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With over 30,000 kN of force, their robustness and automation make them the ideal solution for new industry challenges.
The automotive industry faces the major challenge of reducing vehicle weight in order to reduce emissions without negatively affecting car safety.
To this end, recent years have seen an evolution in the manufacturing processes of chassis parts and reinforcements, transferring, for example, traditionally cold stamped parts to hot stamping, or introducing new processes such as stamping with different thicknesses, tailor blanks.
To achieve this weight reduction, steel manufacturers have developed new HSS (High-Strength Steel) and progressively UHSS (Ultra High-Strength Steel) materials, which pose a challenge to stampers, whose parts require ever greater strength, proportionally to the increased hardness of these new materials.
Working with the new HSS and UHSS also presents a challenge for press manufacturers. The large tonnage of this equipment requires that they must be specifically designed and built to withstand the very high stresses produced during the forming and cutting of these new hard materials.
Likewise, the requirements for this type of equipment are higher in terms of software and control, process monitoring systems and online support.
However, in the marketplace the challenge of this type of technology becomes an opportunity for growth and profitability for those who have the capability to produce these structural and reinforcing chassis parts in HSS and UHSS. This differentiates them from competitors by offering solutions that are not available to most, at an optimized cost per part. In fact, some OEMs are proposing these steels in new platforms as an alternative to Press Hardening technology.
Faced with these new market demands, large transfer presses are consolidating as the ideal solution to produce structural and chassis reinforcement parts in HSS, usually carried out on press lines, in an efficient, productive and profitable way.
In general, these are servo presses, with forces in excess of 30,000 - 36,000 kN, large tables, up to 7.5 meters (300 inches), and equipped with sophisticated automation systems.
These types of large presses are a much more productive alternative to any hot stamping process, and a real alternative to small, medium-sized tandem lines. Not forgetting that, due to their dimensions, these presses can produce two parts per stroke, right and left, for example in the case of symmetrical parts of the lower and upper part of the car body parts.
For this type of equipment, it is of great importance to have robust presses, designed by a supplier with proven experience, and which include fast, fully automatic and user-friendly automation.
In this sense, Fagor is characterized by offering a product adapted to the needs of each customer, which are defined in a joint work of collaboration, looking for a relationship of mutual trust and long duration.
With the first 30,000 kN press manufactured in the early 80’s, Fagor offers experience and references that guarantee the reliability of the product. In addition, with a complete 100% Fagor Arrasate solution, including press and automation, optimal synchronization is guaranteed.
Large transfer presses achieve a better ROI (Return of Investment) than other stamping lines thanks to their characteristics. Specifically:
LOWER NUMBER OF MACHINES
LOWER MAINTENANCE COSTS
LESS SPACE REQUIRED
LESS INVESTMENT IN FOUNDATIONS AND FACILITIES
HIGHER PERFORMANCE AND BETTER OEEE
One of the most critical aspects when designing these transfer presses is the large structures they require. To guarantee their robustness and safety, an exhaustive and rigorous FEM (Finite Element Method) calculation of all the parts that make up the structure is necessary. Likewise, it is necessary to consider the calibration forces when the machine needs to be designed for that purpose, due to the process or the high resistance of the material to be worked.
To equip this type of presses Fagor has developed an electronic NC cushion that has been running on a large transfer press for more than 3 years. It is able to return energy to the press (minimum 30%), a very interesting aspect for servo driven presses.
This cushion also has special features such as reverse force control and the ability to improve drawing quality.
If larger parts are required, it is possible to use two transfer presses in tandem, increasing the size of the parts up to 1800 mm in width.
For this purpose, Fagor has developed the capability to run the two presses together synchronized in position, even in the case of conventional presses with flywheel. It is also possible to run these installations at maximum speed. The value depends on the size of the blank, but in any case, they are far from the production rates of a line of separate tandem presses. These lines are called Flex Cell lines because of their ability to run both separate presses with smaller parts.
Fagor’s automation concept is focused on increasing productivity, OEE and reducing the manpower required to run an installation of this size and technological sophistication. The presses are fully automated with 100% Fagor Arrasate proprietary solutions, such as transfer systems or pick-up destackers.
A fully integrated solution that optimizes manufacturing operations and maintenance thanks to:
- Improved synchronization (increased productivity). - Options to simulate the entire installation. - Help in the optimization of cycle times thanks to proprietary digital tools (Syncro).
Regarding the pick-up destackers, this type of presses can be equipped with 2 different types of destackers:
The CL can work with parts up to 2000x1000mm at a maximum speed of 28spm.
The CT mode works with blanks up to 2000x1200mm at a maximum speed of 35spm.
Possibility to rotate the blank with an additional third shaft.
The structure consists of a single feeder and two loading carts so that the feeder can change from one to the other avoiding loss of time. The destacker can be equipped with other manipulations such as rotation.
This destacker is used in some installations with feeding lines. At the end of the line there is a shear to cut the coil and the destacker takes the blank to feed the press.
In this case the destacker is equipped with two feeders and two loading carriages, picking up blanks from the same station and switching to the second one when the first stack is finished.
This model has a new development called CT Automatic. The main feature of the equipment is that there is no need for manual labor. The full automation concept includes blank loading to the destacker using AGV technology.
Fagor has 8 different models for different heads and dies configurable and adjustable dimensions.
One of the main features of the automation control is that it is able to diagnose the limit of each axis of the transfer. By changing the cyclogram data, the transfer axis limit is calculated, and the maximum press speed is set.
To achieve optimum transfer press performance for each part, Fagor Arrasate provides complete support, including:
Syncro
Syncro is a production optimization software developed by Fagor, valid for both conventional and servo presses. Its main features are as follows:
These features enable several advantages:
Anti-vibration system
The vibration level of automation systems is one of their critical aspects. To this end, Fagor has developed a system that significantly reduces the vibration level of the transfer bar, thus improving its behavior and stability.
Regarding the grippers, manual grippers with a quick clamping system can be used, or Fagor’s patented flexible manipulator system can be integrated.
With the use of this solution, called Stack Flex, it is possible to use a single manipulator for all references, so no storage is required. Reference changeover time will be shorter, with less downtime and less floor space.
In order to have a fully automated system, there is the option of automatic die change with a changeover time optimized to 3 minutes. There is also the possibility to perform an individual extraction or insertion with the help of the HMI.
One of the main requirements for this type of installation is to have a fully integrated HMI in the press. In this respect, the fact that Fagor is the press and automation manufacturer brings the following advantages:
The new possibilities offered by the new digitization 4.0 technologies are the best tool to get the most out of large transfer presses. For this purpose, Fagor has developed digital tools such as Smart Connect:
Its objective is to increase OEE by improving availability, performance and quality, while reducing energy consumption.
To achieve this, a central iPC is installed on a layer above the machine control to avoid any unexpected interference with the machine control, where information from the different sensors, press PLC or controls are stored to facilitate data analysis later.
This information can be visualized with FA link Map, Fagor’s monitoring system, whether the information is stored on the machine itself or in the Fagor cloud.
With this information, 2 types of services are offered:
Fagor Arrasate’s new developments and solutions in the field of large transfer presses were presented in a live event broadcast via streaming, which was very well received by the attendees. During the event, it was possible to see one of these machines live in the Mondragón workshop.
It is a 3,600 t-force machine with a head size of 6.2 x 2.5 meters. The press has a conventional drive, with clutch and brake and flywheel, although a servo design is also possible. The entire machine weighs about 1,200 metric tons.
Features:
The electronic transfer has three adjustable movements: