International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 4, April-2018 243

ISSN 2229-5518

Automated Pneumatic Sheet Metal Cutting

Machine
Prajwal Poojary, Nishanth V, Nikhil, Niranjan Karkera, Ganesh Kalagi

Abstract – Automated pneumatic sheet metal cutting has been used to shear the sheets made of galvanized iron and aluminium of vari-
ous thicknesses. The pressure and force required for shearing these metal sheets have been listed accordingly. Automation in the process is incor-
porated by using microcontroller, inductive proximity sensor, electrically controlled solenoid valve and DC motor controlled roller feed system. The
automation provides provision to enter the number of sheets to be cut and required length of the sheet.The system works by pneumatic means
which consists of air compressor, pipe lines, control valves and pneumatic cylinder. The design is particularly suited for the applications where
working space is contrained. Pneumatic systems are useful when sheet metals are need to be cut in hazardous areas such as oil and gas refineries
and in chemical factories. Further it is observed that, the employment of automation system makes the cutting process accurate, time efficient and
increases the productivity as compared to conventional non-automated cutting machine.

Keywords – Pneumatic, Automation, Ergonomics, Efficiency

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1 INTRODUCTION
Sheet metal is a metal formed into thin and flat al adjacent to the cutting edges. This causes the fracture to
pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metal start on both sides of the sheet and the sheet is sheared [6].
working and can be cut and bent into variety of different
A lot of researchers have worked on pneumatic sys-
shapes [1]. Sheet metals are available in flat pieces or as a
tems as well as on sheet metal experiments. The work done
coiled strip. The thickness of the sheet metal is measured in
by various authors are explained below.
gauge. Commonly used steel sheet metal ranges from 30
guage to 8 gauge [2]. The larger the gauge number, the thin- • Pneumatics was first documented by Hero of Alexan-
ner the metal. Sheet metals has wide range of applications in dria in 60 A.D., but the concept had existed before
car bodies, airplane wings, medical tables, roofs of buildings then [3].
and many other things. Sheet metal of iron and other mate-
• Vallance and Matlock (1992) studied the friction be-
rials with high magnetic permeability are known as laminat-
havior of zinc-based coated sheet steels and laboratory
ed steel cores [4].
scale friction analysis techniques that involve sheet
The shearing machine is most important in sheet sliding over cylindrical dies [3].
metal industry. In most of the small scale industries, hand
• Sanchez et al. (1999) has focused on systematic analy-
sheet cutters are used, which requires human effort to cut
sis of testing equipment as a measurement system of
down the sheets. It can be replaced by a pneumatic cutting
the friction phenomenon on sheet metal under plain
machine which can cut the sheet metal at a faster rate and in
strain. It has also provided experimental reference in
a convenient way [5]. In shearing operation, the pressure order to optimize the usage of sheet metal and lubri-
exerted by the punch, causes the plastic deformation of the cants [3].
sheet metal. Since the clearance between the die and punch
• Mutoh et al. proposed that the exhaust pressure of the
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• 1,2,3,4 UG Students in Mechanical Engineering, Shri Madhwa Vadiraja
cylinder hold middle level is 0.2-0.5 MPa. If the ex-
Institute of Technology and Management, Bantakal, Udupi, India. haust flow is used effectively, losses can be reduced in
• 5 Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shri pneumatic systems. If the exhaust pressure is set near
Madhwa Vadiraja Institute of Technology and Management, Bantakal, 0.2 MPa, it reduces the losses by 15% of total con-
Udupi, India.
• [email protected], +91 9632046436 sumption [8].

is very small, the plastic deformation takes place in the met- The main objective of the present project is to
automate the system so that the cutting operation can be
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 4, April-2018 244
ISSN 2229-5518

done with high accuracy. To achieve this, microcontrol- The figure 1 shows the dimensions and figure 2 shows
ler based system is incorporated in this project. This sys- the Isometric view of the model.
tem controls the feed and performs the cutting action
via pneumatic means.

2 METHODOLOGY

2.1 Material Selection

2.1.1 Frame:-
The frame is made up of mild steel material. Because, mild
steel is readily available in market and is economical to use.
It has good mechanical properties such as high ductility and
high toughness. Mild steel has carbon content ranging from
0.15% to 0.25%. The ultimate strength and compressive of
this steel increases with increase in the carbon content.
Fig. 1: Dimensions of the frame along with different views

2.1.2 Shearing Blade:-

The shearing blade is made up of high speed steel material.
The blade has to withstand the high cutting forces and this
can be achieved by using high speed steel as a blade materi-

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al. High speed steel offers reliable toughness and it retains
good wear resistance. A typical composition is: 18% of tung-
sten, 4% of chromium, 1% of vanadium, 0.7% of carbon and
the rest is iron.

Fig. 2: Isometric view of CATIA V5R20 model

2.3 Force Calculation

The maximum pressure applied in the cylinder (P) = 10 bar

2.2 Design

CATIA V5R20 software is used for designing and model-

ling. The blade design considerations are:

• Clearance is typically 2% to 10% of the material thick-

ness.
• The upper blade is angled so that as the cutting pro-
gresses from one end to other end, thus reducing the re-
quired force ( 50 shear angle reduces force by 20% ).
• Scissor type cutting blade is used.
• Square edged blade is preferred rather than knife edge.
Daimeter of the cylinder bore (D) = 40 mm
The frame design considerations are:
Area of the cylinder (A) = (π×D2 ) /4
• Based on the length of the cutting blade used, the width
Area (A) = (π×402 )/4 = 0.0012564 m2
of the frame is selected.
• The length of the frame is designed to make the ma- Therefore, Force acting on the sheet (F) = P×A
chine compact and also to accommodate the length of
the sheet metal to be cut. Force (F) = (10×105) × (0.001256) = 1256.4 N
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 4, April-2018 245
ISSN 2229-5518

type solenoid is one in which the plunger is pushed when

the solenoid is energized electrically. The pull type solenoid
2.4 Components Used
is one in which the plunger is energized [8].

2.4.1 Pneumatic Cylinder:-

The cylinders are the devices which use the power of com- Fig. 4 Solenoid valve
pressed air to produce force in a reciprocating linear motion.
2.4.3 Air Compressor:-
In this project, double acting pneumatic cylinder in used as
shown in figure 3. It develops pressure in both extend and An electric compressor is a device that converts power (us-
retract strokes. The moving member inside the cylinder is ing an electric motor, diesel or gasoline engine, etc) into po-
piston which moves forward and backward due to the high tential energy stored in pressurized air. Figure 5 shows a air
pressure of air. The cylinder top and lower plate are flanged compressor of 12 bar pressure.By one of several methods, an
together by means of bolts and nuts. The bottom of the cyl- air compressor forces more and more air into a storage tank,
inder is also flanged with end covers for the movement of increasing the pressure. When tank pressure reaches
the piston in reciprocating manner [7]. it’upper limit, the compressor shuts off. The energy con-
tained in the compressed air can be used for a variety of ap-
plications. As the compressed air is released from the cylin-
der, the tanks depressurize. When tank pressure reaches it’s
lower limit, the air compressor turn on again and re-

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pressurizes the tank [10].

2.4.4 DC Motor

Fig. 3: Double acting cylinder An electric motor is a machine which converts electrical en-
ergy to mechanical energy. It’s action is based on the princi-
2.4.2 Solenoid Valve:-
ple that when a current carrying conductor is placed in a
magnetic field, it experiences a magnetic force whose direc-
tion is given by Fleming’s left hand rule. When a motor is in
The direction control valve is used to control the direction of
operation, it develops torque. This torque can produce me-
air flow in the pneumatic system. The figure 4 shows electri-
chanical rotation. Figure 6 shows a DC motor.
cally controlled solenoid valve. A solenoid is a device that
converts electrical energy into straight line motion and force
[9]. Solenoid may be of push type or pull type. The push Fig. 5: Air compressor

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 4, April-2018 246
ISSN 2229-5518

A sensor is an object whose purpose is to detect events

or changes in its environment, and then provide a cor-
responding output. The sensor used in this project is
inductive proximity sensor as shown in figure 8. Inductive
proximity sensors enable the detection, without contact,
of metal objects at distances of up to 60 mm. Their
range of applications is very extensive and includes :
the monitoring of machine parts (cams, mechanical
stops, etc.), monitoring the flow of metal parts, counting,
etc. They basically comprise an oscillator whose wind-
ings constitute the sensing face. An alternating magnetic
2.4.5 Microcontroller:- field is generated in front of these windings. When a
metal object is placed within the magnetic field generat-
A microcontroller as shown in figure 7 is a compact inte-
grated circuit designed to govern a specific operation in an
Fig. 6: DC motor
embedded system. A typical microcontroller includes a pro-
cessor, memory and input/output peripherals on a single
chip.

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ed by the sensor, the resulting currents induced form

an additional load and the oscillation ceases. This

causes the output driver to operate and, depending on
the sensor type, a NO, NC or NO + NC (complemen-
tary) output signal is produced.

Fig. 8: Inductive proximity sensor

2.4.7 Polyurethane Tubes:-

A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder as shown in

figure 9, usually of circular cross-section is used mainly to
Fig. 7: Microcontroller convey substances which can flow through it (liquids, gases,
slurries, powders etc). It can also be used for structural ap-
plications.

2.4.6 Proximity Sensor:-

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 4, April-2018 247
ISSN 2229-5518

2.4.8 Rollers:- is needs to be cut. The figure 11 shows the working model.

The electronic roll feeding is an integral part of almost every Fig. 11: Working model

modern conveyor fed press and punch, and is frequently

implemented as a stand-alone, electrically driven machine 4 RESULTS
unit. Mechanical components of a complex construction in
The metal strips made of galvanized iron and aluminium
the roll feeding are replaced by intelligent units. The figure with different thickness has been sheared by the pneumatic
10 shows the rubber rollers. shearing machine at various pressures.

Table 1 shows the force and pressure required to cut the

different sheets of various thickness.

Table 1: Force reading for different sheets

Material Thickness (cm) Applied pres- Force (N)

used sure (bar)

Galvanized 0.1 3.5 431.24

iron sheet
0.15 5 615.07
metal
Fig. 10: Rubber rollers Aluminium 0.1 1 123

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0.2 3 370

0.3 5 616.07
3 WORKING PRINCIPLE

The sheet metal will be fed through feed rollers. The gear
With the use of scissor type blades, it acts as a lever system.
arrangement on the rollers is meshed with the DC motor,
Less cylindrical force is used to generate the shearing force.
which feeds the sheet. The inductive proximity
switch/sensor will be used, it detects the metal sheet and Automation has reduced the time taken in measuring and
also records the sheet length as the sheet passes over it. Af- cutting the sheetmetal, with automation it takes 1-2 seconds
ter detection, these informations are sent as a input to the per sheet.
microcontroller circuit containing series of relays. The mi-
crocontroller carries out the computations according to the The table 2 shows the comparison between hydraulic,
coding done on it. The output from the microcontroller will pneumatic and mechanical system. An inference could be
be sent to electrically controlled solenoid valve. The valve drawn that pneumatic system is less complex, cheap and
control the actuator to actuate according to the signal re- efficient.
ceived. Table 2: Comparison between Hydraulic, Pneumatic and Mechanical
System
DC motor meshed with the gear arrangement on the feed
rollers receives input from the proximity switch, which will
start/stop accordingly. This system provides provision to
enter number of sheets along with the required length which

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 9, Issue 4, April-2018 248
ISSN 2229-5518

of Engineering Research and Advanced Technology, Vol. 2,

May 2010.
[7] Mutoh, Hiroshi, “An Approach to Energy Conversation in
Pneumatic Systems with meter out circuit”, Proceedings of
the JFPS International Symposium on Fluid Power, 2008.
[8] Pradan P.M, “Experimental Investigation and Fabrication of
Pneumatic Cutting Tool”, International Journal of Innovative
Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, Vol. 2,
June 2014.
[9] Raj Reddy, “Fabrication of Pneumatic Sheet Metal Cutter”,
International Journal on Emerging Technologies, 2016.
[10] Vishal Tambat, Nilkanth Rane, Omkar Savant, 4Pankaj
Yadav. Pneumatic Shearing and Bending Machine, IJR-
RCME, Vol. 2, April 2015.

5 CONCLUSION
It is observed that the pneumatic cutting is very cheap as
compared to hydraulic cutting machine. The range of the

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cutting thickness can be increased by using high pressure
compressor and more hardedned blades. This machine is
advantageneous to small sheet metal cutting industries as
they cannot afford the expensive hydraulic cutting machine.
Further with the employment of automation, it provides
provision to enter the number of sheets to be cut and re-
quired length of the sheet. Hence human effort is reduced
with increase in accuracy in operation.

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