May 2024 Volume 6

MAINTENANCE

AUTOMATION

Revolutionizing Forging Manufacturing: The Role of Induction Heating in Automation By Eric Peterson

In the world of manufacturing, efficiency is key. The forging industry is no exception, our industry is constantly seeking ways to stream line processes, reduce costs, and improve quality. One area where significant advancements have been made in modern forging manu facturing comes through the use of customized material handling line integration with induction heating technology. Induction heating is a process that uses electromagnetic induction to heat an electrically conductive material. This technology has revolu tionized the forging industry by offering a fast, efficient, and precise method of heating metal parts. One of the key advantages of induction heating in forging is its ability to heat the material directly and uniformly. Traditional heating methods, such as furnaces, often result in uneven heating, which can lead to defects in the final product. Induction heating, on the other hand, can heat the material quickly and evenly, ensuring consistent quality across all parts. Another major benefit of induction heating is its efficiency. Unlike traditional methods that require heating the entire furnace, induc tion heating only heats the material being forged. This not only reduces energy consumption but also allows for faster heating times, increasing overall production efficiency. Induction heating offers a high degree of flexibility, making it ideal for use in automated manufacturing lines. The technology can be easily integrated into existing production systems and can be adapted to a wide range of forging applications, from small components to large parts. Automated forging systems require precise control over the heating process, which induction heating technology can provide. When the line is stopped for any reason, the technology used by leading manufacturers will hold the billets at forging tempera

and repeatability in their forging processes. As induction heating manufactures improve system technology the leaders are changing from offering an induction heater that will ‘integrate into their customer’s process’ to providing a system that ‘controls various components in the material handling line.’ By taking advantage of advances in modern PLC capabilities, some manufacturers of induction equipment more offering a complete material handling line fully integrated and operated at the induction heater’s HMI with easy to operate custom menus. This integration requires experience and robust engineering as a common material handling system for forging billets resembles a Rube Goldberg contraption. However, a typical forging material handling system has a bar matrix consisting of different diameter and length billets that must make their way through the various steps in the process making the challenge of always feeding a correct temperature part at the required time even more challenging. The journey from raw ingot to refined workpiece is a choreographed symphony of precision and reliability. At the heart of this symphony lies the material handling system, designed to ensure a steady flow of unheated billets to the forging press. A material handling process for a forging cell in medium to high volume forging can come in many configurations, a typical configu ration is described below. Step 1: Loading Billets Into the Bin Tipper The process commences with the loading of billets into the bin tipper, a hydraulic-powered apparatus poised to tip the bin contents into the vibratory feeder. This initial step sets the stage for the subsequent stages of the material handling process.

ture so when production starts up again, the process is resumed with ‘at temperature’ parts immediately available. With its numerous advantages it is obvious why induction heating has played such a crucial role in the automation of many forging manu facturing cells. Decades ago, manu facturers realized that by integrating induction heating into their forging manufacturing process they could achieve greater consistency, accuracy,

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