TROUBLE SHOOTING

IN
METAL STAMPING

INTRODUCTION
A wide verity of problems can be encountered in the use of
different dies
Many caused by improper press selection
Or poor alignment, poor manufacturing, and poor design, etc
Some common die problems, their causes, and suggested
remedies

CLASSIFICATION

Cutting dies
Forming dies
Drawing dies

CUTTING DIES
1. Burring Of Stamping
Cause

Remedy

Dull cutting steel

Sharpen cutting steel

Improper clearance

Reset correct clearance

Thickness is too large

Material not lying flat
during blanking
operation

2. Premature Dulling Of Punch Or Die

Cause

Remedy

Faulty hardening

More carefully hardening

Wrong type of steel

Selection of higher carbon tool

steel

Lack of cutting coolant

Non uniform clearance
Misalignment

Use coolant or die lubricant

Relocate punch or die

3. Faulty Stripper Action

Cause

Remedy

Unbalanced stripping force

(broken springs or poor selection
of springs)

Refit stripper to punch allowing

more clearance

Binding of stripper
Sloppy fit of stripper to punch

Balancing of the spring

4. Loading Of Punches And Dies Or Cutting Steels

Cause

Remedy

Insufficient clearance

Provide more clearance

Rough surface on cutting steels

Polish cutting steels

Lack of cutting coolant

Use coolant or die lubricant

5. Concave Surface Around Edge Of Blank

Cause

Remedy

Too much clearance between

stripper and punch

Make stripper fit closer to punch

6. Tapered walls on pierced holes

Cause

Remedy

Found on thick stock which

required large clearance

Follow punching operation with

shaving operation
Decrease clearance

7. Poor shedding of scrap on trim dies

Cause

Remedy

Scrap extend too far around

dies

Add more scrap cutters

8. Slugs jamming on die

Cause

Remedy

Insufficient clearance angle

on die

Allow (1.6mm) minimum

land on cutting edge

More land area

Back taper 2 minimum angle

9. Breakage of punches and cutting steels

Cause

Remedy

Misalignment of ram of press.

Align ram of press.

Loose fit on guide pins.

Refit guide pins.

Dull cutting steels.

Sharpen cutting steels

Cocked punch or die.

Be sure that punch and die shoes

are clean and free from burrs and
slugs.

10. Blanks not flat

Cause

Remedy

Wrong type of die operation.

Use return-type die.

Poor stripping action.

Keep shear equal to metal

thickness or less.

Too much shear.

Excessive clearance.

11. Blanks or holes not to specified size

Cause

Remedy

Worn punch or die.

Replace punch and/or die.

Incorrect punch or die.

Sharpen punch and die.

Material characteristics.

Align the die and press properly

Material not lying flat during

operation

Optimum stripping force

12. Slug pulling

Cause

Remedy

Incorrect clearance.

Replace punch or die.

Excessive lubricant.

Keep lubricant to a minimum.

Magnetize punch.

Check magnetization.

Not enough punch penetration

through die

Consider shedder pins in

punches.

13. Miscuts

Cause

Remedy

Poor feeding

Check setup of knockout for

depth.

Improper stock location

Poor knockout action.
Careless operator.
Broken shedder pins.

Observe and assist operator.

Proper piloting
Proper material guiding
Proper stripping
Clean die surface

14. Misfeeds

Cause

Remedy

Feed line not set properly

Use misfeed detector

Burr and scrap on die

surface

Use proper lubricant

Press speed too fast

Proper material guiding

No proper stoppers

Clean die surface

Proper piloting

FORMING &DRAWING DIES

1. Spring Back
Cause
In bending operation the elastic
limit of the metal in process is
exceeded, but its UTS is not.
Therefore some of the original
elasticity of the material will be
present on it
Raw material is not flat

Remedy

Raw material thickness

variation

Over bending

Incorrect punch and die

clearance

Offset on punch

Punch is not heeled properly

Punch is too thin and weak

Proper bottoming

Use effective coining pressure

on metal flow area

2. Earing (Or) Rugged Edge

Cause

Remedy

When sheet metal is rolled at the mill,

a fiber structure is formed in the
direction of rolling

Use good materials

Impurities in material

Give more trimming allowance

Earing becomes Severity when the

sheet metal is cold worked

Tool to be aligned properly

Non uniform blank holding force

Make uniform blank holding force

3. Wrinkling

Cause

Remedy

Insufficient the blank holding force

(mostly in flanges).

Increase spring pressure

Too large area of unsupported metal

between punch and draw ring

Use draw beads

Broken spring behind blank holder

Redesign punch and die

Use homogeneous
material

4. Puckering

Cause

Remedy

Wrinkling is called as puckers if they

appear in any other part of the cup like
sidewall. It may be due the improper
clearance between punch and die.

Reset correct clearance

In addition, it will occur when the die

radius is too large.

Use optimum die radius

Proper blank holding force

5. Tearing

Cause

Remedy

Too much blanking holding pressure

Reduce spring pressure

Too severe a reduction in area

Large radius is needed

Rough spots on draw ring, punch,

blank holder

Add stages in draw

Poor draw ability of material

All friction surface are polished

Anneal the part before draw

Use lubricant

6. Fracturing

Cause

Remedy

Too thin sheets Starts from the

cleavage fracture and grow big

Use polyurethane sheets for lubricant

Excessive blank holding pressure

Die radius too small
Press speed is too large
Blank too large

Die surface to be cleaned properly

Use smooth corner for smooth
material flow
Reduction percentage should be
optimum

7. Orange Peel

Cause
When metal is stretched, it loses the
shiny surface produced by rolling.
Stretching causes the surface to
become dull and in severe cases quite
rough.
Large grain size means more
possibility of getting orange peel-effect.
Most frequently occurs on the lower
cylindrical wall where tension is high.

Remedy
Expensive polishing or buffing could be
used to compensate this kind of defects
Other alternatives would be to use metal
having smaller grain size

8. Thinning
Thinning

Cause

Remedy

Insufficient metal flow

Use flat draw beads

Insufficient clearance

Reduce blank holding force

Use proper lubricant

9. Burnish Marks

Cause

Remedy

When the top of the cylindrical cup

wall is highly polished

Larger clearance would eliminate this

condition

Insufficient clearance

Optimum polish

The metal has been burnished or

ironed.

11. Necking

Cause
Strain ratio is more on stock material
Non uniform force
Blank development is too small

Remedy
Use draw beads
Anneal the part before draw
Use homogenous material
Proper punch and die radius

12. Stretcher Strains

Cause
Non-uniform yielding of the metal due
to trapped gases within the metal.
Rim steels are responsible for this
defect
The lines in figure may disappear as
drawing continues

Remedy
Aluminum killed steels are free of this
defect

13. Pitting

Cause

Remedy

Due to Scales on the sheets

Clean stock material

Poor quality of sheet

Clean die surface

Clean lubricant

14. Scratching

Cause

Remedy

Tool fails to keep the blank with

contacting the die surface

Give proper clearance

Small particles of sheet metal become

welded to the die
Raw material is too hard or
inconsistent

Better or higher-pressure
lubricants
Quality steels should be
punches
More frequent polishing of
the die will prevent severe

THANK YOU