In fact, AP&T has developed a hot-stamping process to produce high-strength-aluminum parts in complex shapes that reportedly can reduce weight by more than 30 percent as compared to steel parts. This innovation arose in tandem with, and helped drive advancements in, servo-hydraulic-press technology, according to Haglund.
AP&T is testing a 600-ton servo-hydraulic press, which benefits from a couple major advancements necessary when forming complex shapes from unique and new materials, such as high-strength aluminum, at production speeds.
Individual Cylinder Control a Big Advantage
The biggest advancement—and advantage—in the company’s servo-hydraulic press is individual control of each cylinder via servo drives and hydraulics, according to Haglund. This allows parallelism between the press table and the slide even if more force is needed in one corner of the part or at different heights along the part. If needed, press force remains consistently high during the entire press cycle, he explains, and can be distributed with precision. This delivers efficient, energy-saving operation and less wear on tools and the press itself. In addition, maintaining such control means not having to overbuild dies to compensate for unexpected force.
Redesigned hydraulics represent another advancement. With force and direction controlled via an electric motor, needed valves and other hydraulic components are reduced or eliminated, meaning significantly lower energy consumption, less noise and less maintenance. Haglund estimates a 30-percent reduction in maintenance time and costs as compared to a traditional hydraulic press, along with a longer service life. The reduction in energy usage translates to less generation of hot oil, which in turn requires less cooling components.
Given these advancements, Haglund describes how servo-hydraulic presses in general, and AP&T’s new press in particular, provide benefits on the shop floor.
“This technology unites the consistently high press force and flexibility offered by hydraulic presses with the energy efficiency and excellent speed-control possibilities offered by servo-mechanical presses,” he says, noting that a servo-hydraulic press can, depending on the working cycle, achieve significant energy savings as compared to a conventional hydraulic press. “On our system in particular, acceleration and deceleration forces reach 250-percent higher than those on a conventional hydraulic press (owing to servo motors driving down the cylinders and precisely controlling deceleration), which enables substantially increased production capacity.”
Technology Worth Exploring
Users should not expect servo-hydraulic presses to approach the highest speeds of their servo-mechanical brethren, but they’ll certainly outperform in hot- and cold-stamping applications where hydraulic presses typically would get the call, according to Haglund. MF
See also: AP&T North America Inc.
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