Chair of

Manufacturing
Technology

Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking

and Stamping
Manufacturing Technology II
Exercise 6

Laboratory for Machine Tools and

Production Engineering
Chair of Manufacturing Technology

Prof. Dr.-Ing.Dr.-Ing. E.h. F. Klocke

Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ......................................................................................................2

1 Introduction .........................................................................................................3

2 Tasks ....................................................................................................................5

2.1 Manufacture of a perforated plate.................................................................5

2.2 Manufacturing disks in stamping and cutting operations...............................8
2.3 Questions....................................................................................................10

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

1 Introduction

Cutting and stamping are two of the most important sheet steel machining operations
since the manufacture of a sheet steel part, almost always involves cutting. This
applies both to the manufacture of the slug and to the generation of the contour of
the sheet. This exercise will focus on the shearing operation. Other cutting methods
include both mechanical cutting operations such as cutting with a blade, crushing or
water jet cutting and thermal operations such as flame or laser cutting. Diagram 1
illustrates the shearing principle: The upper die cuts the sheet lying on a blanking die.
The sheet material is formed in the cutting gap zone. As soon as the forming capacity
of the metal is exhausted (c.f. Principles of analytical measurement in forming
operations), cracks appear and the material is finally cut by the expansion of the
cracks.

blanking punch

sheet metal

blanking die

Fig. 1: Principles of shearing

The main application for shearing is in the manufacture of contoured, two-

dimensional parts. Increasingly, follow-on tools are being used in multi-stage
operations to stamp the part, thus giving it further functional surfaces and
characteristics.

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

Fig. 2: Examples of fine-blanked parts, some of which are stamped

Shearing has been expanded to produce the fine-blanking process. The set of tools
used in fine blanking comprises those used in normal cutting operations plus a
counter punch and a blank holder. This induces a state of stresses during the
shearing operation, which should, if possible be in the compressive strain range. This
increases the forming capacity of the material. Consequently, the cut edges of the
part have no fracture surfaces, since the workpiece material can form plastically until
the stamp has completely penetrated the sheet. As a result, the cut edges can also
be used as functional surfaces without any need for further finishing.

The methods of estimating force and power are the basic principles underlying the
design of the machines required for these operations. These methods will be
presented in this exercise. Measures which can be applied in order to reduce the
levels of force and power required in cutting operations, will also be described. This
exercise concludes with questions relating to cutting.

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

2 Tasks

2.1 Manufacture of a perforated plate

Square perforated plates (Fig. 3) are to be produced in a combined blanking and

piercing tool.

Fig. 3: Perforated plate to be produced

Data relating to the perforated plate:

- Breadth: b = 150 mm

- Diameter of holes: d = 20 mm

- No. of holes: 25

- Sheet thickness: s = 20 mm

- Tensile strength of the material: Rm = 800 N / mm2

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

- Shearing strength factor: cs = 0.8

a) Is the maximum pressing force of the available press, FPmax = 1500 kN

sufficient?

b) bPunching dies of different lengths, corresponding to the symmetrical

arrangement shown, can be used in order to reduce the maximum cutting
force.

Fig. 4: Arrangement of cutting force reducing fine-blanking dies

How high is the reduction in cutting force ( in % ), assuming that the friction of the
surface area of blanking die in the finish-cut perforated wall of the sheet, is approx.
FReib = 0.2 FStmax ?

Account is taken of the proportion of friction of the cutting die by the shearing
strength factor, which was determined experimentally (cs = 0.8).

c) A further means of reducing the cutting force is to chamfer the face of the
punch, which reduces the instantaneous shearing section and thus the
cutting force.

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

α Hs
s

Fig. 5: Chamfered die

Determine the angle of inclination α required in each case in order to achieve

reductions of 10 % and 50 % in the cutting force of the hole punch.

Assume that the amount of cutting work remains constant despite the reduction in
cutting force. This hypothesis is permissible when it is assumed that the theoretical
cutting path (for α = 0°, Hs = s) is extended accordingly.

Note: Correction value x = constant.

d) d) How high is the cutting capacity when 25 chamfered punching dies,

angled at α = 1° are used and the number of strokes per minute has been
set to 500 min-1 (correction value x = 0.5 ?

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

2.2 Manufacturing disks in stamping and cutting operations

prepunch
4
Ø 42
Ø 120

Ø 50
stamping
2,5

reshearing

Ø 40 Ø 10

Fig. 6: Sequence of stages piercing - stamping - piercing

The disk shown below is produced in normal cutting and stamping operations
performed using three hydraulic presses which are linked via handling systems.

Press 1: Blanks out the unmachined part from the sheet and simultaneously
punches holes (di = 42 mm)

Press 2: Stamps the inner surface of the ring.

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

Assume for the sake of simplicity, that the material flow runs only radially
inwards in the stamping operation.

Press 3: 1) Trims the inner hole (di = 40 mm)

2) Cuts the eight outer holes (di = 10 mm)

Assumptions: The friction forces and the shearing action when r = 25 mm are
negligible.

Data: Flow curve

Flow curve

750
Yield stress / MPa

700
650
600
550
500
450
400
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8
comparative strain caused by deformation

a) Estimate roughly the maximum stamping force

b) Determine the level of cutting force required by Press 3.

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Forming – Blanking, Fine Blanking and Stamping

2.3 Questions
1. List three differences between fine blanking and normal cutting which relate
to the workpiece and three relating to the tool.

2. List the requirements which the fine-blanking operation imposes on the

workpiece material in terms of mechanical properties and the micro-
structure.

3. List four measured variables used to evaluate the quality of parts produced
in a fine-blanking operation.

4. Explain briefly what is meant by the term multistage operation die and list
its advantages and disadvantages.

5. List the four different types of feed limitation and their areas of application.

6. List two of the principal forms of wear which affect upper dies/punches and
state which forms of wear occur predominantly when thin are cut and when
thick sheets are cut.

7. List two effects of tool wear on the machining outcome (workpiece) as a

function of the predominant wear mechanism.

8. List the mechanical load to which the punch is subjected in the cutting
operation.

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