Experimental investigation of the effect of lubricant change on automotive component

Abstract

Manufacturing problems resulting from lubricant supplier changes are relatively common in automotive press shops. Simulations using computer-aided design (process and tool) detect a significant proportion of manufacturing problems before tools are physically produced. In modern forming codes, an enhanced Coulomb model is used to numerically model the friction phenomena associated with lubrication. In the laboratory condition, determining model parameters through physical measurement is challenging. As a result, it became necessary to design a device that could be utilized in industrial environments. In this study, we present the prediction of a manufacturing problem resulting from a change in the lubricant of an industrial sheet metal part. The measuring device has been developed based on the parameters of the friction model of the lubricant materials. The developed measuring device may be used to determine the pressure and velocity dependent friction model parameters. The measuring device can only measure a limited range of pressures and velocities, so the results are extended to a wider range using a mathematical method. The results are used to demonstrate the effect of lubricant material changes on the forming process using the AutoForm code.