INNOVATION AND PROGRESS IN METAL FORMING
Journal of
LASCO UMFORMTECHNIK
WERKZEUGMASCHINENFABRIK
for customers, employees and
business partners.
5 th Year, issue no. 8, June 2002
Trends + Markets
Large potential in
aluminum forging
Page 2
News
GKN Sinter Metals
steps forward
Page 3
Know-how
New generation of
control engineering
Page 4
pro CON is the name of the first
superimposed process control
system for hydraulic forging
hammers. Its advantages are
impressive.
In-house
IFC focuses on
LASCO solutions
Page 7
In practice
Page 8
TUT makes the
most of a screw press
Editorial
Trends+ Markets
Aluminum forging
Large potential in automobile
manufacturing
By Friedrich Herdan,
President
Sharpened profile
of competition
If we can trust the economic pundits, the economic situation of the producers in Germany brightens up. LASCO, manufacturer of machine tools,
already feels the strengthening optimism of
German forging companies in their order books.
The signs indicating that
the growth in Germany
took only a short break
are increasing. Welcome
news!
The way the intervening
period was used is a
deciding factor of
whether the economic
situation will lead into a
solid upswing after the
change. Innovative products, new ideas and
competitive performance
certainly form the magic
triangle of a strategy that
is most promising in
times of increasingly
saturated markets. This
applies to almost any
industrial sector.
Many of our customers
have been very involved
in polishing up and sharpening their profile of
competition. We, as technological partners, have
not only experienced this
fact, but have taken part
in it by developing innovative solutions for the
increasing demands on
machines and lines. This
UpGrade will present
some of these solutions,
for example a new process control system called pro CON, and the
improved technology of
LASCO drives.
Coburg. Owing to its light
weight, its stability and its
ductility, aluminum is the
optimum material for the
aerospace industry. In its
endeavours to save weight
and thus cut down gas consumption, the automotive
industry increasingly places
its confidence in the material "Al” also.
After light construction
parts for the automobile
body and complete automobile bodies made from
aluminum have proven in
serial production, the utilization of aluminum is now
also transferred to the
chassis and to the drive
section. As great safety
demands are made on
these components, aluminum forging has turned out
to be the most suitable
manufacturing process.
The specific weight of
aluminum is by 66 % lower
than that of steel. However,
it won’t be sufficient to use
simply the lighter material
for the same shape when
intending to substitute
components made from
steel by lighter components made from aluminum. Owing to their higher
stability, components made
from steel can be carried
out in a more filigree
design.
Moreover, the elasticity
module of aluminum is
only one third of that of
steel. The lower elasticity
module must be compensated for by components
with larger dimensions in
order to obtain the same
results with respect to bending and buckling resistance. Thus, the weight
reduction of two thirds
theoretically possible won’t
be
reached;
however,
aluminum components are
Cover picture: Assembly of an
SPR 1600 at the company
Thyssen Umformtechnik Turbinenkomponenten GmbH, Remscheid.
© Press photo: Michael Sieber
2
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
Growing range of applications.
The number of parts, where the
automotive industry relies on aluminum, shows dynamic growth. Meanwhile, steel is
replaced by aluminum also in the case of parts relevant to safety. Here, forging prevails
over other processes. This opens a great perspective for specialised suppliers.
Photo: Leiber oHG, Emmingen
usually 40 to 50 % lighter
than their predecessors
made from steel.
For reasons of their
undisturbed
structure
which largely corresponds
to the main lines of force of
the previous material
(extruded billets), forgings
made from malleable
aluminum alloys have a
considerably higher fatigue
strength than aluminum
components made by
casting or machining.
Therefore, they best meet
the high demands of the
automotive industry regarding stability, ductility and
life for components, modules and systems relevant to
safety.
Due to the large quantities required, for the production of aluminum parts
for the automotive industry,
partly or fully automated
press lines are favored as
they comprise the complete production process, starting from the delivery of
the extruded billet up to
the finished forging.
Heavy-weight components, for example for the
aircraft, bus and railway
vehicle industry and similar heavy-duty parts, are
mostly manufactured on
partly automated forging
lines. The photo shows a
screw press designed to
forge
aluminum-plastic
alloys. This press is used
for the production of forgings for the automotive
and motorcycle industry
and similar heavy-duty
parts with a maximum
press force of 40,000 kN.
Extruded billets are used
as initial material for drop
forging. The forging temerature for aluminum materials is approximate 450 °C.
As this temperature is
close to the temperature
range, where the material
is in its liquid condition,
and as the forming process
provides energy and thus
increases the temperature
of the material, the forming
speed will be decisive.
In the case of a too
quick deformation the
material would become
liquid in certain places,
meaning that a cast struc-
ture would form during the
cooling process. In order to
avoid this, aluminum materials are mostly forged on
screw presses.
By pre-heating the dies
to a temperature of up to
350 °C, the undesirable
heat transfer from the part
to the tooling is avoided.
When hammer forging, one
can renounce to such a
pre-heating owing to the
short pressure contact
times. Hammers are mostly
used for small and medium-sized series. The following applies to drop forging parts: the smaller the
part, the bigger the batch.
Specialist.
LASCO
screw press for forging of
aluminium-plastic alloys.
Photo: Leiber oHG, Emmingen
News
Turbine manufacturer builds up
Considerable
growth at
GKN Sinter Metals
Emporium. The good order
situation encouraged the
world market leader for
powder metal parts "GKN
Sinter Metals” with locations in the United States,
Europe and Asia to make
further investments. In
addition to the screw presses type 630 (special
design) that were delivered
within the past two years, a
screw press SPR 630 of the
same type and another SPR
800 have now been ordered
for the U.S. production site
Romulus as well as two
screw presses type SPP
630 for the U.S. production
site Emporium. It is planned to activate these
machines in July and in
September 2002 respectively.
With a share of 15.5 %
compared to the next competitor with 4.6 % GKN
Sinter Metals leads the
world market for powder
metal parts with a clear
distance. After the purchase of various companies in
the Nineties, the British
group GKN plc. is going to
build up a new organization
and to dramatically expand
their market position. They
plan to double their sales
profit to over one million
U.S. $ in 2002.
SALUT
concentrates
on quality
Moscow. The state-owned
company SALUT (Moscow)
has ordered their first LASCO
machine. With the Screw
Press Type SPR 1000 they
intend to increase the competitiveness of their products.
SALUT concentrates on
the production and maintenance of aircraft turbines.
This company with registered office in Moscow is the
most important specialized
company in this field in
Russia. One example of
their outstanding product
line are turbine blades.
This year SALUT celebrates their 90th anniversary.
SALUT’s range of production activities comprises forging, sheet metal
forming, heat treatment
and electroplating. After
careful
consideration,
SALUT has decided to buy
a LASCO screw press,
model SPR 1000 with frequency converter. The
deciding factor for this
choice was the considerable quality improvement that will be achieved
with the new precision forging unit.
Debut.
The screw press, model SPR 1000, is the
first machine from LASCO that will be commissioned at
SALUT, the Russian specialist for aircraft engines.
In Thuringia beats a "Green Heart” ("Grünes Herz”) of metal forming technology
An eastern German story of success
Unterschönau. In the romantic wilderness of the Thuringian Forest near the worldfamous ski resort Oberhof
beats the "Grünes Herz”
("Green Heart”) of metal forming technology.
Under this unusual
name seven traditional
craftsman’s firms merged
at the end of the Fifties to
one metal processing
plant. The idea was lasting
and survived the period of
the partition of Germany.
Today "Grünes Herz” main-
ly produces fasteners for
the automotive, railway and
engineering sectors. These
parts are custom-manufactured in low, medium and
high volumes. High and
low-alloyed steels and special steels are processed as
well as special materials.
The forging company "Flükiger” orders LASCO high-performance forging hammer
Shake-hands of two traditionalists
Oberburg. Quality consciousness brought together
the Swiss Forge Flükiger in
Oberburg (Switzerland) and
LASCO.
This traditional company
ordered a LASCO high-performance die forging hammer type HO-U 1250 that
is planned to go in producition in March 2003. This
project is the first co-operation between Flükiger
and LASCO. The industrial
forge employs 50 people
and is proud of a tradition
going back to the year
1762, when Flükiger was
founded under the name
"Hammerschmitte”. So –
from the historical point of
view – Flükiger is as traditional as LASCO, that was
founded over 135 years
ago.
Based on this long tradition, the forging company
that is owned by the family
Flükiger since the end of
the 19th century, offers
today a wide range of products, performance and
services. Under the management of Franz FlükigerSiegrist and Fritz BlaserFritz the craftsman’s firm
developed into an industrial enterprise after 1945.
The product range includes
die forgings for tool and
textile machines and building machinery as well as
for agricultural and army
vehicles or the cable railway industry and many
other special fields. The
products by Flükiger have
an outstanding reputation
for their high Swiss quality
and precision standard. So
it is no wonder that renowned international customers rated Flükiger as an
A-supplier. Now Flükiger
strives for the certification
according to ISO 9002.
"Against this background
we can be proud of having
received the contract for
the new hammer”, the
LASCO-President Friedrich
Herdan commented on the
order from Flükiger. "It is
something very special
when two traditionalists
with such a long history
and experience shake
hands for the first time”
With their new order of a
LASCO Screw Press Type
SPR 315 "Grünes Herz”
show that their heart still
beats powerfully. The new
machine is planned to go
into production in October
2002.
Mahle/Brockhaus
goes on
to invest
Plettenberg. In April the
Brockhaus group ordered a
further fully automatic forging line with a LASCO die
forging hammer type HO-U
630. The machine will be
erected in the parent company in Plettenberg in
November 2002. This
international group with
locations in Germany, Spain,
Canada and South America
is specialized on all kinds
of forgings. With this new
order they continue their
investment
offensive.
Roundabout a dozend of
machines and forging lines
from LASCO are currently
running at Brockhaus.
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
3
Know-how
Patented LASCO control system developed further by PROHERIS – A great leap forward in innov
pro CON makes hammers to
systems with process capability
Coburg/Iserlohn. PROHERIS in Iserlohn who has been cooperating with LASCO for many years now, has made a great innovative advance in the field of control engineering. PROHERIS
has developed a new, process control system called pro CON
– following a LASCO patent - which makes the hydraulic forging hammer a machine system with process capability,
where interferences from the process are considered. The
advantages of pro CON are striking.
In the case of the
hydraulic LASCO doubleacting hammer, the hammer ram is accelerated
hydraulically to reach freely programmable energy
levels and blow sequences.
In this connection the drop
height has lost its significance, as the ram is always
accelerated from the same
position independently of
the energy level chosen.
More than 50 % of the
energy
is
generated
hydraulically.
The hydraulic pressure is
provided by a pump.
Hydraulic accumulators
assure the constant system
pressure of approx. 180
bars. The hydraulic cylinder of the hammer drive is
a differential cylinder,
meaning that it has a surface that – owing to the
permanent pressure existing there – provides the
ram with a perpetual force
component in the direction
of the top dead centre.
The core of the hammer
control system is the blow
valve. It is opened upon
blow release, remains open
for approx. 180 ms for a
blow at nominal energy and
thus accelerates the ram by
the pressure, which is now
acting onto the top side of
the piston, to its final
speed of approx. 5 m/s.
The utilisation of special
pilot valves and effective
control systems permits
the control of the blow
valve opening time with an
accuracy of ± 1 ms.
Suitable for rough
forging operations
A few years ago LASCO
developed and was granted
a patent a special sensor
system suitable for rough
forging operations, by
which the stroke covered
by the ram and its speed
can be recorded continuously. It can record the
closed position of the die
and thus indirectly the
height of the part to be forged. The comparison with a
reference height stored in
the control system results
in the generation of a signal for the end of a forging
sequence or, when forging
in program, in the release
of further blows to reach
the required part height.
As the ram speed is a
direct measure of the blow
energy, this sensor system
permits for the first time
the regulation of the energy
of the double-acting hammer.
The process control
system pro CON developed
by Messrs. PROHERIS,
Iserlohn, takes the control
strategy even further and
considers also interference
from the process, such as
part geometry, part and
surrounding temperature,
placing of the part, and
long-term
interference,
such as die wear.
Energy comparison
with each blow
Hammer with
process capability
The basic concept of the
process control system is
explained in the picture
next to this text. For each
blow, the energy used – i.e.
the energy delivered by the
drop forging hammer – is
compared to the energy
requirements, as the forming energy necessary for
the forming step when
taking into consideration
all peripheral conditions of
the process.
Of course, an unbalanced situation between
energy used and energy
requirements has consequences for the product
and for the machine
system. If the energy used
4
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
is higher than the respective energy requirements,
the excess energy must be
absorbed by elastic deformation in the tool and
machine system.
This results in an unnecessarily high load on the
tool and machine system
with consequential wear
and in thinner forging
parts. If the energy requirements are higher than the
energy offered by the unit,
the part will be thicker
than required.
These observations lead
to the conclusion that an
unbalanced situation between energy used and
energy requirements cause
a more or less significant
thickness tolerance of the
finished forging parts.
Through the process
control system pro CON the
blow energy will be adju-
Know-how
ation
Blow valve
Motor pump
assembly
The advantages of
pro CON
.
.
.
accumulator
.
.
Piston rod
.
Hydraulic drive and control of the
LASCO double-acting die forging hammer
with pro CON integrated
Hydro accumulator
Hydraulic
pump
disturbance
variable
temperature
disturbance
wear
sted to the energy requirements of the forming process, i.e. the situation between the energy used and
the energy requirements
will be balanced at any
time as far as possible. This
will in turn only be feasible, if the energy requirements are known at any
time taking into consideration any process interference
and if the hammer system is
capable of providing exactly
this energy for each blow.
Hydraulic resevoir
The effect of process
variations on the product is recognised and
compensated for.
The forging parts are
of utmost significance
and their thickness
tolerances are clearly
restricted.
Operator interference
in the blow control
system of the hammer
is recognised, adapted
automatically and taken
into consideration for
control/regulation.
The load on the tool
and machine system is
clearly reduced.
An integrated MDE
module processes the
sensor signals recorded and provides the
operator with essential
evaluations.
Not only new LASCO
double-acting hammers can be equipped
with the pro CON process control system,
but
also
existing
HO-hammer control
systems can be retrofitted.
The fascinating feature
of the control concept is
the fact that it is based on
a very simple sensor
system suitable for rough
forging operations. For
each blow, the energy
requirements of each forging part are established
individually based on the
sensor signals and, starting
from there, the necessary
control parameters for the
hammer are calculated
independently
of
the
article.
Sensor
Control system
Summary
disturbance
variable
geometry
disturbance
variable
temperature
pro CON
disturbance
variable die
condition
As a summary it can be
stated that the pro CON
control concept, developed
on the basis of the LASCO
patent, allows for the utilisation of additional potentials of hammer lines for
the manufacture of drop
forging parts in a stable
process.
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
5
In-house
Patrick Jahn passed the exam for energy electronics with the best results of his age group
PISA study
countered by
performance
Coburg. With the best results
of the last 8 years and top in
Bavaria a total of 330
trainees passed the final
exam of the Chamber of
Industry and Commerce
Coburg, among them seven
apprentices from LASCO.
Eminent was the performance of Patrick Jahn,
who had been trained in
energy electronics and passed the exam with a mark
of 1.45 and was honoured
as the best of his age group
for commercial and technical professions. The speeches delivered at the graduation ceremony commented on the alarming
results of German students
in the PISA-study – an
international comparison of
educational performance
levels. Theo Kiesewetter
said that he was glad that
so many companies of this
region perform "repair
work” in this connection by
their efforts in training
young people. Nevertheless
employers and educators at
the vocational schools are
still called upon for a stronger commitment.
With the examination
results of their own candidates LASCO continued
the series of good results
within the past years.
Volume and quantity of the
education both in the indu-
Presentable trainees.
The Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Coburg
was visibly proud when it presented the trainees who passed the final exam of their training with the best results in April 2002. On the photo they are joined by Theo
Kiesewetter, Vice President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and Managing
Director Dr. Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann (last row, first and third on the left). Next to the right,
Patrick Jahn, who acquired his qualification at LASCO.
strial-technical and in the
commercial lines are a keystone of our operation’s
strategy. Very well qualified
employees on all levels are
most important for LASCO
to maintain the competitiveness of their products
and performance. That’s
why LASCO – compared
with the industry average has been training its per-
sonnel disproportionally
more for decades now.
New elections of the works council
Continuity and competence
Coburg. Continuity and competence were the main criterions for the new elections
of the works council in April
2002.
Spokesmen.
The new works council (from left to
right): David Hall, Klaus Geelhaar, Roland Marcos-Macho,
Oliver Schellenberg, Katja Vasil, Ulrich Dietsch and chairman Giancarlo Azzali. Missing on the picture are Holger
Sesselmann and Bernd Schubert.
Giancarlo Azzali (57) of
the planning engineering
has been confirmed once
again as chairman. Azzali
holds this function already
since 1984. Furthermore
his deputy Klaus Geelhaar
(purchase
department),
Roland
Marcos-Macho
(maintenance),
Ulrich
Dietsch (installation) and
Holger Sesselmann (EDP)
have been confirmed. For
the first time elected into
this committee: Katja Vasil
(purchase
department),
David Hall (production),
Bernd Schubert (installation) and Oliver Schellenberg (maintenance).
The elections for the
works council take place
every four years.
Factory manager retires
10 years with
A new generation
takes over
LASCO
Coburg. In May 2002 the
factory manager Josef
Kinhirt retired and a new
generation took over with
Robert Welsch
Josef Kinhirt (61) had
been factory manager for
22 years, altogether he
had been working for
LASCO over 33 years. He
started his career at
6
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
Angela Rath, sales administration
07.01.2002
Robert Welsch, factory
management
01.05.2002
LASCO as an apprentice
turner, before he got his
qualifications as industrial
master.
His successor will be the
industrial
master
Mr.
Robert Welsch (35), who
has been working at LASCO
for over 10 years and was
Mr. Kinhirt’s substitute so far.
Recently retired
Outstanding services
rendered Mr. Kinhirt
to the reorganization and optimizing of the production
department in economically very difficult times. LASCO
President Friedrich Herdan acknowledged the work of the
retiring factory manager Mr. Kinhirt (right). His successor
Robert Welsch (left) will be in the fortunate position to
take over a well-settled production department.
Winfried Kuptz, design
departement 31.03.2002
Sadly mourned
Willi Hillmert, retiree
† 31.01.2002
In-house
House magazine
Well equipped up to 80 tons
In the course of a mechanical overhaul, LASCO has just
created its most powerful boring mill, a WF 240 Opticut
from Dörries-Scharmann, for the machining of large
parts. The machine
is capable of handling
work-pieces
with a weight of 80
tons and has a working area of 4000
mm each in X and Z
direction,
and
1000 mm in Y
direction. LASCO uses this unit mainly for the machining of hammer frames.
Invested in bed milling machine
A CNC-controlled bed milling machine from the
Spanish manufacturer mte has been replacing a
column-type milling machine at LASCO’s facilities for
several weeks now. This new investment has increased
LASCO’s flexibility in managing their milling jobs. The
machine is fully CNC-controlled and disposes of an NCcontrolled rotary table with a maximum loading capacity of 3 tons. The manual machining head can be turned
round by 360°. Displacement is 1000 mm each in Y
and Z direction, and 1500 mm in X direction.
Hi-Tech in Coburg
Exhibitions 2002
The second Hi-Tech-Day at the university of applied
sciences in Coburg is marked by LASCO’s close co-operation with this university for the recruitment of junior
engineers. The event, taking place on Saturday, June 8th
continues on the big success of last year’s première and
follows the idea of the government to present innovation potential and competence of industry and universities to the public.
We participate in:
June
Hi-Tech-Tag
2nd regional competence exhibition at the university of
applied sciences in Coburg,
focused on machine building
Coburg, 8. June 2002
IFC
17th International Forging
Congress
Cologne, 6 to 8 June 2002
“Maritim” Hotel
October
Technical
Conference
of the Forging Industry
Cleveland/Ohio
14 to 16 October 2002
17th International Forging Congress in Cologne
IFC-Tour focused on
LASCO solutions
Cologne, Düsseldorf. At the
invitation of EUROFORGE, the
European umbrella organisation of nine national forging
associations, the 17th International Forging Congress
will take place in Cologne
and Düsseldorf from 6th to 9th
June 2002. About 500 visitors from 25 countries have
announced their participation, among them for the first
time representatives of the
automotive industry.
On the recommendation
and through the help of
LASCO’s Beijing office a
54-member
delegation
from China will participate
in the meeting of the international forging industry.
Not only in the field of forging technology, China is
considered to be one of the
most interesting growth
countries world-wide.
Curtain raiser of the
trade meeting which takes
place every two years will
be a visit to the international fair of production technology and automation
METAV
2002
in
Düsseldorf. Especially for
this purpose a "Pathfinder”
was developed – a tour
being linked with special
actions for the participants
arranged by the visited
exhibitors.
The subsequent two-day
presentation of lectures in
Cologne is focused on the
On the test bench.
Among others, LASCO
counter blow hammers – on the photo a GH 2500 – can be
seen in practice on the occasion of the visiting tours of the
17th IFC.
official sponsor
to visit several plants in
five European countries,
offered in seven different
tours. More than two dozen
companies allow the visitors a glimpse into operating practice, among them
a lot of users of LASCO forging hammers, screw presses and hydraulic presses.
forging technology of the
future. Highlight of the
congress is the possibility
VDMA notes tendency of change
Economic situation brightens up
Frankfurt/M. The German
Engineering
Federation
(VDMA) notes a business
revival.
According to the latest
trade
report
of
the
Federation, a growth in
production can be expected already in 2003.
Indications of a change in
the business climate had
already been noted in the
fourth quarter of 2001. It’s
true that the change comes
too late for the manufacturers of machines and lines
to make up for the decline
of orders immediately. It is
estimated that the production which had experienced
an increase of two percent
in the previous year, will
decrease by about the
same value this year.
However, supported by
considerably more positive
expectations in the overall
economic situation and
surprisingly good export
orders, the first step in the
direction of a revival has
been made. Critisized by
the VDMA are the increasing labour costs depressing the profits.
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
7
Interview
In practice
Investment by TUT sets a new standard in screw press technology
Potential exhausted by turbine
component experts
DR. PETER KLAUS KIRNER
Operations Director
Thyssen Umformtechnik
Turbinenkomponenten GmbH,
Remscheid
Great demands
UPGRADE: Dr. Kirner, what
exactly is TUT expecting
of the new screw press?
Dr. Peter Klaus Kirner: We
have already been operating LASCO srew presses,
models SPR 900 and
SPR 630 with good
results. As we have done
very well with these
machines regarding quality, availability and efficiency, we have been looking for a forging unit
which is capable of covering our entire range of
products, and has an even
improved gross energy.
UPGRADE: Does the
machine meet your expectations?
Kirner: After four weeks of
operation our experience
is extremly positive.
However, we have not yet
exhausted the capacity
limit of the maschine.
UPGRADE: How close did
you cooperate with the
designing engineers in
this project?
Kirner: Certainly we have
contributed our share to
make the maschine as
efficient as possible.
However, the direct cooperation of the engineers
of both parties was especially requiered to design
the maschine to meet our
individual requirements,
escpecially with respect to
the local conditions. Thas
was very complicated.
UPGRADE: What can you
say about LASCO’s performance as technology suppliers?
Kirner: Regarding flexibility and competence in forging technology, very positive.
8
UPGRADE
by LASCO - June 2002
Remscheid. When it comes to turbine components, one of the
first addresses worldwide for the international aircraft industry and the energy industry is in Remscheid. Thyssen
Umformtechnik Turbinenkomponenten GmbH steadily want to
increase their outstanding position in the field of compactor
blades, compactor and turbine discs, and turbine blades.
LASCO’s innovative production technology will help them to
reach this goal.
TUT, the official abbreviation of the company’s
name, have specialized in
precision forging of engine
blades with a length of up
to 300 mm, depending on
their use made of stainless
steel, high-tensile structural steel, aluminum, titanium/titanium alloys and
Nimonic (Inconel). As standard design, runner and
guide blades are equipped
with a wind tunnel (4 face
true annulus design), ready
for installation, with precision-forged blade and platform surfaces. The design
varies from extremely twisted and three-dimensionally bent blade geometries
to finished inlet and outlet
edges. What sounds so
complicated in reading is
even more demanding in
practice. Most modern
screw presses, high-technology tool construction and a
well-founded know-how in
production, form the foundation of TUT’s dominant
position on the market.
Having been among the
suppliers of technology for
many years now does not
only mean a great honour,
but also an obligation to
LASCO.
Due to its characteristic
features the screw press
has always been used for
precision forging. However,
the latest SPR 1600 screw
press, designed and constructed by LASCO especially for TUT, demonstrates
the considerable potential
of improvements of even
well-established technical
solutions, provided that the
experts from both sides,
manufacturer and user,
cooperate closely. The press
went into operation in
March 2002, exactly on
schedule.
possibility of generative
deceleration of the return
stroke of ram in its upper end
position while the energy is
recovered, this means a considerable saving in energy
costs and thus an excellent
efficiency of the press.
about 2 % at the nominal
energy of a 16 MN press.
LASCO has also developed a patented measuring
system which is capable of
measuring the actual ram
position at any point of the
Heavy duty press. Since the beginning of March TUT have been producing
on a new LASCO SPR 1600.
Big step forward
in the consumption
of resources
The design work focused
on the aim to make a big
step forward in the consumption of resources, i.e.
in saving energy costs. A
high potential of innovation
was especially found in the
conception of the drive.
LASCO screw presses are
exclusively equipped with
direct electric drives. To
reach an optimum energy
control (impact velocity of
the ram when it hits the
work-piece) and to keep the
intensity of current for the
drive within a certain limit,
the presses are equipped
with a frequency-controlled
drive (converter) which has
now been completed by a
system
with
reactive
currence
compensation
(cos ϕ ~ 1) which increases
the electrical efficiency by
factor 3! Combined with the
Basically the energy of a
LASCO screw press can be
steplessly adjusted at the
control panel within a
range of 5 – 100 % (via the
rotational speed of the
flywheel). With the frequency-controlled drive it
is also possible to start
with the maximum forming
energy and thus the maximum impact velocity of
approx. 0,75 m/s, to reduce the speed shortly before
contacting the work-piece,
and than effect forming of
the work-piece at reduced
energy/impact
velocity.
With this method the shortest possible cycle time is
reached.
Another advantage of
the LASCO drive system is
that the set energy (ram
speed) can be constantly
kept within a very tight
tolerance, i.e. about 1,5 %
at the nominal energy of a
8 MN screw press and
forming distance within a
resolution of 1/1000 mm
and of documenting it
within a resolution of
1/100 mm.
Journal of
LASCO UMFORMTECHNIK
WERKZEUGMASCHINENFABRIK
for customers, employees
and business partners
5th Year, issue no. 8; June 2002
Editorial staff:
Dr.-Ing. Stefan Erxleben (senior
editor), Ralph Müller, Georg Weber,
Martin B. Rohm
Editorial address:
Lasco Umformtechnik GmbH,
Hahnweg 139, D-96450 Coburg
Tel. ++ 49 (0) 95 61 / 6 42-0
Fax. ++ 49 (0) 95 61 / 6 42-3 33
eMail: lasco@lasco.de
Internet: www.lasco.com
Photos:
LASCO, Leiber oHG (Emmingen),
Proheris (Iserlohn), TUT, Michael
Sieber (Remscheid).
Layout and lithografy:
w e b e r - kommunikation, Neustadt.
Printing:
Schneider-Druck, Weidhausen.