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M. GE
G. C. ZHANG
R. DU
Y. XU
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-QPI *QPI -QPI
(Received 20 December 2000; accepted 4 June 2002)

#DUVTCEV As one of the most commonly used manufacturing processes, stamping operations are applied to an
extended range from centimeter-class parts to meter-class parts. The demand for the quality and productivity
of stamping products is ever increasing. Hence, the extraction of the appropriate feature to implement on-
line monitoring has been attempted. The vibration signals provide rich information for finding the dynamic
behavior at high frequency vibration of the press. In this paper, an accelerometer has been employed in place of
tonnage sensors or strain gauges to monitor the stamping process. In order to characterize the transient signal
of the process, this work extracts the energy densities and frequency band energy (FBE) from the vibration
signal. Owing to its inherent properties, the wavelet packet transformation decomposes the original signal
into basis functions, with different energy distributions dominating in different time–frequency bands. Based
on the experimental results, this suggests that extracting FBE from a vibration signal using a wavelet packet
as a feature for fault diagnosis can, in practice be an effective approach for stamping process monitoring.

-G[ 9QTFU Feature extraction, energy distribution, frequency band energy, wavelet packet decomposition, stamping
process

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Sheet metal stamping is one of the most commonly used manufacturing operations. Every
day, millions of parts are made by stamping, ranging from battery caps, and clock frames, to
automobile body panels and aircraft landing gears. Hence, even small improvements could
add up to a significant corporate gain. However, the stamping process is rather complicated
(Lange, 1985; Tlusty, 2000); it involves the transient elastic and plastic deformation of the
sheet metal as well as the static and dynamic behavior of the press. A stamping operation,
called a stroke or a shot, will be completed, with large energy consumption, within a fraction
of a second. With these characteristics considerable effort has been invested by industry and
academia to meet the ever-increasing demand for quality and productivity. Some of the recent
research includes innovated tooling design and process optimization (Cao and Boyce, 1994;
Haug, and GV CN, 1994; Lefebvre and GV CN, 1994), and special control systems (Hardt and Fenn,
1993; Weinmann, and GV CN, 1994; Cao and GV CN, 2000).

,QWTPCN QH 8KDTCVKQP CPF %QPVTQN 8: 1023–1032, 2002 DOI: 10.1177/107754602029577

f 2002
? Sage Publications

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1024 M. GE ET AL.

While great progress has been made, however, to assure the product quality, on-line
monitoring of the stamping operations is necessary. According to a market survey (Tong
and GV CN, 2000), tonnage signals and strain signals are the most commonly used monitoring
signals. For example, in (Koh, 1995; Koh and GV CN 1999(a) and (b)), the Haar transform is
used to analyze the strain signals for monitoring a large press used in automobile body panel
production. In (Jin and Shi, 2000), the principal component analysis (PCA) technique is used
to extract features of the tonnage signals. D.J. Kim and B.H. Kim (2000) used artificial neural
network (ANN) and finite element analysis to study the force needed for stamping.
Nevertheless, the use of tonnage sensors or strain sensors has a significant limitation:
they cannot capture the dynamic characteristics of the stamping operation. When faults
occur, they always cause a variation in dynamic pattern, especially, in the high frequency
band. Furthermore, the existing approaches can identify only certain faults and do not have
the ability for multi-fault diagnosis. Therefore, for problems related to the dynamics of the
process, the use of other sensors, such as vibration sensors, is imperative.
This study focuses on extracting features from vibration signals. The stamping operation
is an energy transformation process. Basically, the vibration demonstrates the alteration in
process energy. It can reveal the dynamic characteristics of the stamping operation. The
sensor used is an accelerometer, which is rather inexpensive compared with a tonnage sensor
or strain sensor. Owing to the transient effect of the stamping operation, the vibration signal
is a typical nonstationary impulsive signal polluted by random noise. This is one of the
main reasons that vibration signals have not been widely used on the shop floor. However, as
shown below, this problem can be overcome by using advanced signal processing techniques,
namely, time–frequency distribution and wavelet transform.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the theoretical
background. Section 3 describes the experimental system. Section 4 presents the experi-
mental results and analysis. Finally, Section 5 contains the conclusions.

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The most commonly used tool for revealing the energy consumption pattern is the power
spectrum. Given a signal, {+w,, w 5 ], the power spectrum density (PSD) is defined as follows
(Vaseghi, 1996):

[
4
S{{ +$, @ u{{ +w, hm5 $w (1)
q@4

where q 5 ] and u{{ +w, @ H^{+w,{+w . n,`> w> n 5 ]. This works for the stationary process.
For nonstationary transient signals, a short time window is usually applied to filter the signals
resulting in the so-called spectrogram.
However, for highly time-variant signals even the spectrogram may not work very well. It
is noted that the window used for the spectrogram is fixed once its type has been confirmed, so
that the accuracy for extracting frequency information is limited by the length of the window.
For the transient signal, we want to know more details about the time information in high
frequency bands and more details about the frequency information in low frequency bands.
The spectrogram cannot be flexible enough to meet these requirements. In this case, one

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 FEATURE EXTRACTION FROM ENERGY DISTRIBUTION 1025

may use a time–frequency distribution, such as the Wigner–Ville distribution (WVD) defined
below (Qian and Chen, 1996):

[
4
Z +w> $, @ 5 { +w . q, {  +w  q, hm5 $ (2)
q@4

where  is the interval and q @ 4> 5> 6> = = =. It represents the energy density distribution
(EDD) at different time windows and frequency bands and, hence, can capture the transient
dynamics. However, time–frequency distribution is a 2D distribution. In addition, it requires
a large amount of computation. In comparison, the computation of wavelet transformation is
fast and more practical.
The wavelet-based analysis describes the non-stationary signal in a two-dimensional
space O5 +U, of a joint time-scale. It decomposes the signal into a series of components
in different time windows at difference scales, or in different time windows at different
frequency bands. According to the literature, a number of different wavelet transforms have
been developed. In particular, with its outstanding localization property, the wavelet packet
transform is commonly used (Strang and Nguyen, 1996; Wickerhauser 1994). Using the
wavelet packet transform, a signal {+w, @ {4 +w, can be decomposed into:

s [
{5q +w, @ 5 k +n, {q +5w  n, (3)
n

s [
{5q.4 +w, @ 5 j +n, {q +5w  n, (4)
n

where k+n, and j+n, are a pair of mirror filters, and q @ 4> 5> 6> = = = represent different
frequency bands. Note that equations (3) and (4) are recursive equations. The decomposition
was implemented in each sub-frequency band so that the signal can be decomposed to the
arbitrary levels as flexibly as desired. In another word, wavelet packets provide arbitrary
time–frequency resolution. This paper employs the Daubechies wavelet D4. To overcome
the aliasing impact and make the decomposition in increasing order of frequency, the Paley
order (Wickerhauser, 1994) was employed. Based on the wavelet packet transform and the
Parseval Equality (Strang and Nguyen, 1996), we can compute the wavelet packet’s EDD and
frequency band energy (FBE) defined below:

hq>n @ { 5q>n (5)

[ [
Hq @ hq>n @ { 5q>n (6)
n n

FBE represents the energy in different frequency bands and can overcome the deficiency of
wavelet bases, which is the lack of a translation-invariant property, to provide a more robust
signal feature.

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1026 M. GE ET AL.

Figure 1. The experimental setup.

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The experiments were conducted on a C-frame double column press (manufacturer: SEYI;
model: SN1-25). The experimental setup is as shown in Figure 1. The press is a typical
machine used in mass production of small domestic product components. The maximum
stamping force is 25 tons and the maximum speed is 110 stroke per minute (SPM). An
accelerometer (B&K model: 4396) was mounted on the bottom die holder. During the
experiments, the signals were first amplified and filtered by an amplifier (B&K model: 2635),
and then sampled using a National Instruments data acquisition card (NI model: PCI 4452),
installed in an Intel Pentium III 550MHz PC. As pointed out above, stamping is a transient
process. A stroke is completed in a fraction of a second. In order to capture the signal
every time at the same instance, a trigger mechanism was developed. It is a proximity sensor
installed near the main shaft. Each time the key way of the shaft rotates past the sensor, a
pulse is generated and sent to the computer to trigger the start of the sampling. The sampling
rate was 5 kHz and a total of 1024 points of data were sampled covering the entire stroke.
It is known that stamping operations can be divided into three categories: blanking,
bending and deep drawing (Lange 1985). In our experiment, only the blanking operation
was performed. The part is a simple bucket used for mounting I/O boards in desktop
computers. The part material is mild steel and the blank dimension (the perimeter of the
part) is approximately 32 cm.

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From a mechanical point of view, the vibration of the press may be caused by many factors
including:

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 FEATURE EXTRACTION FROM ENERGY DISTRIBUTION 1027

Figure 2. The correlation between strain and vibration.

 the stamping force (i.e., the impact force between the punch and the sheet metal);
 the recovering force of the press, caused by the abrupt release of the force between the
punch and the part when the punch move away;
 the imbalance force of the flywheel; and
 the disturbing force of the moving crank mechanism.
As the rotating speed of the flywheel is relatively low, the flywheel imbalance force is
relatively small. Also, the movement of the press is simple harmonic motion; when the punch
contacts the sheet metal, it is near its bottom position and its speed is nearly zero; hence, the
moving crank contributes little to the press vibration. The dominant force that causes the
vibration is the stamping force. In additional, when the shearing of the part is completed the
stamping operation ends abruptly and the press attempts to return to its original condition,
which may also cause vibration.
The dynamic characteristics of the stamping operation can be clearly seen from the sensor
signals. Figure 2 shows the strain signal and the acceleration signal in a typical stroke. It
is seen that the stamping operation starts at Point A. At Point B, the punch contacts the
workpiece. However, as the dies hold the workpiece tightly, only a small vibration is detected.
At Point C, the stamping force reaches the maximum and at Point D, the blank yields. After
the blank yields, the dies no long hold tightly, so the vibration can start. Finally, the vibration

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 1028 M. GE ET AL.

Table 1. Features observed from the PSD.

Stamping Mode
conditions 377 Hz 725 Hz
a 1.24 1.82
b 0.98 2.41
c 1.38 2.34
d 1.44 2.18
e 1.21 1.51
f 1.19 2.51

damps out at a Point F. Comparing the two signals, it is seen that the acceleration signal
contains the information about the dynamics of the stamping operation while the strain signal
primarily contains the static information.
A large number of experiments were conducted under six different conditions:
(a) normal stamping – workpiece thickness @ 4=3 mm;
(b) normal stamping – workpiece thickness @ 4=5 mm;
(c) normal stamping – workpiece thickness @ 4=6 mm;
(d) misfeed (i.e., the workpiece is not aligned with the dies);
(e) slug with one workpiece; and
(f) slug with two workpieces.
Figure 3 shows typical power spectrum density (PSD) under these conditions. From the
figure, it is seen that there are two major peaks, one is around 377 Hz and the other is around
725 Hz. These modes are believed to be the natural frequencies of the press and the die,
respectively (Zhang and GV CN, 2000). It is noted the magnitudes of the peaks increase as
the workpiece thickness increases or the stamping condition deteriorates (slug), due to the
increase in energy consumption. It is also suspected that the vibration signal is polluted by
random noise because of the large variations near the peaks. Table 1 summarizes the features
that can be observed from the PSD. From the table, it is clear that the PSD does not fully
capture the dynamic characteristics of the stamping operations.
Figure 4 shows the Wigner–Ville distribution (WVD) energy density distributions (EDD),
presented as 3D plots, under the six conditions. From the figure, it is impossible to describe
the differences between the six conditions, except for the 1.2 mm thick material. So, it seems
that WVD cannot be employed to deal with the multi-component signal.
Figure 5 shows the wavelet packet energy density distributions (EDD), presented as
contour maps, under the six conditions. From the figure, it is seen that the vibration modes
change slightly with respect to time. It is seen that the EDD varies throughout the process.
This may be attributed to the contact between the workpiece and the dies forming a different
condition. However, the changes in the patterns are difficult to describe.
Figure 6 shows the wavelet packet frequency band energy (FBE) under the six conditions.
From the figure, the original signal is decomposed in level 5 into 28 (32) frequency bands.
Different frequencies consumes different amounts of energy. It is seen that the dominant
frequency band is in [703, 781] Hz, which includes the natural frequency of the press. As
the workpiece thickness changes or the stamping condition deteriorates (slug), the required
energy increases correspondingly. It is also seen that the dominant frequency shifts slightly
higher. Its causes will be studied further.

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FEATURE EXTRACTION FROM ENERGY DISTRIBUTION 1029

Figure 3. PSD under different stamping conditions.

Figure 4. WVD under different stamping conditions.

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1030 M. GE ET AL.

Figure 5. Energy density distribution under different conditions.

Figure 6. Frequency band energy under different conditions.

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 FEATURE EXTRACTION FROM ENERGY DISTRIBUTION 1031

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Based on the discussions above, the following conclusions can be drawn.

1. The vibration (acceleration) signals contain important information about the system
dynamics. However, owing to the transients of the stamping operation, the vibration
signals are nonstationary transient signals with random noise disturbance. Therefore,
it is necessary to apply advanced signal processing techniques such as time–frequency
distribution and wavelet transform.
2. Using the energy density distribution, or EDD, it is found that the dynamics of a stamp-
ing operation can be characterized by several vibration modes. These modes are asso-
ciated with the press and the dies. Interestingly, the modes may change slightly within
a stroke. This may be attributed to the contact between the dies and the workpiece
forming a different condition.
3. Stamping conditions (including workpiece thickness, misfeed, and slug) can be classi-
fied based on the characteristics of the vibration signal (in particular, the amplitude of
the vibration modes).
4. Different conditions cause the variation in the energy distribution patterns; this can be
demonstrated by frequency band energy. The frequency band energy can overcome
the deficiency of the wavelet bases, which is the lack of a translation-invariant prop-
erty, to provide a more robust signal feature. Using such a feature, one can depict the
energy consumption characteristic precisely so that the variation under different condi-
tions can be detected and identified effectively. For on-line monitoring of the stamping
operations, we recommend using the frequency band energy (FBE), obtained from the
wavelet packet transform of the vibration signal, as a feature.

#EMPQYNGFIOGPVU 6JG RCTVKCN UWRRQTV QH VJKU YQTM D[ VJG +PPQXCVKQP CPF 6GEJPQNQI[ %QOOKUUKQP QH *QPI
-QPI WPFGT ITCPV +6( #( KU ITCVGHWNN[ CEMPQYNGFIGF 9G VJCPM /T * 6QPI HQT JKU JGNR FWTKPI VJG
GZRGTKOGPVU

E898E8A68F
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