Advances in sheetmetal technology is not only providing manufacturers with productivity improvements but is also helping the environment. Katherine Crichton reports.
AS one of the oldest industries in Australia, sheetmetal working has long been the backbone of Australian manufacturing but at the same time, it is also one of the leading adopters of breakthrough technologies.
There have been many challenges facing the industry, from increased competition from low-cost, high-volume producers to the well recognised issue of the lack of skilled labour.
The industry has tackled each of these obstacles head on, investing in new technologies and innovative solutions to overcome these challenges and remain competitive, but in today’s current climate, manufacturers now need to be concerned about one more thing – environmental responsibility.
A drive towards design ingenuity in sheetmetal machinery however, is allowing operators to produce quality goods faster, without causing environmental damage.
Stephen Button, service technician from Sheetmetal Machinery Australia, said there is an increasing trend for sheetmetal machinery to be servo electrically driven rather than hydraulically powered.
“The technology has been around for a while, but improvements in the last five years or so have seen the technology get better and easier to use, so more manufacturers are taking notice,” Button explained.
“An increasing number of servo-electronic products such as turret punches, press brakes etc are on the market, which have not only been designed to give users a ‘greener’ option, even the way they were manufactured (minimal welding in the construction etc) is heading towards a more sustainable environmentally conscious way.”
European company Safan has developed what is said to be the world’s first fully electronic press brake, the Mechatronic Press brake (E-Brake), which produces the pressing force by means of synchronised electric motors which transfer via belts and pulleys to the beam.
The main environmental benefit of using a servo electric motor as opposed to a hydraulically powered one is the elimination of oil in the process, but as Button noted, there are many other productivity benefits that can be gained.
A key advantage of using a servo electric press bake is reduced energy consumption and maintenance costs.
“Even when a hydraulic machine is idle, the motor is still pumping oil around the system and drawing a lot of electricity whereas something like an E-brake only requires energy for the PC and PLC, so it’s not really using that much at all.”
Button told Manufacturers’ Monthly, in some cases operators can experience up to 50 per cent lower running costs using servo electric press brake compared to a hydraulic system.
“There are also other obvious benefits when it comes to the cost of maintenance. Because no oil is needed, this eliminates consumables such as oil filters etc and removes the need to dispose of waste, reducing maintenance costs up to 70 per cent in some cases.”
But how does this technology compare to hydraulic systems in terms of productivity? Well, according to Button, pressing performance is not sacrificed, but actually enhanced by servo electric technology.
“As hydraulic systems age, you get leaks in the system and accuracy starts to drop off. Servo electric systems are very accurate as productive bending depends less on the theoretical speed of the beam than on the times between the bends.
“The E-brake’s electronic control system ensures short response and delay times resulting in bending speeds of up to 20mm/sec, so cycle times that are 30 per cent faster than conventional press brakes of the <[lb]>same class.”
Pressing forward
Despite the benefits of using a servo electric motor, there are some challenges that need to be overcome before the technology enjoys mass take up.
Because the drive system is currently patented, only one or two companies are manufacturing the machines, but Button is confident this will change in the future.
“As patents run out and customers grow more familiar with the concept, I can definitely see a strong up take in the next five years of so, especially since the technology offers a potential ROI of around three years.”
It is also worth noting there is a size limitation of up to around 200 tonnes with press brakes using servo electric motors, anything more than this would require a hydraulic system.
Button explained to Manufacturers’ Monthly that this is simply due to the way electric servo driven press brakes have been put together.
“Because the press brakes have a pulley drive system, it relies on the amount of pulleys to generate the force needed.
“With a 200 tonnes machine it has to be at least four metres to generate the amount of force required. At this point in time, users want to go higher in tonnage, then they will need to go longer in length and there’s obviously design issues in relation to how to keep the machine at a manageable length; even four metre long in the bed is a rather large machine.”
There are moves to address this issue however and Button believes it won’t be too long before servo electric press brakes hit the marketplace.
“The trend at the moment is to try and make machines more compact, so if you can get a higher tonnage in a smaller servo electric machine, it will definitely be an advantage both for productivity and the environment.
“Once the technology and these machines become available, I think if the customers have this option to go greener by using servo electric press brakes, they will take it.”
Sheetmetal Machinery Australia – 03 9758 9377.
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