Module 01 - Cutting Processes

ME 330
Manufacturing Processes
CUTTING PROCESSES
What is manufacturing?
A Technical Process: An Economic Process:
• Application of physical and chemical • Transformation of materials into

processes to alter the geometry, items of greater value (added
properties, and/or appearance of a value) by processing and/or
given starting material to make parts assembly operations
or products. • Goal: to make money through a
• Also includes assembly of parts into product
products.
• Goal: to achieve a product
Overview of processes
Cutting processes
©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Groover, Fundamentals of Modern
Manufacturing 4/e
Cutting processes to manufacture parts from
sheets & plates
Purpose to manufacture parts by cutting from sheets

and plates:
• Fast to manufacture
• Parts are low in cost
– Helps drive costs assembled products down
• From low to high quantities
• Simple to complex parts
• Parts can later be formed (bent) to make more
complex shapes
Major cutting processes
• Mechanical processes:
– Machining and grinding (will cover in later classes)
– Shearing, blanking, and punching (sheet metalworking operations)
– Ultrasonic machining (USM)
– Water jet cutting (WJC or hydrojet)
– Abrasive water jet cutting (AWJC or abrasive hydrojet)
• Electrochemical process:
– Electrochemical Machining (ECM)
• Thermal Energy Processes
– Ram electric discharge machining (Ram EDM)
– Wire electric discharge machining (Wire EDM)
– Electron beam machining (EBM)
– Laser beam machining (LBM)
– Plasma arc cutting (PAC) or plasma arc machining (PAM)
– Air carbon arc cutting
– Oxyfuel Cutting (OFC) or flame cutting
• Chemical Processes:
– Chemical Machining (CHM)
Red indicates non-traditional processes

Importance of Nontraditional Processes
• Need to machine newly developed metals and
non‑metals with special properties that make
them difficult or impossible to machine by
conventional methods
• Need for unusual and/or complex part
geometries that cannot readily be accomplished
by conventional machining
• Need to avoid surface damage that often
accompanies conventional machining
Manufacturing 3/e
Shearing, Blanking, and Punching
• Three principal operations in pressworking
that cut sheet metal:
– Shearing
– Blanking
– Punching

Manufacturing 4/e
Shearing Operation
• (a) Side view of the operation; (b) front view
of power shears equipped with inclined upper
cutting blade

Manufacturing 4/e
Dies for Sheet Metal Processes
Most pressworking operations are performed
with conventional punch‑and‑die tooling
• Usually custom‑designed for the particular part
Note:
• Tooling cost is higher than cutting machines
that require no tooling
• Tooling wears out so needs continual
replacement
Manufacturing 4/e
Punch and Die Components
• Components of a punch • Components of a punch
and die for a punch and die for a blanking
operation operation
Punch
Die
Blanking and Punching
• Blanking (a) - sheet metal cutting to separate
piece (called a blank) from surrounding stock
• Punching (b) - similar to blanking except cut
piece is scrap, called a slug

Manufacturing 4/e
Press
• For punching/blanking
and bending operations
• Have to feed material
manually into correct
position
(photo courtesy of Greenerd Press &

Machine Company, Inc.)
Manufacturing 4/e
CNC Turret Press
• Advantage:
– Automatic positioning
of punch and dies
– Can be used for
punching/blanking and
bending operations
• Disadvantage:
– Tooling cost is high

Manufacturing 4/e
Water Jet Cutting (WJC) or Hydrojet Cutting
• Uses high pressure, high velocity stream of water
directed at work surface for cutting
Figure 26.3 Water jet cutting.

Manufacturing 3/e
WJC & Applications
• Usually automated by CNC or industrial
robots to manipulate nozzle along desired
trajectory
• Water also acts as a cooling agent
• Can cut complex shaped parts
• Used to cut narrow slits in flat stock such as
plastic, textiles, composites, floor tile, carpet,
leather, and cardboard
• Not suitable for brittle materials (e.g., glass)
Manufacturing 3/e
Abrasive Water Jet Cutting (AWJC)
• Most common for cutting metal
• Abrasive particles are added to jet stream for
quicker cutting
• Slower than laser cutting, but produces a
cleaner finish
• Note that the water jet cut is tapered

Manufacturing 3/e
Electrochemical Machining (ECM)
Material removal by anodic dissolution, using

electrode (tool) in close proximity to work
but separated by a rapidly flowing electrolyte
Figure
Electrochemical
machining
(ECM).

Manufacturing 3/e
Electrochemical Machining Processes
• Electrical energy used in combination with

chemical reactions to remove material
• Reverse of electroplating
• Work material must be a conductor
• Processes:
– Electrochemical machining (ECM)
– Electrochemical deburring (ECD)
– Electrochemical grinding (ECG)

Manufacturing 3/e
ECM Operation
Material is deplated from anode workpiece
(positive pole) and transported to a cathode tool
(negative pole) in an electrolyte bath
• Electrolyte flows rapidly between two poles to
carry off deplated material, so it does not plate
onto tool
• Electrode materials: Cu, brass, or stainless steel
• Tool has inverse shape of part
– Tool size and shape must allow for the gap
Manufacturing 3/e
Electric Discharge Machining (EDM)
Figure 26.8 Electric discharge machining (EDM): (a) overall setup, and (b)
close‑up view of gap, showing discharge and metal removal.

Manufacturing 3/e
EDM Operation
• One of the most widely used nontraditional processes
• Shape of finished work surface produced by a shape of
electrode tool
• Can be used only on electrically conducting work materials
• Requires dielectric fluid, which creates a path for each
discharge as fluid becomes ionized in the gap.
• Metal is melted/vaporized by the series of electrical
discharges
• Can be very precise and produces a very good surface
finish
Manufacturing 3/e
Work Materials in EDM
• Work materials must be
electrically conducting
• Hardness and strength of work
material are not factors in EDM
• Material removal rate depends on
melting point of work material

Manufacturing 3/e
Wire EDM
• Special form of EDM uses small diameter wire as

electrode to cut a narrow kerf in work
Figure 26.10 Electric discharge wire cutting (EDWC).

Manufacturing 3/e
Operation of Wire EDM
• Work is fed slowly past wire along desired
cutting path, like a bandsaw operation
• CNC used for motion control
• While cutting, wire is continuously advanced
between supply spool and take‑up spool to
maintain a constant diameter
• Dielectric fluid is required
– Applied using nozzles directed at tool‑work interface
or submerging workpart
Manufacturing 3/e
Wire EDM Applications
• Ideal for stamping die components
– Since kerf is so narrow, it is often possible to fabricate
punch and die in a single cut
• Other tools and parts with intricate outline
shapes, such as lathe form tools, extrusion
dies, and flat templates

Manufacturing 3/e
Dental part cut from
nitinol material by
wire EDM

Manufacturing 3/e
Laser Beam Machining (LBM)
• Uses the light energy from a laser to remove
material by vaporization and ablation
Figure 26.14 Laser

beam machining (LBM).

Manufacturing 3/e
LBM Applications
• Drilling, slitting, slotting, scribing, and marking
operations
• Drilling small diameter holes ‑ down to 0.025
mm (0.001 in)
• Generally used on thin stock
• Work materials: metals with high hardness
and strength, soft metals, ceramics, glass and
glass epoxy, plastics, rubber, cloth, and wood
Manufacturing 3/e
Laser beam cutting
operation performed
on sheet metal
(photo courtesy of PRC

Corp.).

Manufacturing 3/e
Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC)
• Uses plasma stream operating at very high
temperatures to cut metal by melting
Figure 26.15 Plasma

arc cutting (PAC).

Manufacturing 3/e
Operation of PAC
• Plasma = a superheated, electrically
ionized gas
• PAC temperatures: 10,000C to
14,000C (18,000F to 25,000F)
• Plasma arc generated between
electrode in torch and anode workpiece
• The plasma flows through water‑cooled
nozzle that constricts and directs
stream to desired location
Manufacturing 3/e
Applications of PAC
• Most applications of PAC involve cutting of flat
metal sheets and plates
• Hole piercing and cutting along a defined path
• Comparable to laser cutting, but cuts are
usually is more course
• Can cut any electrically conductive metal
• Most frequently cut metals: carbon steel,
stainless steel, aluminum
Manufacturing 3/e
Important: Water Jet, Laser, Plasma
• Need to start the cut away from the wanted
cut to prevent a rough surface irregularity
where the cut starts
Starting cut Wanted cut

Manufacturing 3/e
Summary of Cutting Processes for Sheets
and Plates in terms of Quality & Cost
Wire EDM
Machining
Quality
(In terms of Water Jet
tolerances &
surface finish
Laser
Punching/
Blanking
Plasma
Cost

Module 01 - Cutting Processes

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ME 330

• Application of physical and chemical • Transformation of materials into

©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Purpose to manufacture parts by cutting from sheets

Red indicates non-traditional processes

©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

(photo courtesy of Greenerd Press &

©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Figure 26.3 Water jet cutting.

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Material removal by anodic dissolution, using

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

• Electrical energy used in combination with

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

• Special form of EDM uses small diameter wire as

Figure 26.10 Electric discharge wire cutting (EDWC).

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Figure 26.14 Laser

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

(photo courtesy of PRC

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Figure 26.15 Plasma

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

Starting cut Wanted cut

©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P

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