Learn from the Museum

Based on the design of a product, one must define all the steps and resources to manufacture and assemble the components so that it meets all specifications. Besides ensuring the quality, one must also consider the costs of the process so that the product is competitive in the market.

As simple as a part may be, it is rare for a single manufacturing process to be able to encompass geometric shapes, dimensions and desired final characteristics. To decide the manufacturing process involved, factors such as component shape, strength, accuracy and cost, among others, should be considered.

Mechanical process used to obtain a molten metal product (aluminum, brass, bronze, iron or steel,etc.) which, once molten, is poured into sand (or steel) mold – negative of the product – where it remains until it solidifies.

It is the most economical process for making parts with complex shapes, containing grooves or internal ribs and which are difficult to be manufactured by any other process.

Each part cast in sand molds goes through shot blasting cleaning process for surface finishing removing burs and runners. Those with accurate bases or fits are subject to machining processes.

(Português) Usinagem é o grupo de diferentes processos mecânicos aos quais as peças são submetidas para obter as formas, dimensões e acabamentos finais desejados, onde ocorre remoção de material pela ação de ferramentas de corte.

Entre os processos mecânicos, as operações de usinagem permitem obter maior precisão dimensional, chegando ao nível de milésimos de milímetro (mícrons).Também produzem os melhores acabamentos superficiais.

As ferramentas de corte podem ser manuais, como as limas, serras e serrotes, ou montadas em máquinas operatrizes. Tanto as ferramentas como as máquinas têm características específicas para a obtenção de diferentes geometrias de superfícies.

A geometria da superfície que pode ser gerada e os movimentos de corte, de avanço e de profundidade são fundamentais para entender o funcionamento dos diversos tipos de máquinas operatrizes.

This group includes mechanical processes in which permanent modifications of the geometric shape of parts are caused by the application of external forces below the ultimate material tensile strength, except in the process of sheet cutting, where the shear stress must exceed the shear strength. There is no material removal in these processes and they can be performed through cold or hot working.

The most common equipment to generate the required stresses are presses in which parts are formed with the aid of devices, fixtures, molds or dies. Bending operations, for instance, can be done manually without the need for any special equipment or device.

Besides stamping and drawing, the forging, rolling and extrusion processes are included in this group.

Stamping is a cold forming or cold working process performed on thin strips of steel, copper, aluminum and other materials, where they are cut, folded and/or recessed. This effort is generated in a press over a tool specially built for a certain part or group of parts, called stamping.

The high cost of stamping process is only worth when a large amount of parts will be produced. The process is highly productive, generating smooth finish and uniformity among the parts.

Many parts present in our daily lives, such as plates of refrigerators and stoves, car bodies, computer and electronic appliance carcasses, lamps, among others, were obtained from the stamping process.

It is the manufacturing process of wires and thin metal bars, such as steel, copper and aluminum.

It consists of stretching the material applying cold traction force through successive dies, each of them smaller than the previous section, resulting in the gradual reduction of material gauge and increasing its length. The resulting product has good surface finishing and low dimensional variation.

Starting at the Industrial Revolution, with the development of machinery and equipment, coating ceased to have just decorative purposes to also protect products from environmental aggressiveness, for instance, an oil platform motor should be weather and salt resistant.

In the production process, coatings are usually applied in two steps: primer, which occurs early in the manufacture of some components; and finishing paint, when appearance is also important.

The constant technological development in coat manufacturing is not limited to the improvement of chemical and mechanical properties. There is also a concern in obtaining safer and more eco-friendly coatings, apart from various other aspects. For example, cost reduction, which decreases the demand on surface preparation and allows application under aggressive environmental conditions.

The equipment used in special procedures and assembly operations is specific to each product design. Companies need to design and manufacture their own equipment for these purposes, as there are no ready to use solutions on the market.

The Tooling Shop area is responsible for meeting such needs. It also produces stamping tools, foundry patterns and die casting molds, workholding devices for machining and for several other specific needs of the company.