ASPECTS OF PROCESS CONTROLLING AND PROCESS MONITORING IN HYDROFORMING

R. Neugebauer (1), J. Heinrich (1), H. Meier (2)

(1)Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology, Germany; (2)Meier Electronic GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

Especially in the past 10 years the hydroforming technology won more and more acceptance by industry up to now, when the hydroforming process gained a prior range within the car industry process chain.
To achieve a stable and safe process it is necessary to take influence even in the early stage of process design. Looking at the whole hydroforming system – the process with its parameters, the die and the machine as well - above all the control has a central meaning managing the interaction between all components.
In close co-operation between the Fraunhofer Institute IWU Chemnitz and MEIER Electronic a special “hydroforming process-sized“ control system with special intention to research work, prototyping and small lot production was created.
By gradually improvement more and more functional features were added. Considerable, especially for prototyping, but also for process monitoring of serial production a special interface for On-line visualisation of actually process data was developed and improved. The so called “direct data recording“ tool was created, which allows sampling and storage of these process data. Discussing system requirements like process orientation, flexibility and process monitoring user’s demands will be emphasised. Easy handling and clearness for parameter setting have a favourable effect. The free choice of process sequences and available interfaces for external use, e.g. for active tooling, are features keeping user‘s flexibility.

Keywords: hydroforming, process window, prototyping