3-Dimensional Services Group uses AutoForm simulation software to help efficiently develop dies and validate tool designs before machining. This saves significant time and material costs compared to previous manual methods. The software allows them to evaluate part and process feasibility, develop optimized blank shapes, and simulate alternative die designs. It helps the company handle increasingly complex stamped parts made from advanced high-strength steels.
3-Dimensional Services Group uses AutoForm simulation software to help efficiently develop dies and validate tool designs before machining. This saves significant time and material costs compared to previous manual methods. The software allows them to evaluate part and process feasibility, develop optimized blank shapes, and simulate alternative die designs. It helps the company handle increasingly complex stamped parts made from advanced high-strength steels.
3-Dimensional Services Group uses AutoForm simulation software to help efficiently develop dies and validate tool designs before machining. This saves significant time and material costs compared to previous manual methods. The software allows them to evaluate part and process feasibility, develop optimized blank shapes, and simulate alternative die designs. It helps the company handle increasingly complex stamped parts made from advanced high-strength steels.
3-Dimensional Services Group uses AutoForm simulation software to help efficiently develop dies and validate tool designs before machining. This saves significant time and material costs compared to previous manual methods. The software allows them to evaluate part and process feasibility, develop optimized blank shapes, and simulate alternative die designs. It helps the company handle increasingly complex stamped parts made from advanced high-strength steels.
Simulation Software … to navigate the perfect storm of die development: software (a trio of modules from Aut- dies. The more difficult the job— oForm) to efficiently validate tooling whether due to material type or part increased part complexity, designs prior to putting die blocks into complexity—the more material, and stronger steels and a CNC machine. The ability to validate time, we would waste in tryout.” our blank and die designs saves us Eliminating that waste led the firm compressed customer countless hours of shop time, much of to purchase five seats of AutoForm. which would typically consume costly “I’m told we have more solvers than timelines. overtime hours, and cuts way down on some of the OEMs,” Smith says. Its material waste.” team of die designers use three Auto- BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Form modules: StampingAdvisor, Streamlining Tryout DieDesigner and Compensator. 3-Dimensional Services Group oper- “We use them constantly,” says
F acing the “perfect storm” of die
design and development—dra- matic increases in stamped-part complexity along with compressed cus- tomer timelines—led the management ates out of four facilities and a com- bined 350,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space housing nearly 400 employees. Die development occurs at its head- quarters facility in Rochester Hills, MI, Primo Tongko III, CAD room senior tool-design leader. “Before AutoForm, everything was done manually. Merely developing a blank could take weeks and consume a lot of material. Now, team at 3-Dimensional Services Group, and at its Urgent Design & Manufac- every part that comes in we run in 2015, to invest in new simulation turing facility in Lapeer, MI. While it through AutoForm.” software. The company now regularly serves a host of end-use industries calls on the software to help manage including appliance, aerospace and Evaluating Part blank development, evaluate stamped- defense, automotive is its largest mar- and Process Feasibility part and process feasibility, and gen- ket, keeping it busy developing com- AutoForm-StampingAdvisor enables erate and simulate alternative die-face ponents and assemblies for body-in- designers at 3-Dimensional Services designs. white structures, seating and chassis Group to quickly evaluate part and “Simulations are critical now,” systems, and the like. The company process feasibility, and determine blank shares Daniel Smith, a salesman for 3- operates some 160 presses, maxing out shape, material utilization and blank Dimensional Services Group, a diver- at 5000-ton capacity; it has 14 presses cost. It identifies any risk of excess sified group of companies offering a 1000 tons and up. thinning or splitting during stamping, multitude of capabilities including CNC “We don’t develop or run any pro- and the potential for wrinkling. machining, stamping, laser cutting and gressive dies here, it’s all hand-transfer “We use the software for early fea- robotic welding, plastic injection mold- work,” says Smith. “If a part requires sibility evaluations based on part ing, welding, waterjet cutting, hydro- four or five hits, that means designing geometry,” says Tongko. “I can modify forming, and prototyping. “We use the and developing four or five separate the part design and within minutes the
blank and the stamping process are so precisely developed, we can in some cases, already add the holes and perime- ter trim to the three-axis blank and avoid five-axis laser cutting entirely.”
Three-axis laser cut blank Hit 1 Develop and Test
Multiple Concepts With AutoForm-DieDesigner, Tongko and the other users at 3-Dimensional Services Group quickly can create and simulate alternative die-face designs. “Integrating die-face design with sim- ulation lets us quickly and accurately evaluate multiple concepts for the process and tool,” Tongko shares, “and find the optimum solution based on feasibility, quality and cost.” Finally, AutoForm-Compensator Hit 2 Hit 3 allows a designer to automatically modify tooling surfaces based either on precise springback calculation or Die designers at 3-Dimensional Services Group used AutoForm to quickly develop measured springback data. This ability short-run production tooling for this lower suspension bracket. They were able to quick- takes on a particularly valuable role as ly develop the trim and prove out the tooling concept in just a few days, rather than weeks, and went from the start of tool design to producing good, stamped parts in only the firm continues to process higher- 4 weeks. strength steels. “We’re seeing a lot of dual-phase advanced high-strength software automatically will generate part, a lower-suspension bracket steels (AHSS),” says Smith, “and even the blankholder surface and adden- stamped from 1.9-mm-thick high- some Gen 3 980-MPa grades.” dum. It also will identify potential strength low-alloy steel in three differ- Cold-formable Gen 3 steels, able in formability issues and create the opti- ent sets of tools. A prototype job, the some applications to replace press- mum blank shape, while calculating part included a challenging flange hardened steels, behave like all AHSS material utilization and blank cost. design formed in two directions. grades, typically creating increased “One of the more common and use- “The StampingAdvisor software springback concerns. ful advantages provided by Stamping- helped us unfold the part—a particu- “With these materials, in particular, Advisor,” Tongko continues, “is the abil- larly complex geometry,” Tongko says, I can use Compensator to clearly define ity to quickly and efficiently add draw “and develop the blank. We then were the specific compensation regions with- beads, a very common practice when able to visualize what the tooling need- in a part profile,” Tongko says. “Then, developing three-piece tools. The soft- ed to look like in order to securely hold the software allows me to modify either ware immediately identifies any hot the partially formed part in the second the entire tooling surface or only select- spots so that we can adjust the blank die—to wipe the walls down. The soft- ed regions to control compensation. shape accordingly. In the end, a job ware then helped us precisely locate That allows me to arrive at final part that might have taken two weeks just pilot holes for the third and final die, geometry in very few iterations. for blank development now takes two and even allowed us to develop a pre- “We also can set and adjust, for sim- or three days.” trim operation before the final hit.” ulation purposes, press tonnage in Auto- “We also rely on StampingAdvisor In addition, because blanks are so Form-Compensator,” he adds, “to eval- to quickly obtain formability feedback perfectly developed now, 3-Dimen- uate how tonnage will affect spring- while quoting,” adds Smith, “and to sional Services Group is, in some cases, back. Not only does this help with provide timely feedback to our cus- able to bypass five-axis laser cutting process design, but it also allows us to, tomers regarding their part-design fea- to cut holes and trim stamped parts. early in process development, decide sibility.” “We can use our three-axis laser cut- which press we need to use for the job.” Smith and Tongko describe one such ting machine to create the developed MF
