Method to Determine the Energy Characteristics of Metal Forming Presses as a Basis for Energy Efficient Forming Technologies

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The main objective of the project is to increase the energy efficiency of production processes in the metal forming industry. The research focuses on the energy efficiency of presses, which was rarely investigated up to now. The amount of energy to produce a single part depends on part-related aspects like geometry, material properties and the processing method. Furthermore, it is influenced by the characteristics of the press used for production such as the type of construction, the size, the type of drive installed, the operating parameters, the nominal force and the nominal working capacity. Besides, the efficiency of the press to run a certain process depends on the ratio of forming energy of the process to the nominal working capacity of the press as well as the ratio of the maximum process force to the nominal press force. Hence, this energy efficiency depends on the process itself. Due to the large number of parameters, the energy characteristics of presses are complex. An experimental determination of the energy characteristics is possible only for specific process and operating parameters while a systematic investigation is not possible so far. For the determination of the energy efficiency, multiple forming tools are needed to generate process forces of different characteristics while the energy consumption of the press is measured. This is cost intensive and time consuming. But forming tools are compatible only with few forming machines and thus cannot be used universally. There is a lack of a method to generate process forces for the measurement procedure that can be varied systematically and without using forming tools. Hence, only few presses were subject to investigations of the efficiency so far.Hence, the aim of the first period of the project is to provide a new method to determine the energy characteristics of presses systematically. The capabilities of generating test loads for the measurement procedure with help of a hydraulic system and without forming tools will be researched. Furthermore, the energy characteristics of three presses will be determined by means of the new method. The results of the first period are an essential precondition to obtain sustainable knowledge related to the energy characteristics and to increase the efficiency within the second period of the project. They are the basis to identify unnecessary power consumption and to find existing potentials to improve next-generation presses. The knowledge obtained by the research will help to find operating parameters that lead to an energy efficient machine utilisation and to allocate production processes to presses of a company, that provide a high efficiency for the certain process. The results that are strived for will help to establish the energy efficiency as a decisive factor in the metal forming industry and to give a green impulse towards a more energy-efficient metal forming industry.