Novelis is an American industrial aluminum company, headquartered in Atlanta. We are a leading producer of aluminum and the world’s largest recycler of aluminum.
We seek partnerships with experts and solutions providers to measure force during our sheet metal forming process.
Accurately monitoring the force applied to the tool can provide better understanding of the stresses the material undergoes during the forming process, and how changes in metal properties or tooling affect manufacturing success. The acquired data will support the development of accurate FEA modeling, tooling design, and alloy development.
The force sensors often used in metallurgy are conventional load cells or strain gauges. However, there are specific limitations in the sheet metal forming process that make placement of those sensors challenging. (Note that despite these challenges, these sensors are NOT out of scope.)
Background on the sheet metal forming process:
Placement of force sensors to measure applied pressure is difficult due to low clearance, complex geometry and the presence of pressure zones:
We are looking for a method to measure the change in force, specifically in the lower tooling (lower die set), during the forming process with enough accuracy to allow for the correlation of the data to the process and material parameters. We are open to solutions including, but not limited to the following "Solutions of interest":
The Novelis R&D mission is to be the leading provider of sustainable and innovative aluminum solutions. Our team delivers industry-leading technical expertise and innovative solutions via our applied technology labs around the world. Our engineers, scientists, metallurgists, chemists and computer scientists have set the standard for aluminum alloys. Owning more than 134 automotive-specific patents, we are committed to continuing to lead the industry in innovation. We win by shaping partnerships inside the company and around the globe. Because lasting innovation doesn't happen alone. The ability to think big and act bold is at our core. It's how our breakthroughs happen. It's how we brought one of the first all-aluminum vehicle bodies to the automotive industry.
Learn moreThe Q&A is now closed.