Development of Automatic Mold Shot Measurement and Management System for Smart Factory

<p>Many small- and medium-sized car-part manufacturers are either still managing their mold manually or rarely managing it, and therefore, experience significant manufacturing cost and loss in time. In such a situation, a module has been developed in the present work which can count the number of mold used. Such a module is extremely important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) applying which in the production line they will be able to manage the mold life cycle and improve product quality. This is expected to have both direct and indirect effects on their business activities. The developed system uses a photo sensor, distance measurement sensor, Atmega128 MCU, tablet pc and Bluetooth communication module. The actual module developed in this study was set up on a molding equipment for test and data were collected using an existing tablet PC. The test showed that the number of shots increased when the upper mold touched the lower mold. The maximum and minimum value between the upper and lower molds could be adjusted with the automatic mold shot measurement and management system. Therefore, any molding equipment with various upper-lower gaps will be able to apply the newly developed system.</p>

Development of Automatic Mold Shot Measurement and Management System for Smart Factory

<p>Many small- and medium-sized car-part manufacturers are either still managing their mold manually or rarely managing it, and therefore, experience significant manufacturing cost and loss in time. In such a situation, a module has been developed in the present work which can count the number of mold used. Such a module is extremely important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) applying which in the production line they will be able to manage the mold life cycle and improve product quality. This is expected to have both direct and indirect effects on their business activities. The developed system uses a photo sensor, distance measurement sensor, Atmega128 MCU, tablet pc and Bluetooth communication module. The actual module developed in this study was set up on a molding equipment for test and data were collected using an existing tablet PC. The test showed that the number of shots increased when the upper mold touched the lower mold. The maximum and minimum value between the upper and lower molds could be adjusted with the automatic mold shot measurement and management system. Therefore, any molding equipment with various upper-lower gaps will be able to apply the newly developed system.</p>

Face Turning of Cobalt-Free Tungsten Carbide Using Nano-Polycrystalline Diamond Tool

The use of hard and brittle materials for manufacturing optical parts, such as dies and molds are required in order to extend mold life. Although, cobalt-free tungsten carbide is one of the hardest materials, micro-cutting is very difficult due to its hardness and its brittleness. This paper investigates face turning of cobalt-free tungsten carbide using a nanopolycrystalline diamond [NPD] tool and Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZnDTP) fluid. Surface roughness of the cobalt-free tungsten carbide achieved was 22nmRz, which is far larger than the theoretical value. That is, traditional cutting theory does not directly apply for face turning of cobalt-free tungsten carbide using NPD tool and ZnDTP fluid.

A Study of Mold Friction and Wear in Injection Molding of Plastic-Bonded Hard Ferrite

In injection molding of highly filled polymers, such as plastic-bonded hard ferrite, mold life decreases significantly due to wear and surface damage. This deterioration process leads to lower accuracy concerning the surface finish and the dimensional and geometric tolerance of the molded bonded magnets. In this work, the wear of a steel mold caused by the molding of a plastic-bonded ferrite magnet has been studied with the aim of determining the main wear factors. Furthermore, two different surface treatments have been tested, namely gas nitriding and DLC superlattice coating. Friction and wear induced by part de-molding was investigated by means of tribological pin-on-disc tests. The results of such experiments were analyzed in terms of loads, surface roughness evolution and surface investigations by means of Scanning Electron Microscope observations.

Local Laser Bionic Blocking Experimental Study of Hot Work Mould Surface Cracks

For the short life of hot work die in enterprise directly caused problems the waste of resources and the rising cost of production. Based on studying the biological prototype of crack-resistance of plant lamina and found that surface thermal fatigue crack is one of the main factors affecting the service life of hot work mould, it is put forward thoughts about the local bionic laser melting on mould surface to block cracks. Different from the traditional mould surface integral laser transformation hardening (LTH) technology, using laser melting simulating plant lamina to block cracks on the partial surface of mold, life of bionic strengthened die is improved within 1~1.5 times. Experiment results show that a new method is provided to improve the service life of casting mould and promoting this technology will bring significant economic benefits for the mould industry.

The Parameters Optimization for Mold Wear Reduction of the Cross Wedge Rolling

The mold for cross wedge rolling (CWR) is difficult in making, complicated in adjustment and high in costs. It is extremely meaningful to optimize the parameters for wear reduction to extend the mold life. This paper analyzes the influence of the processing parameters on the mold wear based on orthogonal experimental design method and the computer simulation method, which can optimize the parameters in an efficient and simple way. The results show that the rolling process using optimized technological parameters can greatly extend the mold life of the cross wedge rolling.