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Determining Punch Problems: What The Slug Can Tell You

Punching machine downtime or poor part quality often can be traced to tooling problems. This article includes actual photographs of typical punched parts and slugs. Operators usually can use the slug, which is viewed easily, to find the cause of problems.

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Al Engg
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602 views4 pages

Determining Punch Problems: What The Slug Can Tell You

Punching machine downtime or poor part quality often can be traced to tooling problems. This article includes actual photographs of typical punched parts and slugs. Operators usually can use the slug, which is viewed easily, to find the cause of problems.

Uploaded by

Al Engg
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Determining punch problems

What the slug can tell you


By Ted Brolund
October 25, 2001
This brief article provides hands-on, helpful info on how to analyze a slug's
appearance to determine punching problems related to punch shape, material type,
die clearance, punch and
die misalignment, and
punch and die wear.
Excessive punching machine
downtime or poor part quality
often can be traced to tooling
problems or the machine
operator's lack of understanding
of good punch and die tooling
conditions.

A quick, effective way to find


solutions to tooling problems Figure 1: The edge condition of a punched hole (A) usually is similar to
that of the slug (B). In this example, the material is 0.375-in. mild steel
simply is for the operator to
with a punch diameter of 1.000 in., an overall die clearance of 0.060 in.,
study the appearance of the and a clearance (percentage of thickness) of 16 percent.
punched slugs found in the slug
pan and take corrective action. This article includes actual photographs of typical punched parts
and slugs that can be used for comparison purposes to troubleshoot problems easily.

Seaberg Industries, Inc., Rock Island, Ill., is a company that successfully implemented the
practice of examining slugs to identify problems. Seaberg is a major parts supplier to
Caterpillar®, where just-in-time (JIT) daily deliveries and near-perfect part quality are musts. Two
large W.A. Whitney combination punch/plasma machines are first-operation machines and are
critical to their company performance levels.

Excessive machine downtime and high maintenance costs had become major problems for
Seaberg, but by training machine operators and maintenance personnel to analyze punched
slugs, the company has experienced major improvements. To help make these improvements,
they actually attached to each machine a laminated set of the captioned photos used in this
article.

The edge condition of a punched hole (see Figure 1A) usually is very similar to that of the slug
(see Figure 1B). Therefore, operators usually can use the slug, which is viewed easily, to find the
cause of poor-quality parts or substandard press performance.

Operators and maintenance personnel first must understand how a normal slug should appear
under ideal operating conditions to determine if a tooling problem exists. A normal appearance
depends on the type of punch being used (such as shear on the punch face to reduce tonnage
requirements) and the type and hardness of the material being punched. The slug's appearance
can give the operator clues regarding:
• Punch shape.

• Material type.

• Die clearance.

• Punch and die misalignment.

• Punch and die wear.

Punch Shape

Punched slugs take the shape of the punch


face, reflecting such punch characteristics as
flat face, centerpoint, concave shear, and
housetop shear (see Figure 2).

Material Type

Type and hardness of the material affect the


cut edge condition. Punching of soft material
such as aluminum (see Figure 3) results in a
deep cut band about one-half of the material Figure 2:
thickness, as well as a shallow fracture band. Punched slugs take the shape of the punch face.

On medium material such as mild steel (see


Figure 4), punching causes a moderately deep
cut band about one-third of the material
thickness, as well as a deep fracture band.

Punching hard material such as abrasion-


resistant (AR) plate (see Figure 5) results in a
very shallow cut band only one-eighth of the
material thickness, as well as a very deep
fracture band.

Die Clearance
Figure 3:
Machine operators generally have control over Punching of soft aluminum results in a deep cut band
three variables that can either give excellent about half of the material thickness (1) and a shallow
fracture band (2). This aluminum is 0.187 in. thick
results or cause problems: amount of die
with a 1.000-in. punch diameter, 0.024-in. overall die
clearance, punch and die alignment, and punch clearance, and 13 percent clearance.
and die wear. How these variables are controlled
produces either excellent results or causes problems.
In most cases when a problem exists, incorrect
die clearance is the cause. Seaberg, like most
companies, has several dies with different
clearances for each punch, and it is up to the
operator to select the right clearance that will
yield the best results.

The quality of the punched hole is greatly


dependent on the amount of clearance between
the two opposed cutting edges (punch and dies).
The appearance of the slug tells the operator if
the clearance needs to be adjusted.

Figure 4:
On the slug, the upper and lower fracture lines
On mild steel, punching causes a moderately deep
should meet; if they do, a clean hole is produced cut band about one-third of the material thickness (1)
with a minimum power requirement. and a deep fracture band (2). This mild steel is 0.187
Recommended clearances for short-run punching in. thick with a 1.000-in. punch diameter, 0.030-in.
are shown in Figure 6. overall die clearance, and 16 percent clearance.

With insufficient clearance, a characteristic known as secondary shear is produced. The two
fracture lines are unable to meet, leaving a ring of material that must be stressed again to its point
of fracture with a further expenditure of energy.

Excessive clearance between the mating edges


causes extreme plastic deformation, a large burr,
and a high angle of fracture.

Punch and Die Misalignment and


Wear

When the punch and die are misaligned, various


edge condition problems can result from side to
side. If the problem is severe enough, tooling is
damaged.
Figure 5:
Punching of AR plate results in a very shallow cut
Worn punches and dies produce large burrs on band only one-eighth of the material thickness (1) and
the slug and the punched part. a very deep fracture band (2). This AR plate is 0.250
in. thick with a punch diameter of 1.000 in., an overall
die clearance of 0.040 in., and a clearance of 16
percent.
Figure 6:
Recommended clearances for short-run
punching increase with the hardness of the
material.

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