New integrated approach for repairing and redesigning heavy forming tools

Forging and sheet metal forming tools are subject to strong, partial wear in use. On the one hand wear-protection layers are applied before use, and on the other hand worn tools are repaired by manual build-up welding after use. At present the repair of such tools is carried out in separate work processes with a small degree of automation and a high proportion of manual activity. This leads to long running times and potential sources of error. Our approach to solve these problems is to develop a repair cell which will facilitate automated repairs, beginning with measurement of the worn tool areas through to the repaired, fully operational tool. This paper will describe the overall concept of this repair cell with a special focus on optical metrology. Challenges of integration and demands for different sensor types are presented as well as the specified interfaces between different processing stages during manufacturing.