Page 22 - Metalforming Magazine April 2022

Proeber, flat-blank development often required anywhere from four to 12 times in and out of the tryout press, with each blank iteration requiring new measurements and the creation of new flat blanks.
“Today, incremental forming-sim- ulation software can develop—auto- matically and virtually—the flat-blank shape before wire-EDMing of punches and die blocks, and before the die ever enters the tryout press,” Proeber says. “Die builders that design, build and try out dies find a much quicker and smoother experience from start to fin- ish through this new integration of incremental forming-simulation soft- ware into their die-design software.”
Tool Coatings Keeping Pace
There’s a continuing need for high- performance tool coatings to meet the needs of metal formers tasked with cutting and shaping higher-strength materials including stainless steels and advanced high-strength steels, reports
David Bell, president of Phygen Coat- ings Inc., Minneapolis, MN.
“All of these materials place increas- ing demands on tool coatings to reduce friction and eliminate metal pickup and galling,” Bell tells MetalForming. “Sectors increasingly taking advantage of tool-coating capabilities include those tasked with producing the high- est-precision parts, such as ammuni- tion makers, and also appliance mak- ers, which often push the limits in drawing stainless steel.”
Those building, servicing and using stamping tooling should be aware of the various coating treatments avail- able and consult with coating suppliers to ensure that the coatings can manage the challenges of specific forming applications. Proper coatings, Phygen’s Bell offers, extend the range of suc- cessful forming capabilities while extending tool life.
“For example, a lower-temperature coating process that Phygen employs,” he says, “deposits a dense nanocrystal
coating with particles sized from 14 to 40 nanometers, with this particle size enhancing adhesion.”
Duplex coating, notes Bell, is anoth- er development area that can help improve coating adhesion. Here, appli- cation of plasma ion nitriding precedes the coating in order to achieve an opti- mal base depth.
“This enhances the rigidity support and adhesion of the coating placed on top,” he says.
Beyond the technical specifics of various coatings available to the metal- stamping community are general issues of which metal formers should be aware.
“The movement toward a greener economy adds importance to the use of high-performance tool coatings,” says Bell. “As water-based lubricants become more common, high-perfor- mance surface enhancement will be needed to attain forming success and needed tool life.”
And, be sure to mind the substrate, offers Bell.
20 MetalForming/April 2022
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