Breitinger Fabricates Hydroformed Parts with Greater Consistency
Founded in 1965,
the Breitinger Company in Mansfield, Ohio, is a metal fabrication plant specializing in automotive parts. "Our background is in machining and building specialized production
equipment," said Kevin Kilmer, operations manager. "We started out building machines
for the manufacturing industry, and that evolved into more production-based products."
The
company recently introduced laser cutting into its operation with the purchase
of two 1500w, 4' x 4', 3D-rotary laser machines (Mazak's SpaceGear-U44). Kilmer
describes two products laser cut from hydroformed tubes produced on-site.
In general,
what has your experience been with cutting hydroformed tube?
Hydroforming allows
us to bend and expand tubing into various shapes without the scrap associated with
other methods, so it has significantly reduced our material expenses. But, those
tubes require subsequent processes that are time-consuming and labor intensive.
The 3D laser has increased our output while improving the accuracy and consistency
of the parts.
We've been able to eliminate many additional processes, such as tumbling
and deburring, while reducing welding and assembly time. So the two processes work together to give us a superior product and increase output.
What is the part, and
how was it made previously?
This is a welded front pipe assembly for a muffler.
We produced this part by cutting a deep-draw hydroformed tube on automated saws.
We cut the pipe into four pieces and then welded each piece to a flange.
What were
you hoping to gain by laser cutting instead of sawing?
With the previous method,
we had
to manually load the part into a series of three saws to make the cuts, so
we wanted to reduce the labor involved. Also, the saws produced a rough, inconsistent
edge that forced us to tumble and sometimes deburr every pipe. We wanted to eliminate
these additional processes and get a more consistent product.
Have you accomplished
that?
Yes,
now we load the hydroformed tube into the laser and make all the cuts
with one setup as opposed to going into three different saws. The laser cutter gives us a smooth, consistent edge as well as dramatically increasing our output per hour.
How has the laser-cut part impacted the welding process?
The improved accuracy of
the parts coming off the 3D laser has translated into a better welding condition
for the assembly. The consistency in this pipe is important when we fixture this
up to weld it into the assembly. The length and angle of the pipe to the flange
has to meet tight tolerances. When we worked with the parts coming off the saw,
our welding setup process took a lot longer and slowed us down.
Tell us about the
second part .
This is an exhaust pipe tip. The hydroformed tube is rotated using the laser's chuck while the 3D head makes two laser cuts to remove a triangular
portion out of the middle and produce two parts. Then we curl one end on each part
and plate them.
How did you make this part before you got the 3D laser?
This is
a new part for us. The introduction of the SpaceGear-U44 has allowed us to achieve
greater efficiencies and improve our position in the marketplace. We believe that
implementing this technology will allow us to win additional business. |