simulations using explicit LS-DYNA to extract reaction forces from sheet metal forming tools during forming, could be used to improve existing FE models in sheet metal forming software AutoForm.To begin with, the solid CAD-model of the stamping dies were meshed with tetrahedral elements in CATIA and imported into LS-DYNA. In combination with sheet mesh and milling surface meshes from AutoForm, an explicit model was realized. Contacts between sheet mesh and milling surface meshes used the so-called sheet forming contact. The resulting reaction forces were extracted and used in a simulation using the AutoForm software. Resulting simulation was compared to a scan of the physical sheet metal after forming.The direct transfer of reaction forces from LS-DYNA to AutoForm did however not result in the same pressure distribution in AutoForm. The AutoForm simulations using results from LS-DYNA were slightly worse than standard AutoForm simulations.Further work is needed to try and perhaps implement an implicit solution after an initial explicit solution. / Inom produktutveckling finns möjligheter att förkorta ledtider genom snabbare och mera korrekta simuleringar. Syftet med detta arbetet var att undersöka huruvida resultat från explicit LS-DYNA kunde användas för att förbättra nuvarande plåtformningssimuleringar i AutoForm.Den solida CAD-modellen av verktyget meshades med tetraediska element i CATIA och importerades till LS-PrePost, tillsammans med fräsytsmeshar och plåtmesh från AutoForm. Kontakter etablerades mellan plåt och fräsytsmeshar med så kallad sheet forming contact. Modellen löstes sedan explicit. Resulterande reaktionskrafter på plåthållare exporterades till AutoForm och implementerades där. Resulterande simulering jämfördes mot en inskannad fysisk plåt efter plåtformning.Direkt implementering av reaktionskrafter på plåthållaren i AutoForm gav resultat som avvek mer mot inskannad plåt än nuvarande simuleringsstrategi. Direkt implementering av reaktionskrafter gav heller inte en tryckfördelning som liknade den som rapporterades av LS-DYNA.Mer arbete krävs för att om möjligt implementera en implicit lösning efter en initial explicit lösning.

The diploma thesis deal with the proposal of connector manufacturing from bronze sheet CuSn6, thickness 1.5mm in production volume of 1.600.000 parts per year. From considered manufacturing variants there was chosen shearing and forming technology of thread in the progressive stamping die. For part production was selected pressing machine Bruderer 1250 with nominal pressing force 1250 kN from company E. Bruderer Maschinenfabrik AG. In the economical evaluation there were determined expenses 21.6 Kč per one piece including demanded profit. The turning point was calculated at production of 165.522 parts.

In today's car industries, low investment costs and high production rates are sought. By using nut piercing in the stamping dies in the manufacture of body components, otherwise necessary subsequent tempos can be reduced. The goal of the work was to implement nut piercing from below in a reference die to be able to use this type of operation in future projects. The main problem when implementing nut piercing from below is to be able to handle and evacuate the scrap piece that remains after the punching. By studying the equipment in the reference die, a deeper understanding of the process could be obtained, at the same time as information and necessary material were collected by expertise and the case company's suppliers for nut piercing. The recommendation to the case company provides a solution proposal for scrap evacuation as well as the components involved to be able to carry out the operation.

Never before has the car industry been as challenging, interesting, and demanding as it is today. New and advanced techniques are being continuously introduced, which has led to increasing competition in an almost ever-expanding car market. As the pace and complexity heightens in the car market, manufacturing processes must advance at an equal speed. An important manufacturing process within the automotive industry, and the focus of this thesis, is sheet metal forming (SMF). Sheet metal forming is used to create door panels, structural beams, and trunk lids, among other parts, by forming sheets of metal in press lines with stamping dies. The SMF process has been simulated for the past couple of decades with finite element (FE) simulations, whereby one can predict factors such as shape, strains, thickness, springback, risk of failure, and wrinkles. A factor that most SMF simulations do not currently include is the die and press elasticity. This factor is handled manually during the die tryout phase, which is often long and expensive. The importance of accurately representing press and die elasticity in SMF simulations is the focus of this research project. The research objective is to achieve virtual tryout and improved production support through SMF simulations that consider elastic die and press deformations. Loading a die with production forces and including the deformations in SMF simulations achieves a reliable result. It is impossible to achieve accurate simulation results without including the die deformations. This thesis also describes numerical methods for optimizing and compensating tool surfaces against press and die deformations. In order for these compensations to be valid, it is imperative to accurately represent dies and presses. A method of measuring and inverse modeling the elasticity of a press table has been developed and is based on digital image correlation (DIC) measurements and structural optimization with FE software. Optimization, structural analysis, and SMF simulations together with experimental measurements have immense potential to improve simulation results and significantly reduce the lead time of stamping dies. Last but not least, improved production support and die design are other areas that can benefit from these tools. / Aldrig tidigare har bilindustrin varit så utmanande, intressant och spännande som idag. Ny och avancerad teknik introduceras i en allt snabbare takt vilket leder till ständigt ökande konkurrens på en, nästan ständigt, ökande bilmarknad. Den ständigt ökande komplexiteten ställer även krav på tillverkningsprocesserna. En viktig process, som denna licentiatuppsats fokuserar på, är pressning av plåt. Tillverkningstekniken används för att forma plåtar till dörrpaneler, strukturbalkar, motorhuvar, etc. Plåtar formas med hjälp av pressverktyg monterade i plåtformningspressar. Plåtformningsprocessen simuleras sedan ett par decennium tillbaka med Finita Element (FE) simuleringar. Man kan på så sätt prediktera form, töjningar, tjocklek, återfjädring, rynkor, risk för försträckning och sprickor m.m. En faktor som för tillfället inte inkluderas i näst intill alla plåtformningssimuleringar är elastiska press- och verktygsdeformationer. Detta hanteras istället manuellt under, den oftast långa och dyra, inprovningsfasen. Detta projekt har visat på vikten av att representera press och verktygsdeformationer i plåtformningssimuleringar. Detta demonstreras genom en analys av ett verkligt pressverktyg som belastas med produktionskrafter. Det är inte möjligt att uppnå bra simuleringsresultat utan att inkludera verktygsdeformationer i simuleringsmodellen. Uppsatsen beskriver även numeriska metoder för att optimera och kompensera verktygsytor mot press och verktygsdeformationer. För att dessa kompenseringar ska stämma är det viktigt att man representerar både verktyg och press på ett korrekt sätt. Förslag på en metod för att mäta och inversmodellera pressdeformationer har utvecklats, metoden är baserad på mätningar med DIC-systemet ARAMIS och optimering i FE-mjukvaror. Optimering, strukturanalys, och plåtformningsanalys tillsammans med experimentella mätningar har en stor potential att förbättra plåtformningssimuleringar samt reducera ledtiden för pressverktyg. Sist men inte minst, andra positiva effekter är en enklare och smidigare konstruktionsprocess och förbättrad produktionssupport.

Proposal progressive technology of production shearing tools. Description shearing tools and shear of the process, analysis current technology production shearing tools. Proposition two variant technology production given to dies method conventional and unconventional, elaboration technological progress and programmes on choice NC machinery, their comparison and technical economic evaluation in fine with recommendation for usage practically.