Face to face
industry for their greater safety and, thanks to hot
forming, the previously unavoidable compromise
between high strength and low formability is now
a thing of the past.
Cartec, probably the largest independent manu-
facturer of hot forming tools for pressure harden-
ing, recently placed an order with us for a 1,000
tonne hot forming production press. It weighed
170 tonnes and was one of the largest presses we
have built, to date.
With hot forming, you can also reduce costs by
using cheaper material and steels. It’s a different
technique. You can form very difficult structural
parts, more complex parts as opposed to simple
stampings.
Our flexible press systems for hot forming are also
equipped with an integrated die cushion, making
them suitable for use in conventional deep draw-
ing. That way, our customers can switch production
without the need for additional investment.
ISMR: What is your vision for
Neff over the next five years?
OD: We will continue to push our hot forming
production lines. We want to concentrate on this
and special techniques for the production lines
(such as the pulsating blankholder technique).
This technique is very important for us. To form
the sheet, we work with a pulsating frequency
(up to 30Hz) so you can put pressure on the sheet
(small ram movements up and down on the sheet)
so that there is better ‘fluency’ for the material and
you can form complex parts. Practical experience
with our PBH presses has been evaluated and we
have developed a new and innovative concept
for vibration induction. This solution allows the
advantages of the pulsation technique to be reli-
ably applied and systematically optimised.
ISMR: There seems to be a mi-
gration towards forming more
complex and difficult parts more
easily. Is there something new
about how you are integrating
the technique with your presses?
OD: The technology itself is not new, although
the process that we are employing is new. There
is a patent from Fiat –Auto-Spa in Italy and we
have the worldwide license for it and have devel-
oped the process further. We presented a new
press in 2004 at EuroBLECH (a 400-tonne pulsat-
ing press) and we are testing it with customers to
form special and difficult parts. It is very impor-
tant for us to get this experience so that we can
18 March/April 2007 International Sheet Metal Review
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