Advanced Material Forming Processes

ADVANCED MATERIAL FORMING PROCESSES

HISTORY

The Professional School of Mondragon was founded in 1943 with the vocation to produce skilled professionals for the surrounding companies mainly in the mechanical design and manufacturing fields. Many things have changed from those years, but the vocation to produce new and innovative knowledge about manufacturing processes is present in our laboratories and university.

The ADVANCED MATERIAL FORMING PROCESSES Research Group activities began in 1993. During the first years, the focus was the improvement of forming processes by means of the use of sensors, artificial vision and advanced control strategies. At the same time, the research group started to specialize in the numerical modelling of the processes themselves, as a tool for improving the process itself. In this way, Mondragon University was the first entity in Spain using AutoForm software and one of the first using Deform.

Between 1999 and 2001 metal casting and semisolid forming processes were stablished in our laboratories and the group set our current core technologies, the casting of alloys, the bulk metal forming and thixoforging and the sheet and tube metal forming.

In 2000 new experimental facilities were stablished (about 500 square meters for prototypes and forming machines and 100 for materials laboratories). In 2008 the new experimental facilities were opened in the Uribarri building (at about 800 square meters for real size experimental prototypes) were the first big size European servo-press of 400 Tn was installed.

In the last decade, the group: a) has developed several forming, forging and casting processes, b) has specialized in the simulation of those processes using advanced Finite Element models which are fed using advanced material and contact characterization techniques and c) has worked in the digitalization of processes aiming to increase the machines’ availability and help the process designer understanding the behaviour of innovative process concepts.

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RESEARCH FIELDS AND COMPETENCES

The Institute of Manufacturing Technology is focussed on metal forming. Its main competences are located in this field of research and cover the following areas:

  • Metal casting
  • Bulk Metal Forming and Semisolid forging or thixoforming
  • Sheet metal and tube forming
  • Hybrid material processing and joining
  • Materials and Contact Characterisation and Modelling
  • Tailored Materials

In research and teaching, we thoroughly study the material behaviour and microscopic phenomena, we develop numerical simulation models to prove the initial concept and we end producing tooling and components at laboratory scale using industrial machines. At the same time link experimental observations with fundamental research issues. In order to do so, new and innovative material and tribological testing methods are being developed and tested at our laboratories. Good examples are: the vacuum induction skull melting facility, the construction of a new forging simulator able to work at high temperature and high impact strain rates, the manufacturing of a new biaxial machine and the novel test bench for tribological studies starting from coil.

TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT

SHEET METAL FORMING FACILITIES

  • FAGOR 4000 kN servo-press
  • GAMEI 1500 kN hydraulic press
  • GAMEI 1500 kN mechanical press
  • SCHMIDT 40 kN servo press
  • Sheet and Tube Hydroforming (4000 bar)
  • 100 kN punching machine
  • Strip Drawing Test tribometer
  • Duncal Shabel Test tribometer
  • Nakajima ISO standard tester
  • Hole Expansion ISO standard tester
  • 250 kN Biaxial testing machine

FORGING AND THIXOFORGING FACILITIES

  • 150 Kw EFD Induction Heating Furnace for billets
  • KUKA KCR1 robot for parts handling

CASTING FACILITIES

  • GAMEI 3000 kN HP die casting machine
  • NABERTHERM 11KW melting furnace
  • NABERTHERM furnaces for heat treatment
  • EFD induction furnace for Fe
  • EFD induction furnace for Al and Mg
  • SECO/WARWICK Vacuum Cold Crucible Melting machine
  • TM SD-3000 3D printer for rapid prototyping of moulds

GENERAL

  • CHARMILLES Wire EDM machine
  • ONA Electrode EDM machine
  • MITUTOYO 3D measurement machine
  • PLM and ALICONA Confocal profilemeters
  • ANTON PAAR MCR501 high temperature rheometer
  • LINSEIS LFA 1000 Laser Flash thermal analyser
  • LINSEIS L75VS1600C dilatometer
  • NETZSCH high temperature DSC
  • FEI (FE-SEM) Nova NanoSEM 450 microscope250 kN Biaxial testing machine

PARTNERS

 

Offers of employment and doctorate

Discover the job and thesis offers at Mondragon Unibertsitatea, we can have a position of interest for you.

 

Job offers

 

Thesis offers