Jigs and Fixtures

Design
Chapter 3
Tooling materials and
production processes

1
Tooling materials

Ferrous tooling materials

Nonmetallic tooling materials

Nonferrous tooling materials

Material selection depends on its use
 Location
 Clamping
 Friction

2
Material properties

Strength
 Ability to resist the action of external loads or
forces
 It is the amount of smoothly applied pull force
(N) per cross sectional area (mm2) that the
material will withstand before it breaks

Plasticity
 It is the ability of a material to deform without
breaking

3
Material properties

Elasticity
 It is the ability of a material to recover its original size
and shape after it has deformed

Stiffness
 It is the ability of a material to resist elastic
deformation

Elastic limit
 Is the maximum load per unit area (N/mm2) that can
be applied without producing permanent deformation

Toughness
 The material ability to absorb energy and deform
plastically before failure

4
Material properties

Hardness
 It is the ability of a material to resist penetration,
scrathing, abrasion or cutting

Machinability
 Is the adaptability of a material to cutting
 It depends on hardness and toughness of the material
 Also depends on cutting speed, cutting tool material
and quality, cutting tool angles,
 Also depends kind and quality of coolant
 Also depends rigidity of machine and tool support

5
Cost of material

An important factor to ensure competitive
pricing of jig or fixture

Should balance between
 Material properties and
 Design requirements

Wrong selection
 Cheapest material may be expensive in long
run
 Expensive material over the specification
requirements, hence extra cost without added
value
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Ferrous tooling materials

Die steels
 Unalloyed carbon steels
 Alloy cold-work steels
 Heat treated die steels
 High speed steel (HSS)

Case hardening steels

Mild steels

Cast irons

7
Material and application in jig & fixture
Material AISI DIN JIS ASSAB Use

High-speed ~M2 S6-5-2 SKH51 HSP51 Cutting tools. Drills,

steel reamers, metal saws
64 – 66HRC
Cold work ~D3 X210 Cr 12 ~SKD11 ~XW41 Blanking, deep drawing
tool steel ~D2 X165 CrMoV12 dies, punches.
52 – 63HRC

Hot work tool H13 X40 CrMoV5 1 SKD61 8407 Extrusion dies, die casts,
steel X38 CrMoV5 3 ~QRO 90 screws, nuts, rivets, pins.
35 – 55HRC

Machinery ~4340 34 CrNiMo 6 ~SNCM 1 705 Low stressed tool sets,

steel ~1045 C 45 W ~S45C 760 hand tools, agricultural
tools.
35 – 55HRC
Pre-hardened ~P20 40 CrMnMoS 8 6 - HOLDAX Pre-hardened mould & die
steel ~420 ~X36 CrMo 17 ~SUS 4220 J2 STAVAX plates. Excellent wear
resistance, ready to be
machined & polished.
35 – 55HRC
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Material content: ferrous-based
Material C% Cr Mo V Si Mn Others

High- 0.9~1.3 ~4.2 5.0 1.0 ~ 4.0

speed
steel
Cold work 1.5 ~ 2.0 ~11.5 0.25 ~ 0.35
tool steel

Hot work ~0.38 2.7 ~5.2 ~1.4 0.3~ 0.9 0.2 ~ 1.1
tool steel

Machinery 0.48 0.3 0.7

steel

Pre- 0.38 ~ 1.9 ~ 14.3 0.2 ~ 0.6 0.3 ~ 0.7 0.45 ~ 1.5
hardened 0.4
steel

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 Part & application: ferrous-based
Part Example Condition Use

Nut, washer, bolt S45C 32 – 40HRC

Guide block S45C 45 – 50 HRC

Step clamp S45C (sintered) 92 -95 HB

Pre-hardened plate NAK55, 31 – 40HRC Base plate

NAK80,
STAVAX
Plate SKD61, DH21, - Base plate
St52.3

10
Heat treatment

Is a process capable of changing the
physical properties of a metal by
subjecting it to a combination of heating &
cooling.

It may harden, soften, toughen, stress-
relieve, increase machinability, strengthen
the material or a combination of these.

The rate of heating & cooling will depend
upon the properties required.

11
 Heat treatment processes

Normalising

Annealing

Hardening

Quenching

Tempering

12
Iron-Carbon Diagram
Ferrous-carbon diagram
Temperature

Carbon content (%)

M. Heinzler, Tabellenbuch Metall, Europa Lehrmittel, 1997 13

Ferrous-Carbon Diagram: Heat
treatment
Heat treatment of metal
Temperature

Carbon content (%)

M. Heinzler, Tabellenbuch Metall, Europa Lehrmittel, 1997 14

Normalising

Is to put a ferrous material back into a
normal structure after forging, casting or
improper heat treatment.

Results in grain refinement, homogeneity
of structure.

In some cases, it can increase
machinability.

Process: heating the steel to approx. 30°C
above the normal hardening temperature
& allowing it cool in still water
15
Annealing

To soften or stress-relieve steel material. It
allows easy machining.

It is carried out when tool was too hard to
machine due to hammering, rolling or
improper cooling at mill.

Process: heat the steel slightly above its
hardening tempt & cool it slowly in the
furnace or in a heat-insulating material such
as lime, ashes or powdered asbestos. Then
slow cooling to be carried out to low tempt.

16
Quenching

Is cooling a heated piece of metal.

Cooling using cooling media such as
brine, water, oil caustic soda in water,
molten salt and still air.

17
Hardening

To improve or give strength to part &
increase its wear resistance property.

Process: heat the steel slightly above its
hardening tempt & quenching it in the
proper medium.

18
Tempering

A process where a certain degree of
hardness is sacrificed to relieve strains &
increase toughness.

Process: reheating the steel after
hardening to a tempt much lower than the
hardening heat.

Done in baths of oil, salts, or lead, whose
tempt are pyrometer-controlled.

19
Nonmetallic tooling materials

Plastic
 Nylon
 Polyurethane

Fibre

Rubber

Wood

20
Nonferrous tooling materials

Sintered carbides
 Carbide of tungsten, titanium and tantalum
held together with cobalt binder

Cast nonferrous alloy

Zinc alloy

Bismuth alloy

Magnesium

21
Machining process

Standard processes

Milling

Turning

Grinding

Wirecut EDM

Diesink EDM

Boring

22
Limits and fits

Limit
 Permissible dimension of a shaft or hole
 Largest permissible dimension of a shaft or
hole is called the ‘high limit’
 Smallest permissible dimension of a shaft or
hole is called the ‘low limit’
 The difference between high and low limits is
called tolerance. They are the permissible
variation

23
Limits and fits

Tolerance
 Unilateral tolerance allows only +0.02
20 -0.00
one side tolerance of the nominal
dimension
 Bilateral tolerance allows both side 20
+0.02
-0.01
tolerance of the nominal dimension

24
Limits and fits

Fit describes the condition and functional
requirements of assembled parts

Four classes of fits
 Running fit
 Push fit
 Press fit
 Force fit

25
 Limits and fits

Running fit
 Easy rotation & axial movements of shaft
(male) in the hole (female)
 Push fit
 Hand-push of shaft (male) into hole (female)
 Press fit
 Minimum force using tool (hammer) to locate
shaft (male) into hole (female)
 Force fit
 High force using press tool to locate shaft
(male) into hole (female)
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Assembly, testing and commissioning

Assembly of jig / fixture using:

 Bolts
 clamps
 dowel pins to maintain accuracy

Test jig / fixture

Quality check on test product using
 Standard tools
 CMM

Delivery to customer
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