Sheet Metal Stamping Simulation

In the current edition, there is an excellent article written by Art Hendrick. It's a good insight in to how in fact, Simulation is indeed always perfect, but the material properties that clients provide/enter are not always accurate - and that is where the problems can start. Here is what Art says:

The simulation is perfect: Based on the data entered in to the computer and the mathematical data that the computer is using, the results will be accurate. COmputers don't make mistakes.

The problem is insufficient data. Very simply, the computer is not perfectly replicating what might actually be happening in the die and press.

Tesla Motors will produce electric Rav4 crossover SUVs for Toyota Motor Co. beginning in 2012, the two companies announced Friday.

Toyota (TM) announced in May that it planned to invest $50 million in Tesla Motors (TSLA) upon the completion of the electric car maker's initial public offering, which took place on June 29.

The Government is providing a £360 million loan guarantee for Ford´s £450 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). Ford is investing £1.5 billion over the next five years for the development of a new generation of environmentally friendly engines and vehicle technologies.

BANGKOK, June 24 (Bernama) -- Ford Motor Company is investing US$450 million for its passenger vehicle manufacturing plant in Rayong with initial production of 150,000 cars annually beginning 2012.

Ford's president and chief executive officer Alan Mulally said the facility would build the next-generation Ford Focus with 85 per cent of the total production for export market in the Asia-Pacific region and the balance for local market.

IT has been said that one of the ways the UK can drive itself out of its economic woes is through making innovative new products which the rest of the world wants.

And yesterday, a prime example drove off the production line at Toyota's Burnaston factory.

Through a haze of dry ice and camera flashes, the first hybrid Auris, or the Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive to give it its official title, glided into view before an assembled audience of around 300 people.

Recognizing that the anticipated growth in renewable energy systems will require technicians with specialized training, a Windsor entrepreneur is opening the Canadian Centre for Sustainable Living in a former tool and die plant on Kildare Road.

Sharing space with the Renewable Energy Technology Centre, the not-for-profit CCSL will start offering courses in renewable energy technology beginning July 5.

“Buy American” has long been a battle cry among some consumers who want to support domestic manufacturing. This is especially so in the car market. But do you know just how American your car is? Globalization of the auto industry with suppliers based around the world makes it increasingly difficult to tell the degree to which vehicles are made in the USA.

So what should you buy if you want to help the domestic car business? A Ford? A Chevy? Try a Toyota or a Honda. According to Cars.com, a consumer information and research site, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are number one and two on the list of “most American” vehicles. The Ford Escape, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Malibu complete the top five on the American-Made index. The index ranks vehicles based on the percentage of their parts, based on cost, that are made domestically, where they are assembled and how popular they are among U.S. buyers.

The automaker is embracing engineering software from Siemens where it once used Dassault. A case of open vs. closed?

Cars like the 300C will now be designed using Siemens software, not just software from Dassault. Courtesy: Chrysler

Before it hits the road, every car first lives digitally on an automaker's computers, where engineers can keep track of engines, electrical systems and every other detail.

Electronics company Toshiba Corporation said it will expand its manufacturing plant in Houston, Texas, to produce drive motors for electrified vehicles.

The company said the project would mean setting up its first automotive propulsion systems production facility outside its native Japan.

General Motors announced that most of its U.S. plants will skip the traditional summer shutdowns this year, in order to help meet buyer demand for the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars, crossovers and trucks.

Nine of the company's eleven assembly plants will continue to operate during the traditional shutdown period, which runs from June 28 to July 9. This will also require that most of GM’s U.S. stamping and powertrain sites will also be running to support assembly operations. The exclusion of the 2010 summer shutdown is expected to generate up to 56,000 additional vehicles.

Toyota’s Mississippi plant has been a victim of the drama in the automotive industry, and it hasn’t even opened yet. Though Toyota has switched its product plans numerous times and stalled building progress, the automaker has now set firm plans to finish the facility that will begin building the Corolla in late 2011.

This is a video of typical draw tool with a lower cushion. The pressure for the binder is supplied by the press machine's hydraulic cushion, instead of using nitrogen gas springs.

This is typical for larger parts when more than 100 tons of binder pressure is needed. It also allows the binder pressure to be adjusted up or down easily, for best results during tryout.

German based auto supplier, Tube Technology Systems AG has announced plans to locate its North American manufacturing operations in Auburn. Tube Technology Systems Inc. will produce brake tubes for the automotive industry. The company was awarded a contract from Volkswagen as a supplier for the first vehicle that will be manufactured in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The initial investment by Tube Technology Systems Inc. is approximately $1.4 million. Eight jobs will be created in Auburn in the first stage of this project.

Nissan is building a facility to produce batteries for its LEAF zero-emission vehicle. The vehicle, which will run solely on electric power, and its batteries will be built in Smyrna, Tennessee beginning in 2012. The company will create 1,300 jobs to staff the plant. Nissan’s investment in the production site totals $1.7 billion.

Participants who attended a Federal Reserve automotive industry forum last week are upbeat about the economic outlook, seeing continued growth and declining unemployment this year and next.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday that attendees at its Detroit Automotive Outlook Symposium expect growth rates of 3.1% this year and in 2011 for the U.S. economy.