Basics_Sheet_Metal_Possibilities.pdf

FASCINATION OF

SHEET METAL

A material of limitless possibilities

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

to translate, reprint, or reproduce this book or any part thereof. No part

of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, whether electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior

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While great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the contents

of this book, the author, the editor and the publisher do not assume any

liability for damages, direct or indirect, arising from the use of this book,

in part or total, except where prohibited by law.

Editor Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG, Ditzingen, Germany

Author Gabriela Buchfink

Translation Matthew R. Coleman

Project coordinators Frank Neidhart, Gabriela Buchfink

Project associates Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, Dr. Klaus Parey, Ingo Schnaitmann

Layout and design Felix Schramm, Karen Neumeister (SANSHINE GmbH, Stuttgart)

Text consultant Gurmeet Röcker

Translation coordination euroscript Deutschland GmbH, Berlin

Production coordination Jeanette Blaum (SANSHINE GmbH, Stuttgart)

Printing Rösler Druck GmbH, Schorndorf

Finishing Oskar Imberger & Söhne GmbH, Stuttgart

Binding Josef Spinner Großbuchbinderei GmbH, Ottersweier

Image editing Reprotechnik Herzog GmbH, Stuttgart

Publisher Vogel Buchverlag, Würzburg

ISBN-13 978-3-8343-3071-0

ISBN-10 3-8343-3071-X

1st edition 2006

SHEET METAL –

DISCOVER THE

POSSIBILITIES

SHEET METAL – DISCOVER THE POSSIBILITIES

SHEET METAL DESIGN IS MORE THAN

28 | THE DAYS OF THE DRAWING BOARD ARE OVER

30 | THE SHEET METAL PROCESS CHAIN

JUST ENGINEERING – IT’S AN ART. IT

Putting it all together

Creating the finished product step by step

Data flow

MEANS WORKING CREATIVELY WITHIN

34 | BEFORE DESIGNING BEGINS

STRICT TIME AND COST RESTRAINTS,

When to choose sheet metal

Strategies for finding new solutions

WHILE FORGING AHEAD IN NEW DIREC-

36 | MAKING IT WORK

Creating functional designs

Creating economical designs

TIONS. PROVEN STRATEGIES AND

You designed it. Now can you produce it?

STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTER TECH-

46 | CREATIVE IN CYBERSPACE

NOLOGY ARE INDISPENSABLE TOOLS

FOR FINDING OPTIMUM SOLUTIONS FOR

FABRICATING INCREASINGLY COMPLEX

SHEET METAL PARTS.

The days of the drawing board are over

1 Designing parts on a drawing board

2 3D design on a computer

3 Simple sheet metal part

4 Complex sheet metal part

The end of the “white coat” For a long time, the word “design engineer”

conjured up images of a fussy, narrow-minded perfectionist dressed in

a white coat. Because of their outfit, design engineers were sometimes

called “white coats.” Despite their image, design engineers were the

same back then as they are today: inventive, creative minds striving to

meet a wide range of demands.

SERVING ’EM UP HOT WITH SHEET METAL

“What can I get you?” “I’ll have the spaghetti Bolognese.” An

extra large portion of spaghetti lands with a gentle “plop”

on a preheated plate. The Bolognese sauce is poured over

the noodles, and the plate is placed on the table in front of

Reinhold Portscheller. The spaghetti isn’t the only thing he’s

happy about. Reinhold Portscheller is a design engineer at

Rieber GmbH + Co. KG in Reutlingen, Germany, and knows

just how much work went into designing the plate dispenser

cart from which his preheated plate just came. The sheet

metal part used for pushing up the plates used to look very

different from the way it does now.

“The part holding up the plates used to be composed of

seven elements with 39 bends and numerous welding spots,”

recalls Portscheller. Manufacturing the part was extremely

complicated. All single parts were manufactured separately,

put into temporary storage, and then joined. The spot weld-

ing jig alone was, in Portscheller’s words “a real behemoth.”

No question about it: the sheet metal part was in dire need

of some serious production streamlining. Portscheller and his

colleagues were delegated the task of improving operation

while lowering production costs. With this in mind, the de-

sign engineer turned to an out-of-company workshop.

“This was a good decision,” says Portscheller looking back.

“You had colleagues from other companies and industries all

sitting at the same table. We were eager to exchange infor-

mation, and we approached things in an open-minded way.”

Instead of simply modifying aspects of the part, the workshop

participants started over from scratch. They asked them-

selves, “is this hexagonal form really necessary?” Indeed, this

There was a time when the most important tools of a design

engineer were parchment paper, ink pens, razor blades for

erasing mistakes, a drawing board, and stacks of tables listing

standardized parts. As a manufacturing material, sheet metal

was not as flexible or versatile as it is today. For this reason,

parts were often constructed of individual prefabricated stan-

dardized components.

The last 25 years has seen a complete change in the way

design engineers work. Today’s manufacturing techniques

allow sheet metal to be cut, formed, bent, or joined in almost

any way imaginable. In the past, it was common practice

to construct a module of many simple parts. Today, design

engineers strive to use as few single parts as possible. The

parts themselves, however, can be extremely complex.

Once an indispensable tool, the drawing board disap-

peared from engineering firms long ago. Today, design engi-

neers can create 3D sheet metal parts directly at the computer

screen. All subsequent steps – from unfolding the part all

the way to machine programming – are performed by the

computer. Even production can be simulated with the help

of special design and programming software. If the software

detects any problems, the engineer can make the appropri-

ate changes to the part. Electronic data flow bridges the gap

between design, programming, and production. As in the

past, design engineers work at the start of a process chain in

which they play a key role. An important part of their job is to

ensure that processes run smoothly and efficiently.

The plate dispenser is used to hold and dispense heated plates. The plates

rest on an optimized sheet metal element.

turned out to be the crucial question. The sheet metal part

is now triangular in shape. “We reduced seven single parts

to two. Also, we now only need seven bends and a few weld

spots,” says Portscheller with a smile. But that’s not all the

new solution has to offer.

“The plates are pushed upwards much more evenly, the

part is more attractive than it used to be and our production

costs have been slashed considerably,” he explains. Port-

scheller’s colleagues now require much less time for laser

cutting, bending, and spot welding than they did before. Plus,

they no longer have to put the single parts into temporary

storage. This saves both time and space. A success story?

“It sure is,” confirms the design engineer and finally turns his

attention to his lunch.

28 | Sheet metal – discover the possibilities

The sheet metal process chain

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

From the idea to the finished part – to put it in a nutshell,

that’s what the sheet metal process chain is all about. The

company’s goal is to manufacture high-grade parts in a way

that is both fast and cost effective. For this to happen, in-

dividual stages of the process have to be coordinated as

precisely as possible.

Coordination begins at the design stage. For example, if

the engineer decides to create a part that will have round

punch holes, he or she will try to use only diameters that can

be produced with existing tools. In production, meanwhile,

speeding up the punch press does not make any sense if

a mountain of blanks is already waiting to pass through the

press brake and the programmer is still busy programming

the machine. Instead, the idea is to set up processes so that

they “dovetail,” or interlock into a unified whole. Companies

that take steps to ensure that their corporate organization

and technical infrastructure are well equipped to meet this

challenge will be prepared, even when a rush job comes

along. If a customer calls on Monday and wants 500 steel

angles by Thursday evening, this will only mean completing

an additional cycle and not a desperate race against time.

Design | Strictly speaking, the design stage does not start

with the idea for a part or module, but with the description of

the functions that the part or module is intended to perform.

These functions are specified in a document known as a

“requirements specification.”

On the basis of the specification, the design engineer

comes up with several initial designs and then sketches them

on paper. Often, several people will be working together on

one job, resulting in a wide variety of designs. Design en-

gineers frequently use paper models to see which design

will provide the optimum solution. After a design is chosen,

it is drawn using computer-aided design software. As the

design engineer models the part, the computer creates a

three-dimensional shape on the screen, while taking into

account material, tool, and machine data. Using the data,

the system checks whether the part can be manufactured.

CREATING THE FINISHED PRODUCT STEP BY STEP

There are several process steps that have to be completed

from placement of the order to delivery of the product. The

main process steps are:

• Design

• Programming

• Production (flat processing, bending, joining)

• Final processing

Design sketch

Ideas are first drawn on paper.

Design

Programming

Flat processing

Bending

Joining

Final processing

30 | Sheet metal – discover the possibilities

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