At room temperature, metal or non-metal sheets are placed into a mold, and pressure is applied to the sheet using a press and a die mounted on the press, causing the sheet to separate or deform to form the desired part. These parts are called stamping dies. A stamping die consists of a fixed part and a moving part. The fixed part is fastened to the press table using pressure plates, bolts, etc.; the moving part is generally fastened to the press slide. Types of stamping dies include blanking dies, drawing dies, bending dies, flanging dies, and hemming dies, and are widely used in various fields, including automotive, electronics, and daily hardware. When manufacturing stamping dies, process analysis should be conducted based on the shape characteristics, dimensional accuracy, and surface quality requirements of the workpiece to determine the basic processes; based on process calculations, the number of processes should be determined, and for drawn parts, the number of drawing operations should be calculated.
Classification by Process Nature:
a. Blanking Dies: Dies that separate material along closed or open contour lines. Examples include blanking dies, punching dies, cutting dies, slit dies, trimming dies, and sectionalizing dies.
b. Bending Dies: Dies that bend sheet metal blanks or other workpieces along a straight line (bending line) to obtain workpieces with specific angles and shapes.
c. Drawing Dies: Dies that form sheet metal blanks into open hollow parts, or further modify the shape and size of hollow parts.
d. Forming Dies: Dies that directly replicate the shape of the punch and die to form a blank or semi-finished workpiece, while the material itself only undergoes localized plastic deformation. Examples include bulging dies, necking dies, flaring dies, embossing dies, flanging dies, and shaping dies.
e. Riveting Dies: Dies that use external force to connect or overlap the participating parts in a specific order and manner to form a whole.
Classification by Process Combination:
a. Single-operation die: A die that completes only one stamping operation in one stroke of the press.
b. Compound die: A die with only one station, completing two or more stamping operations simultaneously at the same station in one stroke of the press.
c. Progressive die (also called a continuous die): A die with two or more stations in the blank feeding direction, completing two or more stamping operations sequentially at different stations in one stroke of the press.
d. Transfer die: A die that combines the characteristics of single-operation and progressive dies. Utilizing a robotic transfer system, it achieves rapid in-die transfer of products, significantly improving production efficiency, reducing production costs, saving material costs, and ensuring stable and reliable quality.
Classification by Product Processing Method
Based on the different product processing methods, molds can be classified into five main categories: punching and shearing molds, bending molds, drawing molds, forming molds, and compression molds.
a. Punching and Shearing Molds: These molds work by shearing. Common types include shearing dies, blanking dies, punching dies, trimming dies, edge-forming dies, hole-drawing dies, and cutting dies.
b. Bending Molds: These molds bend flat blanks into an angled shape. Depending on the shape, precision, and production volume of the part, there are various types of molds, such as ordinary bending dies, cam bending dies, hemming dies, arc bending dies, slit bending dies, and twisting dies.
c. Drawing Molds: Drawing dies are used to form flat blanks into seamless containers with a bottom.
d. Forming Molds: These molds use various local deformation methods to change the shape of the blank. Types include punching dies, hemming dies, necking dies, hole flange forming dies, and rounding flange forming dies.
e. Compression die: It uses strong pressure to deform the metal blank into the desired shape. Types include extrusion die, embossing die, stamping die, and end-press die.
