SPECIAL FOCUS AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY DRIVING AMBITION


but also efficiency and sustainability. Processes such as cold forming enable manufacturers to reduce their own environmental impact and help to maximise profits through reduced material consumption. There are also major efficiency


savings that can be made in the machining of aluminium die casting for the automotive industry. Although aluminium die casting results in a near to net part shape, the accuracy of the process means machining is required. Automotive die castings for engines require additional processes to ensure the components can be reliably installed into a car engine. Dawson Shanahan has offered aluminium milling for 25 years, regularly investing in new milling machines that have increased capacity and which provide the right blend of precision and accuracy. The company’s new Triflex Modular


In today’s automotive sector, processes such as cold forming enable manufacturers to reduce their environmental impact while maximising profits through reduced material consumption.Mark Jennings, engineering director at Dawson Shanahan explains


I


n the automotive sector, much of the focus on efficiency and sustainability


is at the top end of the chain – on recycling, at end of vehicle life and during the production phase; energy savings in manufacturing; and, of course, fuel efficiency. What is often overlooked, however, are ways in which engineering component manufacturers at the base of the supply chain can make considerable savings in waste materials, process time and energy consumption by simple changes to production processes or part design.


COLD FORMING BENEFITS Cold forming, essentially the extrusion of a part from a blank, is an established process for producing automotive components in a wide range of materials – from Swedish iron through to copper, brass, aluminium and stainless steel. There are a number of benefits to cold


forming. In the current climate it can be used to reduce scrap material by around 70%, while offering faster lead times, better surface finish and improved mechanical characteristics. It also enables component designers to incorporate features which would be extremely difficult and costly to manufacture using conventional machining techniques. Despite this, however, many engineers persist in using conventional material


30 APRIL 2014 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS


removal processes – typically milling and turning – and are unaware of how cold forming can improve and reduce product cost. This may be due to them becoming set in their ways; in part, perhaps, through ignorance; or through misunderstanding of what cold forming can achieve. But, with manufacturing processes


needing to be as lean as possible, it is time for design and production engineers to take a fresh look at this established but underused process.


THE PROCESS During the machining process, a cutting tool chips away at a blank, and this can produce a staggering amount of waste. In some applications, the machining of parts can result in the removal of 95% of the volume present in the original blank, leaving behind a machined part tooled from the remaining 5%. With the cold forming process, however,


the blank is placed into a press before die and punch tooling is used to extrude the metal under extreme pressure. A small degree of machining may be required to finish the cold-formed part but this pile of scrap is dwarfed by that created during the conventional machining process. The trend is towards a more


responsible engineering industry, where the most celebrated technological developments are those that not only improve performance and ease of use


/ DESIGNSOLUTIONS


Cold forming is an established process for producing automotive components


multi-station CNC machining centre offers high-speed milling with previously unheard of short cycle times. The machine will provide customers with the highest degrees of precision, volume and flexibility at a rate of 70 parts per hour compared to an output of 24 per hour for an existing configuration machining the same Aluminium Die casting. Machining centres, like the Triflex, offer multiple fixtures mounted on a central trunnion, served by machining stations consisting of CNC spindle units that hold multiple tools and have independent X, Y and Z axis movements. With such machines, a complex finished engine part can be machined, giving a significantly increased output compared to other standalone machining configurations. End users are constantly re-evaluating


Cold forming can reduce scrap material while offering faster lead times, better surface finish and improved mechanical characteristics


the most environmentally efficient ways of maintaining or replacing their vehicles. But when it comes to metal manufacturing there is great potential to alter the production process itself so that less waste in generated in the first place.


Dawson Shanahan www.dawson-shanahan.co.uk Enter 224


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44