Design of a Servo Mechanical Press with Redundant Actuation

A servo press is a new type of mechanical press that is driven by programmable motors and offers superior performance such as low noise, excellent efficiency and high precision for metal forming operations. Similar to multi-link mechanical presses, a servo mechanical press tends to grow in size as the tonnage increases that calls for larger, heavy duty servo motors, which could be expensive and may not even be available. In this paper, a new concept of servo mechanical press with redundant actuation is proposed firstly using two servo motors driving one input shaft, i.e. one-point-two-motor mode that makes it possible to produce a larger press with available servomotors. Then the punching mechanism design is detailed. The performance indices are set up including mechanical advantage reciprocal and link force ratios. A bounded feasible solution space is constructed for dimensional synthesis based on non-dimensional link lengths and assembly conditions. The performance atlases are depicted over the bounded feasible solution space that lead to a visual solution of the punching mechanism with global optimization. Finally, case studies are given to illustrate the design method with visual global optimization, and a prototype with 200 t punching force is being developed in our laboratory to demonstrate efficacy of the new concept for servo mechanical press. The presented research provides a feasible solution to the development of heavy-duty servo mechanical presses and finds potential applications in the development of other types of heavy equipments with electric drive.

Reconstruction of impact force of mechanical press in time domain

To overcome the difficulty in directly measuring the impact force of a mechanical press, the inverse theory is employed to reconstruct the impact force from the corresponding response data in time domain. The nature of ill-posedness of impact force reconstruction is explored through singular value decomposition （SVD） and the Tikhonov regularization is utilized to deal with the ill-posedness, in which the optimal parameter is chosen in light of the L-curve criterion and the generalized cross- validation （GCV）. The experimentally measured strain responses of upper and lower dies of the press are chosen as source data for impact force reconstruction, and the corresponding numerical results are compared with the experimental measurements, which verifies the effectiveness of the reconstruction method.

Research on Hybrid Input Mechanical Press Driven by Two Motors

Given the speed requirements of a mechanical press slider, a differential gear train is adopted instead of the belt and gear drive of a general mechanical press. Two electric motors are used to drive the differential gear train with hybrid input. Based on the working principle of a differential gear train, the angular speed equations and the power dis- tribution equations of the input-output system are established. By controlling the angular speeds of the two motors, the slider can move at different speeds. Taken a JH23-100 type mechanical press as example, the driving system is designed and the power of two motors determined. The simulated results show that the highest slider speed in the mechanical press approaches 39 mm/s only at the forging-punching stage, far less than the 232 mm/s of a general JH23-100 type mechanical press. This provides a new scheme to realize low-speed forging-punching technology from a mechanical press.

Transformation of Fibrous Membranes from Opaque to Transparent under Mechanical Pressing

There is a great demand for transparent films,membranes,or substrates in the fields of intelligent wearables,electronic skins,air filtration,and tissue engineering.Traditional materials such as glass and plastics cannot satisfy these requirements because of the lack of interconnected pores,undesirable porosity,and flexibility.Electrospun fibrous membranes offset these shortcomings because they contain small pores and have high porosity as well as outstanding flexibility.Thus,the development of transparent electrospun fibrous membranes is of great value.This work reports a simple and effective way to develop flexible and porous transparent fibrous membranes(TFMs)directly from electrospun fibrous membranes via mechanical pressing,without employing any other additives.In addition,the relationship between the transparency performance and the molecular structure of the polymers after pressing was summarized for the first time.After mechanical pressing,the membranes maintained fibrous morphology,micron-sized pores,and desired porosity.Polystyrene fibrous membranes,which exhibited excellent optical and mechanical properties,were used as a reference.The TFMs possessed high transparency(~89%visible light transmittance at 550 nm),high porosity(10%–30%),and strong mechanical tensile strength(~148 MPa),nearly 78 times that of the pristine electrospun fibrous membranes.Moreover,this study demonstrated that transparent and conductive membranes can be fabricated based on TFMs using vacuum-assisted filtration of silver nanowires followed by mechanical pressing.Compared with indium tin oxide films,conductive TFMs exhibited good electrical conductivities(9Ωper square(Ω·sq^(−1)),78%transmittance at 550 nm)and notable mechanical performance(to bear abundant bending stresses).

System construction of a four-side primary permanent-magnet linear motor drive mechanical press

A primary permanent-magnet linear motor (PPMLM) has a robust secondary structure and high force density and is appropriate for direct-drive mechanical press. The structure of a four-side PPMLM drive press is presented based on our previous research. The entire press control system is constructed to realize various flexible forming processes. The control system scheme is determined in accordance with the mathematical model of PPMLM, and active disturbance rejection control is implemented in the servo controller. Field-circuit coupling simulation is applied to estimate the system’s performance. Then, a press prototype with 6 kN nominal force is fabricated, and the hardware platform of the control system is constructed for experimental study. Punch strokes with 0.06 m displacement are implemented at trapezoidal speeds of 0.1 and 0.2 m/s;the dynamic position tracking errors are less than 0.45 and 0.82 mm, respectively. Afterward, continuous reciprocating strokes are performed, and the positioning errors at the bottom dead center are less than 0.015 mm. Complex pulse trajectories are also achieved. The proposed PPMLM drive press exhibits a fast dynamic response and favorable tracking precision and is suitable for various forming processes.

Dynamic Modeling and Experiment of a New Type of Parallel Servo Press Considering Gravity Counterbalance

The large capacity servo press is traditionally realized by means of redundant actuation, however there exist the over-constraint problem and interference among actuators, which increases the control difficulty and the product cost. A new type of press mechanism with parallel topology is presented to develop the mechanical servo press with high stamping capacity. The dynamic model considering gravity counterbalance is proposed based on the virtual work principle, and then the effect of counterbalance cylinder on the dynamic performance of the servo press is studied. It is found that the motor torque required to operate the press is a lot less than the others when the ratio of the counterbalance force to the gravity of ram is in the vicinity of 1.0. The stamping force of the real press prototype can reach up to 25 MN on the position of 13 mm away from the bottom dead center. The typical deep-drawing process with 1 200 mm stroke at 8 strokes per minute is proposed by means of five order polynomial. On this process condition, the driving torques are calculated based on the above dynamic model and the torque measuring test is also carried out on the prototype. It is shown that the curve trend of calculation torque is consistent to the measured result and that the average error is less than 15%. The parallel mechanism is introduced into the development of large capacity servo press to avoid the over-constraint and interference of traditional redundant actuation, and its dynamic characteristics with gravity counterbalance are presented.

Type Synthesis for 4-DOF Parallel Press Mechanism Using G_F Set Theory

Parallel mechanisms is used in the large capacity servo press to avoid the over-constraint of the traditional redundant actuation. Currently, the researches mainly focus on the performance analysis for some specific parallel press mechanisms. However, the type synthesis and evaluation of parallel press mechanisms is seldom studied, especially for the four degrees of freedom（DOF） press mechanisms. The type synthesis of 4-DOF parallel press mechanisms is carried out based on the generalized function（GF） set theory. Five design criteria of 4-DOF parallel press mechanisms are firstly proposed. The general procedure of type synthesis of parallel press mechanisms is obtained, which includes number synthesis, symmetrical synthesis of constraint GF sets, decomposition of motion GF sets and design of limbs. Nine combinations of constraint GF sets of 4-DOF parallel press mechanisms, ten combinations of GF sets of active limbs, and eleven combinations of GF sets of passive limbs are synthesized. Thirty-eight kinds of press mechanisms are presented and then different structures of kinematic limbs are designed. Finally, the geometrical constraint complexity（GCC）, kinematic pair complexity（KPC）, and type complexity（TC） are proposed to evaluate the press types and the optimal press type is achieved. The general methodologies of type synthesis and evaluation for parallel press mechanism are suggested.

Discrete element analysis on press and fracture mechanism of propellant grain

To analyze fracture mechanism of propellant grain and study the mechanical properties of propellant grain, the press and fracture processes of propellant grain with and without initial defects are modeled using the discrete element method. On the basis of the appropriate constitutive relationships, the discrete element model of the propellant grain was established. Compared with experimental measurements, the micro-parameters of the bonded-particle model of the propellant grain under unconfined uniaxial compression tests were calibrated. The propellant grains without initial defects, with initial surface defects, and with initial internal defects were studied numerically through a series of unconfined uniaxial compression tests. Results show that the established discrete element model is an efficient tool to study the press and fracture processes of the propellant grain. The fracture process of the propellant grain without initial defects can be divided into the elastic deformation phase, crack initiation phase, crack stable propagation phase, and crack unstable propagation phase. The fracture mechanism of this grain is the global shear failure along the direction of the maximum shear stress. Initial defects have significant effects on both the fracture mechanism and peak strength of the propellant grain. The major fracture mechanism of the propellant grain with initial surface defects is local shear failure, whereas that of the propellant grain with initial internal defects is global tensile failure. Both defects weaken the peak strengths of the propellant grain. Therefore, the carrying and filling process of the propellant grain needs to minimize initial defects as far as possible.

Effects of ECAE processing temperature on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion behavior of pure Mg

A two-step equal channel angular extrusion（ECAE） procedure was used to process pure Mg. The effects of ECAE processing temperature on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion behavior of pure Mg were studied. The results show that the average grain size of pure Mg decreases with decreasing extrusion temperature. After ECAE processing at 473 K, fine and equiaxed grains（~9 μm） are obtained. The sample processed at 473 K exhibits the excellent mechanical properties, whereas the sample processed at 633 K has the lowest corrosion rate. The improved corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of pure Mg by ECAE are ascribed to grain refinement and microstructural modification.

Preparation of Al_(72)Ni_8Ti_8Zr_6Nb_3Y_3 amorphous powders and bulk materials

Amorphous Al_（72）Ni_8Ti_8Zr_6Nb_3Y_3 powders were successfully fabricated by mechanical alloying. The microstructure, glass-forming ability, and crystallization behavior of amorphous Al_（72）Ni_8Ti_8Zr_6Nb_3Y_3 powders were investigated by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM）, and differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）. The isothermal crystallization kinetics was analyzed by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation. In the results, the supercooled liquid region of the amorphous alloy is as high as 81 K, as determined by-non-isothermal DSC curves. The activation energy for crystallization is as high as 312.6 kJ ·mol1 obtained by Kissinger and Ozawa analyses. The values of Avrami exponent（n） imply that the crystallization is dominated by interface-controlled three-dimensional growth in the early stage and the end stage and by diffusion-controlled two- or three-dimensional growth in the middle stage. In addition, the amorphous Al_（72）Ni_8Ti_8Zr_6Nb_3Y_3 powders were sintered under 2 GPa at temperatures of 673 K and 723 K. The results show that the Vickers hardness of the compacted powders is as high as Hv 1215.

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Evolution of AA1100 Aluminum Sheet Processed by Accumulative Press Bonding Process

Accumulative press bonding（APB） is a novel variant of severe plastic deformation processes,which is devised to produce materials with ultra-fine grain.In the present work,the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of AA1100 alloy,which is produced by APB technique,were investigated.The study of the microstructure of AA1100 alloy was performed by optical microscopy.The results revealed that the grain size of the samples decreased to 950 nm after six passes of APB process.The yield strength of AA1100 alloy after six passes of the process increased up to 264 MPa,which is three times higher than that of the as-cast material（89 MPa）.After six passes,microhardness values of AA1100 alloy increased from 38 to 61 HV.Furthermore,the results showed that the behavior of variations in mechanical properties is in accordance with the microstructural changes and it can be justified by using the Hall-Patch equation.Moreover,the rise in the yield strength can be attributed to the reduction in the grain size leading to the strain hardening.

Microstructure and mechanical property of MIM 418 superalloy

In this study, the influence of hot isostatic pressing（HIP） process on the 418 alloy produced by metal injection molding（MIM） technique（named as MIM 418）was investigated based on the characteristic analysis of 418 alloy powder. And comparison analysis of the microstructure and mechanical property between the MIM 418 and as-cast 418 alloys was performed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy-dispersive spectroscopy（EDS）,and X-ray diffraction（XRD）. The results show that MIM418 alloy exhibits fine grain（~30 μm） and uniform microstructure. The defects existing in MIM 418 alloy formed during sintering process can be eliminated through HIP treatment, and the relative density increases from97.0 % to 99.5 %. The mechanical property can be improved significantly because of the elimination of defects, and the tensile strength and elongation are1,271 MPa and 16.8 %, respectively, which are increased by 34.5 % and 180 % compared with K418 alloy after solution heat treatment.