Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on Metal Stamping Materials Explained
Metal stamping involves the process of forming metal into desired shapes using techniques such as punching, blanking, bending, coining, and more. Used in industries ranging from automotive to medical, construction, and more, metal stamping offers a cost-effective way of producing parts in large volumes.
When choosing the best material for metal stamping, it’s important to consider the complexity of the final product and the characteristics you need it to exhibit. Copper, steel, and aluminum alloys are all common material options for metal stamping. Here, we will describe each material and its benefits to help you determine which metal is right for your next metal stamping project.
Choosing the Best Metal for Stamping
The material you choose for your metal stamping project greatly affects the final outcome of the finished product. To ensure that you select the right metal based on your project’s requirements, it’s important to ask yourself the following questions:
How much does the material cost and will it fit into your project’s budget?
Will the material be easy to work and shape into the desired product?
How strong and durable does the material need to be?
What sort of environmental conditions will the material need to withstand?
What long-term benefits does the material need to offer?
How will clients use the finished product?
By answering the above questions, you can narrow down your search for the appropriate metal stamping material. Since there are so many material options, it can be challenging to find the one with the exact characteristics you need. Because of this, it’s always a good idea to work with a trusted metal stamping manufacturer, as they have the necessary knowledge and experience to guide you toward the best material for your needs.
Copper Alloys for Metal Stamping
Copper and its alloys, like brass and bronze, have appealing characteristics that make them ideal for many metal stamping projects. They’re too soft for products requiring strength and durability, but that softness makes them easy to form into complex shapes and incredibly thin components. Benefits that make copper alloys popular for metal stamping include:
Electrical and thermal conductivity
Corrosion resistance
Very good malleability
UV radiation and temperature resistance
Antimicrobial
Decorative
Steel Alloys for Metal Stamping
Strong and versatile, steel is one of the most common metal stamping materials. Steel can be alloyed with various other metals to enhance specific physical properties. Steel can also be treated before or after the metal stamping process to increase hardness or corrosion resistance. Benefits of using steel alloys for metal stamping include:
Strong (with varying degrees of strength depending on the alloy)
Cost-effective and easy to obtain
Can be treated to enhance certain properties
Corrosion resistance
High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) Steels in Stamping
High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel is prevalent in metal stamping processes, offering various beneficial properties for stamping product applications. Instead of being designed to meet certain chemical composition requirements, HSLA steels are made to deliver predetermined mechanical characteristics. Compared to carbon steel, for example, this alloy material offers enhanced mechanical properties and corrosion resistance.
Advantages in Stamping Applications
HSLA steel offers various advantages that can be bolstered by adjusting the composition of the metal. The primary benefits of HSLA steel include its higher yield strength, toughness, resistance to corrosion, cost-efficiency, and enhanced compatibility with forming and welding processes.
Industry Applications
Given its unique combination of advantageous characteristics, HSLA steel offers widespread application flexibility. Industries like the aerospace, automotive, and construction sectors, for instance, prize HSLA steel for its optimal strength-to-weight ratio. The material is a good option for reducing weight in products like wheels, suspension systems, chassis, subframes, and seat runners for vehicles while maintaining their durability and longevity.
Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS)
There are three types of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) that manufacturers use in metal fabrication and stamping operations:
Dual-phase (DP). These steels are made up of islands of hard-phase martensite surrounded by a soft, continuous-phase ferrite matrix. A continuous-phase material is visually distinct in the material structure or is mechanically separable.
TRIP. Part of the high-strength steel alloy class, TRIP is suitable for automotive, marine, and naval applications.
Martensitic. This stainless steel variety performs well in applications in which corrosion resistance, strength, and durability are important.
Benefits and Challenges
AHSS offer superior strength as compared to low-strength steel, so they’re an optimal choice for load-bearing applications. However, before selecting AHSS for your metal stamping project, be sure to consider the following material challenges:
Strength versus cost. AHSS are costlier than lower-strength varieties. For structural fabrication projects or those that don’t necessitate AHSS’ level of strength, low-strength steel would be more cost-effective.
Welding considerations. If your project requires welding, keep in mind that you may have to preheat the AHSS material.
Sufficient force. Stamping or forming AHSS requires that you apply greater force than with other materials.
Industry Applications
Metal stamping can rapidly and precisely generate high volumes of durable, uniform, tight-tolerance components from AHSS and related materials. Advanced high-strength steel stampings are ideal for applications in the following industries:
Automotive
Electronics
Appliances
Industrial equipment
Construction
Medical
Consumer products
Aluminum Alloys for Metal Stamping
Aluminum alloys for metal stamping offer an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, making them popular in the automotive and construction industries, among others. Though often more expensive than steel alloys, aluminum alloys exhibit good corrosion resistance and long lifespans. Aluminum offers the following benefits for metal stamping:
Flexible and malleable, making it easy to form into complex shapes without becoming brittle
Electrical and thermal conductivity
Corrosion resistance
Low-maintenance finish
Rust-resistant
Less raw material is required for metal stamping
Specialty Metals and Alloys in Stamping
In addition to copper, steel, and aluminum, multiple specialty materials are compatible with metal stamping processes, including the following:
Titanium. A readily available, lightweight, and corrosion-resistant stamping material, titanium is a versatile metal with characteristics suited to a variety of applications and industries. Manufacturers can use deep draw stamping to cold-form titanium into simply shaped, deep components.
Nickel alloys. Offering superior strength to withstand extreme environmental conditions, nickel alloys are ideal for aerospace components. However, the mechanical properties of superalloys can make them harder to work with.
Magnesium. Magnesium alloy lends its applications impressive dimensional stability and damping capacity, all at one-fourth and two-thirds the weights of steel and aluminum, respectively. The material is a suitable replacement for these metals as well as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic in applications like manufacturing vehicle components. Without risking passenger safety, lightweight magnesium reduces overall automotive weight along with fuel consumption and emissions.
Partner with Aranda Tooling for your Metal Stamping Needs
Many materials are suitable for the metal stamping process, so it’s important to consider the needs of your application to narrow down your selection. If you’re not sure which one is right for you, turn to the professionals at Aranda Tooling. With over four decades of experience offering metal stamping and fabrication services, our experienced staff has the knowledge to help you find the best metal stamping materials for your project.
For help with your material selection process, or to get started on your next metal stamping project, contact us or request a quote today.
Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on Sheet Metal Stamping Process Explained
The process of turning sheets of metal into a useful part or component is called sheet metal stamping. The metal is fed into a press, where the stamping tool, also known as a die, creates the desired shape. The die is pressed into or through the metal with tremendous force. The force used in the process is measured in tons.
Except for some specialized processes, sheet metal stamping doesn’t use heat. Instead, it is done with a cold-forming technique. Even though no heat is used, the part can come out hot because of the friction that’s created between the metal and the die from the force of the press.
There are basically only three components to sheet metal stamping—the sheet metal, die, and press machine—but any single part can require multiple steps to arrive at its final form. The following guide explains a few common processes that might occur during metal stamping.
Forming: Forming describes the process of transforming the flat metal into another shape by applying force. It is accomplished in one of several ways, depending on the design specifications for the part. With a series of operations, the metal can be altered from a relatively simple shape into a complex one.
Blanking: Blanking is the most basic technique and initiates when the sheet or blank is fed into the press where the die cuts out the desired shape. The resulting piece is called a blank. The blank may be the desired part, also known as a fully finished blank, or it may continue to the subsequent step of forming.
Drawing: Drawing is a more complicated operation and is how vessels or deep depressions are formed. Tension is used to carefully draw the material into a cavity to change its shape. Though the material might stretch while it’s drawn, technicians try to avoid stretching as much as possible to keep the material intact. Sinks, cooking equipment, and oil pans for vehicles are usually made with drawing.
Piercing: Piercing is almost the opposite of blanking, but instead of saving the blanks, technicians use the material around the outside of the punched area. As an example, think of cutting biscuits from a rolled-out circle of dough. During blanking, the biscuits are saved; during piercing, on the other hand, the biscuits are discarded, and the hole-riddled remains are the desired outcome.
Role of Dies in Metal Stamping
Whether you’re using the forming, drawing, piercing, or blanking process in sheet metal for your project, production will involve metal dies. Mounted on presses, dies are the fundamental tools that metal stamping operations rely on to precisely cut, form, and shape an array of metal parts. Manufacturers use custom dies to achieve components that match the exact specifications of your design, making anything from straightforward products like clips to intricate electronic parts.
These durable tools facilitate high-volume, precision production and support economy of scale. To help ensure that metal stamping processes are generating high-quality products, however, it’s important to use the right die type for your project.
Types of Dies
To address the unique requirements of highly varied projects, there are multiple types of die available for manufacturers to use. Three common varieties in metal stamping operations are compound, combination, and progressive dies.
Compound
Compound dies provide compound functionality—every single press stroke carries out several operations at once. As a result, they can quickly and efficiently generate even complex metal parts. When choosing a die for your needs, keep in mind that compound dies are more adept at cutting than forming.
Combination
Combination dies are alike compound dies in their single-stroke operational capabilities. However, this die variety is well-suited to both forming and cutting. This enables manufacturers to use them for products that require multiple metal forming techniques, such as bending, forming, piercing, and sheet metal blanking processes.
Progressive
These cold stamping dies move a strip of raw material through its various stations, with the die performing one stamping action per stroke at each one. The metal workpieces stay attached to the strip until they pass through the final die station, at which time they’re complete and cut loose. In this setup, multiple workpieces are going through the press simultaneously, with each at a different stage of the stamping process on a mold set.
Understanding Metal Stamping Presses
Just as there are multiple die types, you can use different press varieties to complete your stamping project. The three main options are:
Mechanical presses: These highly efficient presses utilize a motor-connected flywheel device to facilitate energy transfer and storage. They’re compatible with progressive and transfer die stamping processes and can produce between 20 and 6,000 tons of pressing force, depending on their size. Manufacturers can quickly ramp up production as mechanical presses offer the greatest operational speeds of the three presses and have the capacity for large runs of virtually identical, repeatable goods. Mechanical presses rapidly generate shallow components with simple designs from coil and sheet metal, such as hardware and appliance or automotive components.
Hydraulic presses: Compared to mechanical presses, hydraulic presses are slower but more versatile. They enable you to modify the die opening and stroke length and deliver a wider range of pressure levels. This accommodates deeper, more intricately shaped components requiring higher material flow. As long as your project’s schedule allows for this production method, hydraulic presses are the ideal choice for producing goods like bowls, cylinders, and tanks.
Mechanical servo presses: These presses combine the advantageous features of the previous two types, offering nearly the same speeds as mechanical presses with the versatility of hydraulic presses. Programmable mechanical servo presses, however, also heighten your ability to control everything from strokes and operational speeds to slide motion and positioning. These capabilities give manufacturers more flexibility in part production as well as their choice of press speed and die type.
The ideal metal pressing process service provider will have the equipment, custom capabilities, and extensive expertise you need to sufficiently achieve your project goals.
Precision Metal Stamping Services From Aranda Tooling, Inc.
When your industry requires high-caliber precision parts, you need a stamping company that meets the most stringent quality standards. Aranda Tooling, an ISO 9001:2015-registered company, has been manufacturing precision tools for companies worldwide since 1975. Today, we produce over 1 million highly detailed parts every week for even the most technologically advanced applications.
Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on Transfer Die Stamping vs. Progressive Die Stamping
Aranda Tooling specializes in transfer die stamping and progressive die stamping. We also provide ongoing education, so you can choose the right manufacturing processes and options to make your project successful.
Learn more about the differences between transfer die stamping and progressive die stamping, why those differences matter, and how to start your next project with the right stamping process.
What Is Transfer Die Stamping?
Transfer die stamping is a key manufacturing process that uses several different dies to form the desired shape. The first station cuts a blank (the initial shape) from the workpiece, and a transfer mechanism moves it to the next station. The dies use bending, flagging, punching, and other techniques based on the shape. The final formed part is then ejected from the die, and the process starts over with a new blank.
What Is Progressive Die Stamping?
In progressive die stamping, a long continuous piece of sheet metal moves through each sequential die station. Every station forms the workpiece in a new way, which can include coining the surface, punching holes, and bending pre-formed tabs. Once the piece of metal has reached its final form at the last station, the machine cuts excess material from the final form for recycling.
Progressive Die vs. Transfer Die Stamping
The progressive die stamping process and transfer die stamping are useful when transforming sheet metal into complex goods. There are two key areas in which progressive die and transfer die stamping differ: the process workflow and the tooling needed to prepare the process.
Process Flow
Process flow is the sequence of steps used to create the stamped goods.
Progressive die stamping. This process involves a continuous strip of sheet metal moving through multiple stations. If you paused the process after a couple of cycles, you would have a strip of metal with several parts at various stages of completion. Each part is only cut away from the continuous strip once finished. This can make the overall production process much faster.
Transfer die stamping. In this process, the blanks are cut first, and the individual pieces move from station to station separately from other pieces. Transfer die stamping can be advantageous when producing larger parts and can often improve material yield. However, the overall process is slower.
Tooling
Tooling is the process of making the dies used to create stamped metal parts.
Progressive Die Stamping. Progressive dies are a single block used across integrated stations. The design development stage may be more complex, but the costs are also lower.
Transfer Die Stamping. Transfer die stamping requires multiple separate dies. As a result, the process is more expensive.
Transfer Die & Progressive Die Stamping Services From Aranda Tooling
With over 50 years of service and over 200 skilled individuals at the ready, Aranda Tooling is a premier service provider in die stamping. We are known for producing complex parts that meet the most stringent requirements, even on high-volume runs. You can depend on Aranda Tooling to meet your tooling, progressive die stamping, and transfer die stamping needs.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help with your future projects, and request a quote for specific pricing details.
Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on What is EV Stamping?
Metal stamping for electric vehicles (EVs) is a crucial element of the automotive industry. Metal stamping is an efficient machining process that uses stamping presses and dies to form sheet metal into various shapes.
It is a common process in the automotive industry because it is highly efficient in manufacturing complex components that meet tight specifications and tolerances with high levels of repeatability. Metal stamping is especially beneficial for EV components due to its ability to produce complex, lightweight parts that aid in fuel economy and reduce carbon emissions. Some of the most appealing benefits of EV stamping include material efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Advantages of Using EV Stamping
EV stamping advantages include:
Automation: Metal stamping is a process that can be easily automated. Automation in the EV industry reduces labor costs and the risks of injuries to personnel. With automation, you can produce large component volumes without spending a lot of investment in labor. Automation increases precision production by cutting out human error.
Material Efficiency: EV stamping uses sheet metal for component manufacturing. Working with sheet metal reduces waste since it can utilize the majority of the raw material to create the component.
Cost-Effectiveness: Once the die has been designed and formed, there is no additional overhead and the dies are simple and affordable to maintain. This makes it possible to manufacture high volumes of parts in different materials while maintaining minimal costs.
EV Stamping Process
There are several different stamping processes, but the general process involves placing the raw material between the two die sections and applying pressure to form the material into the intended shape for the final product. Some of the most popular stamping methods include:
Progressive die-stamping: In this metal forming process, sheet metal is passed through a series of stations to progressively shape the material into the final component.
Compound dies: This stamping process conducts multiple actions in a single stroke. It is an affordable, highly repeatable way to produce simple components fast.
Transfer dies: Components are taken via the tooling process as individual units. The components are disconnected from the metal strip in the initial operation to allow for the creation of more intricate design elements.
The machinery involved in EV stamping includes:
Straight side presses
Tooling
A well-equipped tooling department
EV Stamping Industry Applications
Metal stamping is in the EV industry to consistently manufacture accurate and dependable precision components used in the design, manufacture, and operation of electric vehicles. EV stamping capabilities are applicable in producing components of virtually any size, including:
EV battery components
EV charging components
Battery trays
A-Frames
Floor panels
Brackets
Transmission components
BIW components
Seating components
Brake components
Heat shields
EV stamping uses various materials in its applications, from aluminum to carbon steel and stainless steel.
Metal stamping processes can also be applied to components in other industries, including:
Healthcare
Food and beverage
Appliances
Electronics
Automotive
EV Stamping Vs. Other Stamping Methods
At Aranda Tooling, we provide a range of stamping methods for EVs, including progressive die, compound die, transfer die stamping, and more. As previously mentioned, progressive die stamping uses a progressive die containing multiple stamping stations that conduct progressive operations on sheet metal strips. The ability of this process to perform several forming techniques progressively makes it highly viable for high-volume production runs.
Our alternative stamping options include:
Fine blanking
Transfer
Compound
Stage tooling
Our alternative stamping options reduce labor costs and production time through high-tech automation. Our stamping solutions are ideal for reducing lead times and increasing productivity.
EV Stamping Services at Aranda Tooling
At Aranda Tooling, we provide a wide range of tooling services, from fine blanking to compound stamping. We can help you optimize your production and lead times and reduce labor costs to increase your productivity. Our solutions encourage precision and high-quality end products.Contact us to learn more orrequest a quote for our services and products.
Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on Steel Alloys Used in Metal Stamping
One of the most commonly used metals for metal stamping is steel. However, not all steel alloys are alike, and each type has its own unique qualities. Selecting a steel alloy for a metal stamping project depends on the application’s specific requirements. The most common types of steel used for metal stamping include carbon steel, alloy steel, and stainless steel.
Types of Steel for Metal Stamping
When choosing the right steel for a metal stamping project, consider whether you want carbon, alloy, or stainless steel. The following offers a breakdown of their differences to help you determine which is suitable for your application.
Carbon Steel
Most applications that involve steel production use carbon steel. This metal contains various trace elements of different alloy products. Depending on your specific requirements, there are three subcategories of carbon steel, including:
High Carbon Steel. This carbon steel features carbon content comprising 0.60% to 1.4% of the total weight. While the high carbon content makes it the most durable of the carbon steel alloys, it’s also the least workable.
Medium Carbon Steel. Carbon contents for medium carbon steel are between 0.25% and 0.60% of the steel’s mass. This type of carbon steel is normally combined with other alloys such as chromium and molybdenum to increase its strength and resistance to wear.
Low Carbon Steel. Low carbon steels feature carbon contents of 0.03% to 0.08%. The low carbon content makes them highly resistant to corrosion, and they are far more workable than high carbon steel.
Alloy Steel
These steel materials are made with different types of alloying elements such as copper, titanium, nickel, aluminum, and manganese, which can change the properties of the steel. Some of these alloys may contribute to the metal stamping material’s overall strength, workability, weldability, and corrosion or overall wear resistance. Alloy steels are commonly used for a variety of parts, including transformers, electric motors, pipelines, and automotive parts.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is a type of steel alloy that contains approximately 18% chromium. This chromium content makes stainless steel both highly resistant to corrosion and visually appealing with a notable luster. Stainless steel is often more costly to use than other alloys, but the increased durability and corrosion resistance make it worth the higher price. Depending on your steel stamping needs, there are a few different stainless steel types available:
301. This stainless steel features high tensile strength along with corrosion and rust resistance. It’s available in three subcategories including hard, half hard, and full hard.
304. For products that need moderate tensile strength in addition to corrosion and rust resistance, 304 grade stainless steel is ideal. It’s frequently used for stainless steel disc stamping and various food-grade steel products.
316 and 316L. This stainless steel grade serves as an enhanced version of 300 series stainless steel. This particular grade features molybdenum content that lends additional strength and corrosion resistance, and it’s often used for applications involving marine and pharmaceutical environments, along with food processing.
Metal Stamping from Aranda Tooling, Inc.
If you require high-quality steel stampings for your next project, Aranda Tooling, Inc. can meet your needs. Since 1975, we have become a leading provider of metal stamping services, including progressive die stamping and transfer die stamping. We can produce parts of varying complexity and specifications, working closely with our customers to give them consistently great results.
Browse the rest of our site to learn more about our metal stamping services. You can also request a quote for any of our services or contact us today with any questions, and we’ll put you in touch with a representative.
Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on Aluminum Alloys Used in Metal Stamping
Metal stamping is a metalworking process used to form various parts and products from sheet metal. It accommodates a wide range of materials, including aluminum.
Aluminum is highly suitable for stamping operations due to its strength and workability. Stamped aluminum components find application in nearly every industry, including automotive, electronics, marine, medical, and more. Below we provide an overview of the aluminum stamping process, including typical metal stamping materials employed and the properties they exhibit.
Commonly Used Aluminum Alloys in Metal Stamping Operations
For stamping operations, pure aluminum is often alloyed with other metals to add or enhance certain material properties to improve the performance of the end product. Typical alloying materials include copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, silicon, and zinc. Each alloy is assigned a unique four-digit number, the first digit of which is determined by the primary alloying element. For example:
1xxx is used for 99% pure aluminum with no alloying element
2xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with copper
3xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with manganese
4xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with silicon
5xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with magnesium
6xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with magnesium and silicon
7xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with zinc
8xxx is used for aluminum alloyed with other elements
The four-digit number may also include a letter tagged onto the end. This letter is indicative of the alloy’s temper designation. For example, fabricated is represented by F, annealed is represented by O, strain hardened is represented by H, solution heat-treated is represented by W, and heat treated (not applicable to F, O, or H designations) is represented by T.
Some of the most commonly used aluminum alloys in metal stamping operations are:
1100: This commercially pure aluminum exhibits high ductility, material softness, and workability. It is ideal for forming operations involving intricate part or product designs, such as for flatware or decorative components.
3003: This aluminum-manganese alloy has greater strength than aluminum 1100. It also demonstrates good corrosion resistance and workability. Some of its typical applications include cooking instruments, kitchen equipment, and chemical handling products.
5052: This aluminum-magnesium alloy has higher strength than any of the other common non-heat-treatable variations. It also offers better fatigue strength, high corrosion resistance, and good workability and finishing characteristics. Typical use cases include aircraft parts, home appliances, and heavy-duty cooking implements.
6061: This aluminum alloy is heat treatable. It is highly versatile due to its numerous advantageous mechanical and chemical properties, including corrosion resistance, formability, and weldability. It is widely used for making structural parts such as the bodies and frames of automobiles.
As indicated above, aluminum alloys may demonstrate different properties depending on the exact composition. However, there are some shared properties among the material group, including:
High strength-to-weight ratio
Flexibility and malleability
Electrical and thermal conductivity
Corrosion resistance
Low-temperature resistance
Smooth and shiny finish that requires little to no maintenance
Aluminum Stamping Solutions From Aranda Tooling
Aranda Tooling is an ISO 9001:2015 certified and minority-owned company that provides a variety of metalworking services. One of our core service offerings is metal stamping. Equipped with 45 years of industry experience and a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, our team has what it takes to fulfill even the most complex stamping requests for domestic and international customers. In addition to aluminum, we accommodate a variety of other metals, including brass, bronze, copper, nickel, steel, stainless steel, and titanium. We offer metal stamping capabilities for workpieces up to 48 inches in width and between 0.005 to 0.5 inches in thickness.
Posted by Aranda Tooling on | Comments Off on SEYI Highlights Aranda Tooling
SEYI, the manufacturer of many of Aranda Tooling’s stamping presses, has produced a video providing an overview of Aranda’s presses. Find out about the quality and reliability of our presses, as well as the reasons we’ve chosen SEYI presses.