How it works

The Bullet Press is a precision electromagnetic accelerator. Powered by a microprocessor control

that energizes the accelerator, the tooling is rapidly accelerated towards the die. The control,
measuring the tool velocity, precisely regulates the speed. The driving force is disconnected just
before the punch impacts the material. The kinetic energy in the moving tool is converted to
work as the tool cuts the material. Any unused energy at the end of the stroke is absorbed by
special urethane stops that, aided by adjustable return springs, return the tool holder and the
accelerator to their initial positions.
The amount of energy generated is substantial consider that a 20 lb tool accelerated to 160
in/sec produces over 660 in/lbs. of work. That is equivalent 33 tons of force when cutting .010
thick material or 11 tons when cutting .030.
Calculating the force required for any application is straight forward.
Force required (lbs) = length of cut (in) x material shear strength (psi) x thickness (in)
Energy required (in/lbs) = Force required (lbs) x thickness (in)
To calculate the energy required simply multiply force required by the thickness of the material.
The energy available using a single actuator is 770 (in/lbs.). Adding additional actuators increase
the energy or throughput of the system.
Generally we want to keep the tool weight as low as possible, consistent with providing the
energy to do the work required. Once the ideal velocity is determined calculating the desired tool
weight and the energy required is straight forward.
Cutting any material causes heat energy to be generated in the shear
or cutting zone. In a conventional press system most of this heat
energy is transferred to the cutting tool and the material being cut.
As the speed of the cutting tool is increased the heat energy has less
time to move into the material and cutting tool causing the temperature
in shear zone to increase rapidly.
If we continue to increase the speed of the tool we reach a point where
none of the heat energy generated has time to leave the shear zone.
When this happens, the stamping process is called adiabatic, meaning
no heat leaves the process while being cut. The resulting increased
temperature in the narrow shear or cutting zone dramatically reduces
the force required to cut the material.
The tool velocity necessary to produce the adiabatic effect is dependent
on the material and tool clearances. Materials with higher thermal
Adiabatic Stamping Explained
Netronics Research & Development, Ltd - 333 Litchfield Road, New Milford, CT 06776 USA - 860-355-2659
conductivity generally require higher tool speeds to be adiabatic. To
obtain the optimum results the material must be tested at various tool
velocities and clearances.
Click here to view presentation about
the benefits of adiabtic Stamping