May 2023 Volume 5

MAINTENANCE

Maintenance’s Role in Production Automation By Jeff Fredline

The use of automation in the forging production environment is becoming commonplace. To compete in today’s world market, every penny of cost in the manufacturing process must be calculated, monitored, and improved upon. In the forging industry, automation also improves the speed and safety of the operations. Looking at a forging line, the following items can and should be automated. Automating forging lines with such extreme conditions of heat and contamination create a major challenge for all in the industry.

Material Heating, Feed SystemandCoilMaintenance Making sure that there is a continuous flow of steel parts in the induction heating system helps to ensure efficient heating. Conveyor and push systems are subject to frequent failure if they are not properly maintained. Maintenance of the bar feeding system is critical. I remember when the power grid went down for a couple of days in the Northeast. We had hot bars in the induction coils, and it caused significant issues. Part of the maintenance process for your induction coils should be cleaning the inside of the coils frequently to remove any carbon or scale build up. Part of your PM schedule should include checking the wiring connections from your coil to your electrical power source. A loose connection will cause a failure. Also, part of the maintenance process should be to check all the cooling hoses. Make sure that they are secure and are not crimped.

Bar Feeding and Cutting The bar steel used by most forging companies is difficult to handle. Bar feeders are commonplace that take the steel froma bundle placed on the rack, separate the steel bars, and feed them to a billet shear or saw for preparation for production. Additional maintenance is required to keep the steel cutting areas clean and operable. If billet shears are used, the condition of the cutting edges must be maintained. In addition, the alignment of the blades is critical. The way surfaces on the ram and in the frame control the alignment of the blades. As the way surfaces wear, the path of the ram changes in relationship to the lower die located in the frame of the shear. If the ram moves away from the lower die shoe at the point of fracture of the steel, the tonnage load on the shear increases greatly, will lead to premature failure of the blade life, and will break your machine. If high speed sawing is used, care of the blade cutting area is also critical. Any side-loading against the blade or build up of metal shavings from the cuts can cause a premature failure.

Work Piece Placement During the Process For many years, parts have been transferred from station to station within a forging tool by hand. An operator with heavy steel tongs, moved the part. Many smaller forgings are not formed in one continuous strip. The strip may have two, three, four parts or more. One robot is then used to remove the strip from the die and place the strip into a trim press which actuates cutting the parts form the flange, discarding the flange and then allowing the excess flange material to be discarded automatically.

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