Determination of optimal cutting edge geometry on a stamped orthotropic circular electrical steel sheet

Today engineers involved in the stamping process used for high-volume production of rotor and stator laminations are faced with a great challenge to achieve extremely narrow dimensional and geometrical tolerance on their products. Because materials are produced by different suppliers, adjustments of technological parameters to the emerging differences are required to maintain the high quality of products. An upgraded engineering method was developed in which electrical steel sheet of semi-finish grade was not treated traditionally, but as a 3D body with orthotropic material behaviour. The round profile of the cutting edge was studied from the experimental and numerical point of view. If the completely round punch was used, the profile of the cutting edge appeared as a non-round shape. With additional FEM analyses a new profile of punch was designed as a non-round shape to be able to provide much better circularity. FEM simulation showed that 10 times lower profile deviations were found on the workpiece shaped by the new cutting element profile.