Testing new technologies at Autoeuropa

Challenge

 The stamping tools used face high production rates, in the order of thousands of pieces per production cycle, giving rise to various problems that affect their operation (accumulation of zinc in undesired areas, wear, etc.), requiring stops for cleaning and maintenance. With the participation in the On-SURF mobiliser, Volkswagen Autoeuropa expects to improve the efficiency of the production process with regard to stamping tools, finding an innovative way to decrease the intervals for cleaning/interventions and increasing the tool's lifetime.

Solution

Under the On-SURF mobilising project, IPN has started the first stamping tests of a component of the T-Roc model, produced at Volkswagen AutoEuropa, in Lisbon. The goal is to coat the stamping tools with self-adaptive systems, which will allow minimizing and/or eliminating the zinc detachment during the stamping process. 
From an industrial point of view, the preliminary data from these first tests were successful and the parts produced will now be evaluated in order to assess the ability to use the project prototype in large-scale production.