Finding the optimal cutting parameters in steel production is crucial, as it directly impacts the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and quality of the manufacturing process. Collecting the material certificates digitally, contributes to a more efficient quality management, and may provide a unique opportunity to manage variations between different material batches.
Determining the optimal cutting parameters is essential for achieving a high-quality output. Finding the right cutting parameters allows for the maximization of production speed without sacrificing quality. This is crucial for meeting production targets and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. However, to find the optimal cutting parameters, you must take several material properties into consideration.
Variation between different material batches
Hardness, tensile strength, elongation are some of the material properties you need to consider. Usually, you will find these properties in the standard specification for the material you are using. However, the specification limits can be quite generous and the variation between different material batches can be significant.
You have probably experienced this when you have found the best settings for a part with a particular material batch, but the next time you run the same part, chipping or tool lift the result is not as expected due to other properties in the new batch.
Secure and optimized production
There are several reasons why determining the optimal cutting parameters is important. It ensures consistency in the manufacturing process and is critical for producing steel products with uniform quality, meeting customer expectations, and reducing the likelihood of defects. Optimal cutting parameters contribute to the stability of the manufacturing process, mitigating unexpected downtime, maintenance, and disruptions in the production schedule. Improper or insufficient cutting parameters can also cause residual stresses in the cut material and potential issues such as warping or distortion in the final product.
To secure an optimized production it is important to efficiently adapt your processes to manage specific cutting parameters for different steel grades due to variations in hardness, composition, and other material properties.
Digital material certificates enable unique and detailed batch parameters
The optimal cutting parameters benefit the production of high-quality steel products with precise dimensions and minimal defects, essential for meeting industry standards, and customer specifications and quality expectations.
By collecting the material certificates digitally, you will have a unique opportunity to optimize your production and increase customer satisfaction. Digital material certificates enable you to automatically apply the right specific properties to each batch. For example, by scanning or inputting the material batch number you can fetch the unique properties for the batch. The information can then be processed in a machining software to calculate the best parameters and tool selection for the specific batch.
This could for example allow you to take advantage of a slightly softer material to increase the cutting speed without compromising life of tool, and thereby gain productivity. A softer material might also call for a different tool selection to prevent chipping problems before they occur.
In summary digital material certificates can provide more proper cutting parameters and help you achieve desired production results with optimized resources, and cost savings in terms of reduced energy consumption, lower tooling costs, and increased production throughput.
Today production optimization is a critical success factor in all manufacturing companies, and determining the optimal cutting parameters is one important key. The interest for digital certificate management is rising within the steel industry for multiple reasons. Read more about the opportunities with digital quality documentation management in this article:
