Duration
Start: 05-2016
End: 02-2020
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Project Website
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Description
Key Information
- EU funding: € 2.35 Million
- Total budget: € 4.74 Million
- Duration: 45 months [May 2016 – Feb 2020]
The design of sheet metal forming processes is nowadays done virtually, i.e. by computer simulations. A limitation in these simulations is the assumption of a constant friction value over the course of the process, while in reality a temperature increase of 40°C in the tool – during the start-up of the production line – impacts on the tribology between the tool and sheet material, leading to a friction increase of up to 25 % and product failures as a result. The control of these effects is currently done reactively, by trial-and-error approaches, based on the individual experience of the machine operators, rather than by using automated, adaptive control systems. The current practice therefore results in process instability, high costs and slow process development. Moreover, with the increasing use of advanced steel grades, which generate more heat purely due to their strength, predicting and controlling the influence of temperature on friction becomes critical for the concerned industries.
The ASPECT project, funded by the programme INTERREG North-West Europe, aims to address these shortcomings, on one hand by creating a reliable and robust framework to predict friction increase with temperature, and on the other hand by developing a control system that can instantaneously correct the applied forces to account for the sensed friction increase.