Strip Layout to First Part: How Cimatron Die Design Removes the Guesswork from Progressive Tooling
Progressive die work is tough. A clean appearing strip layout on paper can hide problems that are only revealed when metal starts moving; the carrier width is too narrow, the sequence of a forming station causes spring-back that you didn’t account for, the pilot hole is off a little and the strip drifts over thousands of cycles.
That’s exactly what Cimatron Die Design is for – finding these problems early, before the die is built.
Starting With the Strip Layout
All progressive die projects start with strip layout—how the part will be formed across stations, in what order and at what pitch. This is where the entire die strategy is set.
Cimatron offers a dedicated strip layout environment that enables designers to specify the forming sequence interactively with the part geometry visible at each station. Instead of working from a flat drawing and a lot of mental geometry, you can see the strip develop from flat blank to finished part as you plan the sequence.
This helps to detect problems early on.
- Carrier width is not adequate to reliably handle strip
- Geometry interference due to incorrect sequence of operations in the formation
- Blank is too small to create a flange or drawn feature
- Pilot sites that cannot be added without affecting part quality
Design in Context: Station-by-Station
Once the strip layout is complete, Cimatron guides you through the detailed design of each station: punches, dies, forming tools, pilots, lifters and the die set itself. Critically, all of this occurs within the same environment so every component you design is in context with the rest of the die.
Context is important. When you put everything together in the die , it ‘s the difference between a perfect punch and a punch that interferes with the stripper plate you designed last week .
Formability Analysis Before You Cut Steel
A major advantage for progressive die shops is the ability to run formability checks on the part geometry before committing to a die design. Cimatron’s analysis tools can highlight areas of the part that are vulnerable to:
- Drawing or stretching below acceptable thinning limits
- Compression zones wrinkling
Springback that influences the dimensions of the finished part
If you know this before the die is built you can adjust the strip layout, change the forming sequence or suggest a change regarding geometry to the customer, all at the design stage where changes are cheap.
Managing Revisions Without Going Crazy
Customer part revisions in the progressive die world are either minor tweaks or complete redesigns. In either case, the die design will have to be redone.
Cimatron’s associative design updates the die design wherever possible when the part model changes and alerts the designer to where manual decisions are required. This keeps revision management orderly, rather than a free-for-all where no one knows which version of the die is current.
From Layout to First Part
The true test of any die design system is what happens when the die hits the shop floor. Relationships with customers are damaged, and time and money are spent on tryout problems caused by attractive screen designs.
Cimatron’s progressive die design process bridges the gap between screen and reality by integrating strip layout, in-context station design, formability analysis and revision management. The die coming off the design system should be a close match to the die that works in the press.
If you’re using progressive dies in your shop and find that first-article trials are taking too long or creating too many iterations, it may be worth investigating whether your design tools are part of the problem. PELF Engineering can help you determine where your time is going and if Cimatron Die Design is right for your operation.