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More from Art Hedrick
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Successful stamping: It's a 'we' thing
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 25, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
As a consultant and educator, I travel to numerous die shops and stamping plants, and almost all of them have the same basic request: “Can you show these tooling guys how to make the dies run better?” I hear comments like “We sure have a lot of downtime and scrap, not to mention the usual...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Circle grid analysis for diemakers
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 25, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
In visits to numerous stamping and die building facilities, I’ve observed that most have circle grid analysis equipment on hand, usually confined to the metals laboratory. This is especially true for the stampers performing deep drawing or stretching. Circle grid analysis (CGA) has long been...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Busting Myths (Part II)
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 25, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Myth 4—Tool and Die Designing and Building Are Art Forms When I think of art, I think of someone painting or sculpting a project that is a reflection of some feeling, event, or location. A painter, for instance, most likely is not concerned whether the painting will “work”, as it often is an...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Listening to your parts
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 24, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
I recently had the chance to engage in some very interesting conversation with the head of sheet metal formability lab for a very large automotive stamper. During our discussion, we looked at numerous parts and talked about common formability problems such as cracks,necking, wrinkles, loose metal,...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Selecting the right tool steel types
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 23, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Selecting tool steel types is perhaps one of the most important factors to consider in die designing and building. Learn more about the best tool steel here.
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Keys for drawing rectangular or square shells
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 23, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
To design and build a drawing die to form a box shape, you need to understand metal flow and stretching principles. Square and rectangular shapes have metal flow patterns that are difficult from simple axial symmetrical cups or cylinders. First Things First Before any processing takes place,...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Regaining flatness in stamped parts
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 21, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Of all the geometric tolerances that are difficult to achieve, flatness is one of the hardest. Most stampers probably would much rather try to make a complex-shaped, thin, high-strength steel deep-drawn part than hold a small-tolerance part requiring a a tight flatness. Achieving part flatness is...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Solving stretch flange problems (Part I)
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 21, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Cracking failure in a part’s stretch flange is one of the most common problems stampers face. And even if the flange is not splitting, it might not be flat, which also can cause problems. What is a Stretch Flange Stretch flanging is a deformation process in which the metal is bent along a...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Selecting radii for forming operations
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 16, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Selecting a radius for a forming operation is based in many different factors. Some of the basic ones include the material’s forming properties, drawing die and part geometry, and the amount of stretch or flow needed to make the product. Drawing or Stretching To select a functional radius...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Metal flow patterns in metal drawing operations
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 15, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
The experts at STAMPING Journal are here to help you understand the metal flow patterns that can occur during metal drawing operations. Learn more here.
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Handling production splitting problems, Part II
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 14, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Possible Cause 5— Excessive Blank Holder Pressure Excessive blank holder pressure restricts metal from flowing inward. Restricting metal flow causes the metal to stretch, which could result in a split. Be sure to monitor blank holder pressure carefully, because nitrogen/gas systems can leak...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Steel made simple, Part II
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 10, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
n Value Technical: Strain hardening is represented by the exponent n in the flow stress equation, which approximates the relationship between true stress and true strain during plastic deformation of a metal. Translation: The n value represents a metal’s ability to work-harden and...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Steel made simple, Part I
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 9, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
The anisotropy of interstitial-free steel has an adverse effect on the severity of elastic recovery as well as on plastic deformation. However, adverse changes in the intergranular microstructure, such as that characterized by material with a near-isometric configuration, will result in a...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Tooling and die training
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 9, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Human Engineering Human engineering is the single most important class a company can offer its employees. Having a tool roomful of die geniuses who don’t know how to communicate effectively is like having a Ferrari without gas. The potential is great, but you can’t realize it. The success...
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Deep drawing step by step (Part II)
- By Art Hedrick
- Aug 8, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
In Part I we determined that four drawing operations were required to make a cup 2 inches in diameter and 8 in. tall from 0.062-in.-thick material (as measured from the centerline). To determine the height of each draw, you must first calculate the surface area of the finished part. Figure 1...
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 04/30/2024
- Running Time:
- 53:00
Seth Feldman of Iowa-based Wertzbaugher Services joins The Fabricator Podcast to offer his take as a Gen Zer...
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- May 16, 2024
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- June 26, 2024
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