Project Readiness Package Rev 15 August 2012

PROJECT SUMMARYHot forging steel parts is a common method of producing complex high strength mechanical assemblies for aerospace, military, or automotive applications. High precision forgings may require several sequential forging steps, requiring alignment of an incomplete forged part with the next set of forging dies. This alignment is currently performed by hand using pry bars and forklift trucks, and alignment is performed by eye by an experienced operator. We wish to construct a system to measure the alignment of a forging relative to the forging dies in the press, and provide visual feedback to the operator indicating degree of misalignment. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:Project Name: Wyman Gordon Forging LocatorProject Number: P13556Project Track: n/aProject Family: n/aParent Roadmap: n/aPlanning Term: Spring 2011Start Term: Fall 2012End Term: Winter 2012

Faculty: TBD (RIT)Industry Guide: Alan Raisanen (RIT CAST/MMET)Project Customer: Derren Eroh (Wyman Gordon)Project Sponsor: Wyman GordonProject Budget: TBD

PROJECT CONTEXT:Forgings are commonly used in aerospace and military applications where there is a constant drive for lighter and stronger components. In closed die forgings, material is pressed in a die under high pressure to create the desired part. The placement of the piece in the die plays a major role in the quality of the part. If not aligned properly in the die, the piece may require forge rework due to under-fill in some areas. Currently we rely on operator judgment to locate the piece and have no way of verifying that the alignment is correct. We would like to develop a system for locating the piece in the die to improve quality and reduce rework and scrap.

Wyman Gordon, a Precision Castparts Corporation Company, is a global leader in the manufacturing of titanium, steel and nickel-based forgings primarily for the aerospace, energy, and military markets. Our Grafton, MA facility is home to a 50,000 ton press which is a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark and the largest of its kind in North America. The forgings of interest are non-axisymmetric parts that are forged in several operations with furnace reheats between operations. In some cases, the preforms are cooled and conditioned (ground, coated) before continuing the forge sequence.

The process generally starts with a billet of raw material, which is usually a rectangular cross-section. It is heated in the range 1700 ºF – 2100 ºF and forged on an open die press to an engineered shape designed to optimize forging input weight. The open die preforming operation is done to distribute the mass to facilitate the closed die operations. Subsequent operations generally include a blocker and finish operations in closed dies (fully contained). Parts are heated prior to all forge operations and transferred from furnace to press in approximately 60 seconds with a fork truck. At the press, the bottom die is lubricated (oil) and prepared for the part. The piece is transferred to our closed die forge where the operator loads it into the bottom die cavity. There are often no positive locators to fix the location of

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Figure 1. Fork truck loading piece in die

Project Readiness Package Rev 15 August 2012

the preform; this is done by operator judgment/experience (Figure 1). The operator manipulates the piece with a fork truck or pry bar until it appears to be aligned properly, shown in figure 2 below, and then the piece is forged. Without a proper system to verify the location of the piece in the die, we risk under filling the part in certain areas and causing forge rework. Wyman Gordon Grafton spends approximately $1,000,000 annually on strikeovers and we believe proper alignment in the die could reduce this figure by 30%.

There are other details to the forge operation that may affect this project. The view of the part on the dies can be limited by available die opening (view factor). The oil lubricant often flashes when in contact with the hot preform causing smoke and fire. The transfer must be accomplished expeditiously since the forgability is affected by the metal temperature,

which is cooling as it sits in contact with the bottom die. The sensor technology used to measure the die and forging position must be able to function in an aggressively dirty and hot factory environment and must be able to detect both cool and very hot metal surfaces (i.e. the sensors cannot be negatively affected by infrared radiation). A key challenge is to design a work process and display technology such that key information is communicated to the press work team without interfering with material movement or adding excessive process delays. These additional complications will be discussed with the team.

Project team P12556 which ran in winter / spring 2011 have produced a preliminary design for this project. Sensors, protective housings, and a computer/power supplies have been acquired and basic sensor function has been demonstrated. The new project team will be responsible for delivering a display architecture useful in the factory environment and software capable of managing specifications for multiple forging / die combinations and analyzing the data from the sensor array to detect and quantify misalignment. The sensors acquired are the Micro-Epsilon laser distance sensor (optoNCDT ILR 1181/1182) which are described on the manufacturer’s website at http://www.micro-epsilon.com/displacement-position-sensors/laser-distance-sensor/optoNCDT_ILR_1181_1182_1183/index.html.

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Figure 2. Operator aligning piece in die

Project Readiness Package Rev 15 August 2012

Figure 3. 3-D Model of piece in the die shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4. Idle press, the surrounding environment can be seen.

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Project Readiness Package Rev 15 August 2012

Figure 5. Micro-Epsilon laser sensor.

CUSTOMER NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS:

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Project Readiness Package Rev 15 August 2012

PROJECT INTERFACES:

This project is a stand-alone task sponsored by Wyman Gordon. This project is a continuation of P12556 which ran in winter/spring of 2011. Wyman Gordon process engineers are available for teleconferencing to provide guidance and additional customer needs, specs, etc. A site visit by students to the Wyman Gordon site at Grafton, MA near Boston is encouraged if practical. Faculty guide for the initial 2011 system design and construction is available for consultation.

STAFFING REQUIREMENTS:

Position Title Position Description

Lead Engineer (ME/IE/EE)

The Lead Engineer is a mechanical, electrical, or industrial engineer responsible for maintaining project schedule, coordinating project tasks, and systems integration. The lead engineer should have strong leadership ability and communications skills. The lead engineer will be responsible for establishing realistic compromise device architecture and engineering parameters to meet desired performance objectives. Basic familiarity with mechanical engineering concepts is required. The lead engineer should have taken the DPM course.

Mechanical Engineer I (IE/ME)

The mechanical engineer I will be responsible for designing and constructing the factory data display housings and mountings, producing viable cable routing strategy, and making sure all system components are hardened against the factory work environment (dust, smoke, compressed air, water washdown blast). Basic familiarity with geometric tolerancing, static structures and strength of materials is a must. Fabrication experience using manual machine tools, welding, and/or CNC processes will be helpful. Basic electrical skills (soldering, connecting cables and power supplies, etc) will be helpful.

Electrical Engineer (two req’d) (EE/CE)

The electrical engineers will be responsible for implementation of the electrical and data architecture of the positioning system display. Data obtained from the sensors must be compared to the desired mechanical specifications, the difference determined, and desired motion of the forging relative to the die must be displayed on a large simplified factory display (i.e. position OK, move east, west, north, or south). Data storage on disk, USB stick, or other data medium will be required. Some knowledge of data acquisition systems / analog electronics / embedded systems will be very useful. Some programming knowledge is essential, but specific language is not critical (LabView, python, visual basic, C/C++, or others would all be viable).

PROJECT DELIVERABLES:

A complete positioning system which can be deployed to the customer site, capable of measuring the position of a variety of forgings in a variety of dies to better than 1 cm accuracy. The system should measure the deviation of the die position from the ideal position and display this deviation on a large easy-to-interpret display visible to an operator driving a forklift. Finally, position of the forging within the die when it is pressed should be permanently recorded electronically for future reference.

PROJECT CONSTRAINTS:

A set of six laser time-of-flight sensors and fixtures for holding them has already been completed. Some rudimentary software and electronics for measuring the position of a billet and die are already available. As the

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Project Readiness Package Rev 15 August 2012

laser sensor function on the hot metal forging has already been validated, this aspect of the project should be kept constant. Usage of other commercially available off-the-shelf components is encouraged wherever applicable. Budget will be available for purchase of these items or parts for their fabrication, within reason.

REQUIRED FACULTY / ENVIRONMENT / EQUIPMENT:

Describe resources necessary to support successful Development, Implementation and Utilization of the project. This would include specific faculty expertise for consulting, required laboratory space and equipment, outside services, customer facilities, etc. Indicate if required resources are available.

Category Source Description Resource Available (mark with X)

FacultyDr. Alan Raisanen Design details of previous team, overall project guidance X

ME Faculty mechanical modeling X

Environment Test area Setup of mechanical and electrical tests X

Equipment Machine Shop Fabrication / Welding of mechanical components X

Materials metal steel, aluminum, etc for structural materials Purchase

Other Metrology tools Metrology instruments to verify system measurements X (borrow)

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