Hydroforming heats up: New techniques and equipment push industry forwardHydroforming was one of the fastest-growing metal forming technologies during the 1990s. Most of U.S. industry cooled down during and after the recession of 2001, but things have been heating up lately, and the world of hydroforming is no exception. The North American Hydroforming Conference and Exhibition (Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 in Dayton, Ohio), which was sponsored by the Tube & Pipe Association, International® (TPA), and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), showcased new techniques, equipment, and applications that are moving the industry forward.
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Handling appliance steel: Tips for processing surface-sensitive materialsSavvy stampers are purchasing new equipment or modifying and retrofitting existing equipment to include prefinished materials features. By paying close attention to equipment, tension practices, material processing methods, and material handling, stampers can participate in the market for surface-sensitive materials.
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Big steel on the ropes: Consolidation looms for a troubled industryIntegrated steel mills in the U.S. are feeling the heat of foreign competition, pricing problems, and bankruptcies. How long will it be before consolidations start narrowing the field?
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Six dangerous misconceptions about crane safety: Knowing the facts could save your lifeKnowing how cranes should be used, and how they should not be used, is critical to crane safety. Overload, side pull, limit switches, secondary braking devices, using the reverse direction for speed control, and daily inspections are surrounded by myth and mystery in the workplace.
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Occupational injury and illness statistics: Where does your manufacturing job rank?In December 2003 the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its 2002 occupational injuries and illnesses data. A total of 4.7 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported in private-industry workplaces during 2002, resulting in a rate of 5.3 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. Among goods-producing categories, incidence rates ranged from 4.0 cases per 100 workers in mining to 7.2 cases per 100 workers in manufacturing. These numbers are overall averages of subsets in each major category.
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Safeguarding machines with an ergonomic spin: The importance of human factors in indstrial safety standardsHuman factors contain elements of psychology, engineering, statistics, and observation. Safety codes and standards often are written based on some aspect of human factors, and it may be critical to have a full understanding of the human factors behind the code or standard before applying the same concept to other equipment.
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Examining slit coil handling and packaging: Choosing a system for increased productivityWhile it is common knowledge that slit coil handling and packaging often limit the productivity of even the most modern, highspeed coil slitting line, coil processors generally spend too little time examining the effectiveness of these operations.
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New Features in Coil-to-Coil Slitters: Adapting to the changing coil industry with technologyYears ago it was customary for coil processors to have dedicated slitting lines for specific materials and gauges. Today's larger, stronger, and thinner-gauge coils, however, require service centers to be able to process many materials and gauges on the same machine.
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Appliancemaker reduces downtime with stamping press feed system: Inconsistent feeds caused die jams, inconsistent partsThe Whirlpool Co. builds refrigerators at its facility in Fort Smith, Ark. The company stamps the appliance parts—large and small, galvanized, cold-rolled, and aluminum—on approximately 35 presses. The majority of its stamping presses are straight-side machines, although some are open-back inclinable (OBI), and a few are hydraulic.
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Filling in the blanks: What to look for in an in-house blank shearing line |
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Dangerous curves: Jaguar successfully mass-produces the industry’s first aluminum body structure |
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Troubleshooting compression bendingYou can achieve nearly trouble-free bending by being aware of the causes of typical compression bending problems and by correctly operating and maintaining the compression bender.
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99% GTAW, 100% RAD: Aesthetic welds drive classic cars |
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Producing side-impact profiles: Automotive body part combines roll forming, punching, laser weldingThe ramming machine bores into the side of the new automobile at a speed of 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour. Within a fraction of a second, sensors situated all over the test dummy signal details of the stress load. Shortly afterward the overall results of the Euro-NCAP crash test will appear in all the specialized automobile magazines.
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Revving up weld quality: Ford Development Center uses RW system to reduce costs, improve quality |