Flexible punching method using an elastic tool

instead of a metal punch

Hisaki Watari
a,*
, Hiroshi Ona
b
, Yu Yoshida
c
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Oyama National College of Technology, 771 Nakakuki, Oyama, Tochigi 323-0806, Japan
b
Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Takushoku University, 815-1 Tate-machi, Hachioji, Tokyo 193-0944, Japan
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kami-Tomioka-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata 940-2188, Japan
Abstract
An experimental approach has been conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of a exible punching method using a urethane elastomer for a
relatively thin metal sheet. In this punching process, an elastic tool that consists of a urethane sheet and a metal die is used for punching instead
of a conventional metal punch and die. By applying the urethane sheet as a exible punch that is compatible with many shapes and sizes of
holes, a more economical and simpler way of punching could be performed. The effects of the hardness and thickness in addition to the contact
conditions between the metal sheet and the urethane sheet on the cut-out are examined in detail. The mechanismof the punching process using
urethane as a punch is investigated and a suitable punching condition for making a simple circular hole is also proposed.
# 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Flexible punching; Elastic tool; Urethane sheet
1. Introduction
In recent years, micro-piercing technology has been
considered to be increasingly important, especially in the
eld of electronics. Due to the growing needs of product
manufacturers to consider the impact on the environment, it
is now widely recognized that attempting to lighten the total
weight of the product is a desirable goal. Utilizing technol-
ogy to lighten product weight is necessary to manufacture
various electronics parts. For example, a piercing method
with high accuracy is required to make holes of less than
1.0 mm diameter in sheet with a thickness of less than
0.2 mm. Generally, in the micro-piercing process, a metal
punch and die, a drilling machine, an electron discharge
machine or etching have been used. However, it has been
said that the problems in micro-piercing are mainly due to
the increasing costs of manufacturing special tools, in the
case of using drills or a conventional metal punch and die. In
addition, the buckling of the punch owing to the insuf-
ciency of the tools strength is a further problem, even if the
proper tools could be made. Also, in using a drilling process,
the shape of the hole is limited to only a simple circular
shape.
The authors, therefore, have proposed a exible punching
method using an elastic tool instead of a metal punch and
die, which is compatible with many varieties of products as
well as small productivity [1,2]. This process draws upon the
Guerin process, which was used for manufacturing aircraft
parts in the 1960s in the USA [35]. Despite the low
production cost contributed by the Guerin process, the
accuracy of the products is not regarded as very high. In
this paper, an experimental investigation for a relatively thin
metal sheet has been conducted to ascertain the adaptability
of this application using urethane elastomer as a punch. In
order to improve the accuracy of the products, a simple hole
can be cut by subjecting a sheet plate on a metal die to an
impact load by the urethane elastomer. By applying the
urethane sheet as a exible punch that is compatible with
many shapes and sizes of holes, a more economical way of
punching can be performed.
For this reason, this paper rstly describes the effects of
the hardness and thickness of the urethane as a punch on the
results for a cut-out. Secondly, the contact condition in terms
of the radius of a metal punch, which applied an impact load
to the urethane elastomer, is investigated. Also, the mechan-
ism of the punching process using urethane as a punch is
discussed. Finally, the relationship between diameterthick-
ness ratio d/t and the tensile strength of the sheet metal is
established with regard to the possibility of manufacturing a
simple circular hole.
Journal of Materials Processing Technology 137 (2003) 151155
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: 81-285-20-2208; fax: 81-285-20-2884.
E-mail address: watari@oyama-ct.ac.jp (H. Watari).
0924-0136/02/$ see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 1 0 8 0 - 4
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. Punching machine
Fig. 1 presents an illustration of the punching machine.
An impact force to the urethane sheet can be given by hitting
a metal punch that takes advantage of spring force. Sub-
jecting a sheet plate on a metal die to an impact load by the
urethane elastomer can cut a simple circular hole. In this
process, the urethane sheet can act as an elastic punch
instead of using a metal punch. Table 1 shows the principal
dimensions and properties of the punching machine that was
used in this experiment.
2.2. Punching process
Fig. 2 presents schematic illustrations of the punching
process. As shown in Fig. 2(b), the distribution of the
pressure, in the which shape of is a circular arc, is obtained
by hitting a metal punch with high velocity as shown in
Fig. 2(a). Therefore, the urethane elastomer is deformed as
shown in Fig. 2(c). As a result, the deformed urethane sheet
ows into the metal die that is tted under the sheet plate.
Thus, a desired hole could be cut in a sheet plate.
2.3. Specimen and experimental conditions
The mechanical properties of the materials adopted are
shown in Table 2. Table 3 shows the experimental conditions
that were employed. In this experiment, a simple circular
hole of diameter d (mm) is made in a sheet plate of thickness
t (mm). Four kinds of urethane hardness from 708 to 958
were used to examine the best hardness for an elastic punch.
The sheet thickness of the urethane was varied from 3.0 to
6.0 mm in three ways. Three kinds of dimensions of holes
were taken to investigate the limit of punching. Also, three
kinds of punch radius were used in order to examine the best
contact conditions between the metal punch and the urethane
sheet.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effects of the hardness of the urethane punch
Some examples of the results of possible cut-out in this
experiment are shown in Figs. 35. In these gures, white
and black round marks indicate possible cut-out, white and
black triangular marks indicate primary fracture [1] and
cross marks indicate impossible cut-out. From Fig. 3, it can
be seen that the punching is impossible when the hardness of
the urethane is more than 908 and d/t is less than around 40 in
the case of SUS304. This result is obtained under the
conditions that the thickness of urethane t
u
is 6.0 mm,
and the radius of the metal punch R is 7.5 mm. It is also
seen that the results of punching are primary fracture in other
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the punching machine.
Table 1
Properties of the punching machine
Spring constant (N mm
1
) 94.1
Initial deflection (mm) 30
Mass of steel punch (kg) 0.96
Impact velocity (m s
1
) 9.4
Fig. 2. The punching process.
Table 2
Material properties and sheet thickness
Yield stress or
0.2% proofstress
s
Y
(MPa)
Tensile
strength,
s
T
(MPa)
Thickness
t (mm)
SUS304 1285 1445 0.05, 0.1
PBP2-1/2H 551 582 0.1
A1050-H18 170 196 0.2
Table 3
Experimental conditions
Hardness of urethane, H
u
(8) 70, 80, 90, 95
Thickness of urethane, t
u
(mm) 2, 3, 5, 6
Hole diameter, d (mm) 1.6, 2.4, 4.8
Radius of metal punch, R (mm) 5.0, 7.5. 10.0
152 H. Watari et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 137 (2003) 151155
cases. As shown in Fig. 4, the cut-out in the case of PBP2
resulted in almost primary fracture. For the case of A1050,
the result is shown in Fig. 5. Punching can be possible when
the range of hardness of the urethane H
u
is 80 or 908, and the
ratio d/t is 24 or 48. From these results, it is considered that
the punching can be possible in the case where the value of
H
u
is 80 or 908, when the sheet plate does not have a very
high strength. This is explained by the following mechan-
ism. When the hardness of the urethane is decreased, the
urethane sheet is easily deformed and comes into the metal
die, so that primary fracture tends to occur. However, the
punching is not completed owing to the insufciency of the
tools rigidity as an elastic punch. Contrarily, when the
hardness of urethane is increased, the tools rigidity as an
elastic punch is sufcient, but the urethane sheet is difcult
to deform. As a result, the punching cannot be completed. In
other words, an appropriate urethane hardness is necessary
to perform punching by the use of a urethane sheet as an
elastic punch. In this case, it is considered that the results in
Fig. 5 present an appropriate range of urethane hardness that
is suitable for exible punching as an elastic tool as well as a
deformed body. In this experiment, it is demonstrated that
the appropriate range of the hardness of the urethane sheet is
from 808 to 908 to complete the exible punching.
3.2. Effects of radius of metal punch
The radius of the metal punch R affects the pressure
distribution on the urethane sheet when the metal punch
hits the urethane sheet. Generally, it is considered that as the
radius of the metal punch increases, a lager magnitude of
pressure can be obtained. However, when the radius of the
metal punch becomes too small, the area of pressure dis-
tribution becomes narrower, so that punching cannot be
possible for relatively large holes. In order to nd the best
contact conditions between the urethane sheet and the radius
of the metal punch, experimental results are presented in
Figs. 68. The data are summarized with the axis, namely,
the vertical axis is shown with the urethane hardness H
u
, the
horizontal axis is shown with the ratio between the hole
diameter and the radius of the metal punch, as shown in
Figs. 68. From Fig. 6, it is seen that punching is impossible
in the case that the diameterradius ratio d/R is less than
about 4.0 and when the hardness of the urethane is 90 and
958 in the case of SUS304. In the case of PBP2, the
relationship between the ratio d/R and the urethane hardness
Fig. 3. Relationship between the diameterthickness ratio d/t and the
urethane hardness H
u
(SUS304).
Fig. 4. Relationship between the diameterthickness ratio d/t and the
urethane hardness H
u
(PBP2).
Fig. 5. Relationship between the diameterthickness ratio d/t and the
urethane hardness H
u
(A1050).
Fig. 6. Relationship between the diameterradius ratio d/R and the
urethane hardness H
u
(SUS304).
H. Watari et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 137 (2003) 151155 153
H
u
is shown in Fig. 7. It is seen that the punching results are
almost primary fracture. It also can be seen that this trend is
the same as that in Fig. 4. Furthermore, Fig. 8 shows the
result in the case of A1050. When the strength of the sheet
metal becomes lower, it can be seen that primary fracture is
possible. However, in the case where the value d/R is 0.48
0.64 as well as H
u
is 80 and 908, the formations in Fig. 8
result in possible cut-out. In order to ensure successful
punching under these experimental conditions, it is sug-
gested that the appropriate range of the diameterthickness
ratio is 0.480.64.
3.3. Effects of the thickness of the urethane sheet
Tables 4 and 5 show examples of results of possible cut-
out in the case where the urethane thickness t
u
is 6.0 and
5.0 mm, respectively. It is found clearly that more forma-
tions of successful punching can be performed as shown in
Table 5, compared to the results in Table 4. It is considered
that a larger magnitude of punching force can act on the
sheet plate through the urethane sheet by hitting the metal
punch, when the urethane becomes thinner. In other words,
punching is easily performed when an appropriate thickness
of the urethane sheet is taken. However, this experiment
showed that the usage of a urethane sheet that was too thin
caused damage of the metal punch and the urethane sheet,
which made punching impossible. In order to complete
successful punching by the use of urethane sheet, the
thickness of urethane should be decided carefully so that
it can ensure the rigidity of an elastic tool as well as the
delivery of the punching force. Comparing Table 4 with
Table 5, it is suggested that a difference of only 1.0 mm
between the thickness of the urethane in the two cases
considerably affects the result of possible cut-out. Under
these experimental conditions, it is considered that an
appropriate thickness of the urethane is within the range
of from 3.0 to 5.0 mm.
3.4. Effects of the mechanical properties of the materials
Fig. 9 shows an example of the relationship between the
tensile strength of the materials and diameterthickness
ratio. As shown in this gure, exible punching can be
completed for materials that have relatively low tensile
strength. For these materials, the area of possible cut-out
Fig. 7. Relationship between the diameterradius ratio d/R and the
urethane hardness H
u
(PBP2).
Fig. 8. Relationship between the diameterradius ratio d/R and the
urethane hardness H
u
(A1050).
Table 4
Result of possible cut-out (t
u
6:0 mm, R 7:5 mm, H
u
95

)
Specimen Hole diameter d (mm)
1.6 2.4 4.8
SUS304 (0.05 mm) ~ ~
SUS304 (0.1 mm) ~
A1050-H18 (0.2 mm) ~ ~ ~
PBP2-1/2H (0.1 mm) ~ ~ ~
Table 5
Result of possible cut-out (T
u
5:0 mm, R 7:5 mm, H
u
95

)
Specimen Hole diameter d (mm)
1.6 2.4 4.8
SUS304 (0.05 mm) ~ ~ ~
SUS304 (0.1 mm) ~ ~
A1050-H18 (0.2 mm) * * *
PBP2-1/2H (0.1 mm) ~ ~ ~
Fig. 9. Effect of the mechanical properties on possible cut-out.
154 H. Watari et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 137 (2003) 151155
becomes wider, so that the proposed punching method can
be used with a small value of d/t. Contrarily, the proposed
punching method for materials that have relatively high
tensile strength is difcult. In this case, the area of possible
cut-out becomes narrower so that the proposed punching
method is difcult to carry out by this machine with a small
value of d/t. This can be explained by the insufciency of
rigidity of the urethane sheet as an elastic tool, and thus
punching could not be completed. On the other hand,
punching can be completed for a low tensile strength sheet
because the urethane has the desirable rigidity as an elastic
tool. In order to accomplish the proposed punching method,
it is necessary to use a harder urethane sheet to secured
larger force with high speed.
4. Conclusions
In the present investigation, an experiment was conducted
to ascertain the effectiveness of a exible punching method
using a urethane elastomer for a relatively thin metal sheet.
The results obtained are as follows:
1. A suitable hardness of the urethane as a punch is
between 808 and 908. A suitable thickness of the
urethane is within the range of 3.05.0 mm.
2. The desirable ratio d/R between the radius of the metal
punch R and hole diameter d is within the range from
0.48 to 0.64.
3. The relationship between the diameterthickness ratio d/
t and the tensile strength of the sheet metal is
established, and the mechanism of punching using an
elastic tool has also been clarified.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable
suggestions by Mr. R. Miya of Urethane Engineering, and
Mr. M. Mori of Polymer-Giken Co. Ltd., and Mr. Y. Ara-
kawa of Arc-tech Co. Ltd. for useful discussion in connec-
tion with this work. The authors also wish to acknowledge
the assistance of Mr. H. Hamano of Showa Aluminum Co.
Ltd, and the continuing guidance and encouragement of
Prof. Kurosu and Prof. Nishiwaki.
References
[1] H. Watari, H. Ona, Application of urethane rolls for producing section
with holes at regular intervals, in: Proceedings of the 32nd
International MATADOR Conference, UK, 1997, pp. 463467.
[2] H. Watari, H. Ona, Characteristic features of shape defects occurring
in the cold roll forming of pre-notched products, J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 8081 (1998) 225231.
[3] K. Sato, R. Miya, K. Ozaki, H. Nishimura, Y. Ishikawa, O. Ishishita,
Punching aluminum sheets with urethane elastomer tools, J. Jpn. Inst.
Light Met. 31 (3) (1981) 164168 (in Japanese).
[4] K. Sato, R. Miya, K. Ozaki, H. Nishimura, Y. Ashikawa, Punching
square holes in aluminum sheets with urethane elastomer tools, J. Jpn.
Inst. Light Met. 31 (9) (1982) 608613 (in Japanese).
[5] K. Sato, R. Miya, K. Ozaki, H. Nishimura, Improvements of punched
edge in aluminum sheets with urethane elastomer tools, J. Jpn. Inst.
Light Met. 32 (8) (1982) 389394 (in Japanese).
H. Watari et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 137 (2003) 151155 155