In the past, scientific analysis of development and production of large-scale products has not been conducted very often. In the joint project „Innovations for the production of large-scale products“, sponsered by two German ministries in the state of lower saxony, IPH – Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gemeinnützige GmbH will make a contribution to reply scientific questions in consideration of development, production and recycling of large-scale products.
xxl-products, development, manufacturing, recycling
Today barcode and data matrix code are in different variants spread as standard in logistics. They are extremely cost-effective and can be attached to almost all carriers or products. The major drawbacks of barcodes, however, are in the low memory capacitiy, the immutability of the stored information and the necessary line of sight between code and reader. In many applications the requirements are beyond the performance of barcode and matrix code. But can RFID really replace the barcode? To answer this question one must know the characteristics of RFID and the application conditions.
rfid, potential benefits, identification technologies
Today barcode and data matrix code are in different variants spread as standard in logistics. They are extremely cost-effective and can be attached to almost all carriers or products. The major drawbacks of barcodes, however, are in the low memory capacitiy, the immutability of the stored information and the necessary line of sight between code and reader. In many applications the requirements are beyond the performance of barcode and matrix code. But can RFID really replace the barcode? To answer this question one must know the characteristics of RFID and the application conditions.
rfid, potential benefits, identification technologies
Still profitability and quality are decisive competitive factors in production business. Therefore injection molding faces the challenge to produce valuable parts with constant quality at a lower cost. An innovative software for automatic and close-contoured construction of cooling channels supports that by use of artificial intelligence developed by the IPH – Institute for integrated Production Hannover gGmbH together with several companies.
profitability and quality, injection molding, close-contoured construction of cooling channels
Still profitability and quality are decisive competitive factors in production business. Therefore injection molding faces the challenge to produce valuable parts with constant quality at a lower cost. An innovative software helps by constructing close-contoured channels and reducing the cycle time with minimized engineering effort.
profitability and quality, injection molding, close-contoured construction of cooling channels
To improve its production and reduce inventories, the mechanical and plant engineering company "Koller" is currently conducting a new software. Without the hardware, the actual investment is 350,000 EUR in total.
lean production, erp systems
The quality of molded products and production cycle times are influenced by mold temperature control systems. Today experienced technical designers are developing form-fitting temperature control systems manually. Afterwards they analyzes the systems in iterative and experimental simulations. Here, a method for automatic design of mold temperature control systems is presented. The method uses nature-inspired algorithms, which improve the economical benefit of the construction process and the injection molding process.
injection molding, conformal cooling systems, design, nature-inspired algorithms
Enlarging the height of wind turbine generators leads to exponential increase of the usable wind energy. However the construction’s weight increases equally. Therefore a systematic approach to design lightweight towers for onshore wind turbine generators has been developed in a research project. Different concepts of bionic, aerospace and automotive origin have been used to create lightweight structures for the towers. These lightweight towers have been analyzed by FEA simulations e. g. regarding their fatigue stress. The investigation’s result is a lightweight structure which enables to build wind turbine generator towers of lower wall thickness. Thus a weight reduction up to 20 % can be achieved in comparison to standard towers.
xxl-product, large-scale, xxl, wind turbine, wind power, lightweight construction, tower constructio
Transport and storage systems have become extremely efficient because of a high degree of automation. Unfortunately flexibility is lost, because modifications of the systems are very complex. This discrepancy should be resolved in the research project "ISI-WALK". Logistic systems will be designed flexibly and efficiently with use of intelligent interfaces.
logistics, flexibility, interfaces
Production downtimes and maintenance costs affect the choice of an economic maintenance strategy. Predictive maintenance of machines promises a solution for both interests, when machine conditions can be predicted. The digital machine file supports this task by a combination of data exchange and artificial intelligence.
condition monitoring, artificial intelligence
In the project "Increase of maintenance quality through machine-specific information on the example of paper and print finishing" researchers developed methods for an improved maintenance quality by using a predictive strategy. The developed methods combine the exchange of data related to the maintenance with analysis of this data with the help of artificial intelligence. This ensures that the companies that are involved in the lifecycle of a machine gain additional information, for example about the current degree of wear of a unit.
maintenance, data mining
Cross wedge rolling is a method for reshaping cylindrical billets for getting a better mass distribution. Against the backdrop of rising material costs, this method is increasingly becoming the focus of many forging companies - but the high investment costs for tools and equipment prevents the economical benefit of the process. With flat cross wedge tools and corresponding rolling machines tooling costs can be reduced and the process is therefore interesting for small batches. Moreover, studies show that CWR is also applicable in warm temperature range.
warm forging, process chain, cross wedge rolling
In this paper the development of the new production technology hybrid forging is described. Hybrid forging combines forming of bulk and sheet metal-elements including joining. Therefore the classification of hybrid party by material and by the type of the semi-finished product is discussed. In addition, the benefits of hybrid parts are explained. In experimental forging tests with simple geometries a cylindrical bulk part was joined positively with a sheet metal by form closure. A material bond was only partially achieved.
hybrid, forging, sheet metal forming, joining technology, steel, adhesive bond
Closer tolerances, reduced surface roughness, no scale and reduced decarburization can be realized by warm forging. However, the geometrical spectrum of warm forged parts is limited by flow stress. To overcome this geometrical limitation, innovative warm cross wedge rolling and forging processes are developed in the project presented in this paper. To investigate the effect of lower temperatures on process parameters, e. g. force, die wear and material properties in comparison to hot forming processes, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experimental tests using downsized model geometry were performed. In this paper the new warm cross wedge rolling process is explained and results of warm cross wedge rolling trials (e. g. work piece characteristics), FEA simulations of forming forces and material analysis are shown. The results of these analyses allow industrial application of warm cross wedge rolling for the first time.
warm forging, process chain, cross wedge rolling
Many forged parts include piercings e.g. as bearings. The web of the forged pieces has to be pierced in an additional manufacturing step. By integrating this so far separately performed operation into the final forging step the process chain can be shortened. However, up to date there is no information available on how the process parameters influence quality relevant factors. Therefore, a combined forging-/piercing process is designed and performed. The results of previous research projects showed that the variation of the inserted mass and the forging temperature have a distinct effect on the dimensional and form accuracy of the work pieces. In this project different punch and work piece geometries and the influence of a different forming sequence on tool stress and the material flow was investigated. The punch and work piece geometry show no effect on form accuracy of the piercing while an inappropriate forming sequence leads to failure of the tool.
forging, flashless, precision, piercing
Economic efficiency and quality are both deciding competitive factors for companies with a production of industrial goods. To produce and deliver parts of a steady high-quality and simultaneously at low costs is a big challenge. An example is the industrial sector of injection moulding. A new software provides help by constructing canals closer to the surface. Therefore the quality of the parts increases and the cycle time decreases. Beyond this the effort for the constructor is optimized.
injection moulding, temperature mangement, software deveopment
A new tool design and die assembly developed at IPH has the ability to form flashless, near-net-shape forgings and pierce the workpiece all in one stroke. The tooling concept for the combined flashless forming and punching process was developed for rotationally symmetric parts. The die assembly is designed to fit into a standard forging press. The tool consists of an upper die, an upper punch (combined forming and punching die), gas-filled springs, a lower die, a lower punch and a release mechanism. The design of this forging sequence was facilitated by material-flow simulation programs using finite element analysis (FEA) techniques.To determine the influencing parameters forging trials have been made on Muller Weingarten PSH 265 screw press. The feasibility of a combined forming and punching process to produce near-net-shaped parts has been successfully demonstrated.
forging, flashless, precision, piercing
Aluminum Metal Matric composites show a high strength/density ratio. These materials can combine the advantages of aluminum and ceramic. A research project at IPH investigated the precision forging of Aluminum MMC to establish forging processes for Aluminum MMC and to allow a high batch production.
aluminium metal matrix composites, FEA, flashless forging
Diamond-like carbon coatings (DLC coatings) are anti-adhesive and extremely hard (up to 3500 HV) therefore they are outstandingly suitable as a wear-resistant coating. This ability to reduce tool wear in the warm forging is investigated by simulation and experimentally in IPH.
dlc, coating, warm forging
Saving resources becomes more and more important. Therefore the forging industry tries to develop processes with less flash than the conventional techniques or to avoid flash completely. Currently only simple parts like gears can be forged without flash. In a research project flashless forging processes for crankshafts were developed. In this paper the evolution of the flashless forging process and the process steps will be described. The collaboration research project "process chain for the production of precision forged high performance parts" has been conducted in the last few years at IPH and was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
precision forging, flashless, crankshaft
