Toolmaking has always been one of Audi’s core competences, they are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is technically feasible to lay the foundation for our high‑quality car bodies and to remain globally competitive.

This dedication earned the team the “Toolmaker of the Year” award in 2015, which is annually awarded by a jury in Aachen, Germany. Specifically, Audi Toolmaking’s diverse innovations impressed the jury. Features like intelligent tools that independently control themselves (to safeguard the precision of sheet metal parts measured in hundredths of millimeters), new lightweight dies and metal additive manufacturing (AM) all impressed the panel.

Intelligent tools. Intelligent tools are equipped with sensors that automatically control the flow of material. Sensors make the process inside the tool visible, identifying how the material is flowing and what forces are being exerted on the blank. This data shows whether the processes are remaining within the narrow window that the engineers have defined. If not, an actuator in the tool autonomously adjusts the distribution of forces within the tool. This enables Audi to ensure precision to within hundredths of a millimeter.

A computer manages the work that the intelligent tool performs and receives its information from up to 24 sensors, such as laser sensors that measure flange feed with extreme precision using triangulation. In this way, we exploit all physical possibilities of the forming process, they are currently using intelligent tools in 12 vehicle projects and five more are planned. Audi is currently working on using the data from intelligent tools as well as systems that detect part quality to consequently track all pressed parts to have the capacity to react quickly to changes in body construction, for instance.

Light tools. Presses are among the heaviest machines in the production process and can weigh up to 45 tons. The massive dies to deep-draw door panels, for instance, add to the overall weight. They have a large, repetitive and reciprocating movement, which increases a press’s mass dynamics. A lighter tool reduces the dynamics so that momentum and vibration decrease and precision increases. As a result, Audi engineers are now applying new lightweight-construction methods for their tools and dies. The design of the cast-iron housing now follows bionic principles, where free shapes that are reminiscent of natural geometries, such as those found in leaves or skeletons, ensure a lighter, optimized design. Furthermore, some components are made of aluminum and plastics. This reduces the overall weight by as much as 20 percent and the energy requirement by about 10 percent.

A conventional press tool’s load-bearing structure is usually designed conservatively. Part of the framework includes massive horizontal and vertical struts between the lower and upper panels of the base, which cross at right angles and are designed to resist compression. Their design is adapted as well as possible to the special loads acting on the tool in the press. The vertical ribs provide stiffening where the strongest forces act. With the deep drawing process or first stage of forming, those forces can be up to 20,000 kilo newtons.

Audi started developing its new generation of tools five years ago. In the first step, the engineers replaced the right-angled struts in the base of the large-scale tools, which are up to 5 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, with arc-shaped structures. In the second step, they designed free shapes reminiscent of natural geometries. Some of the struts are twisted, others change their profile several times over their lengths. As a result, the new tools are, on average, about 10 percent stiffer and, in some cases, 40 percent lighter than conventional tools.

With no detrimental effects on quality, this allows the number of strokes in the press, which is between nine and 18 per minute, to be increased by one to two. The bottom line is that about 10 percent less energy is required for the press process and for the transportation between tool changes. Audi’s specialists estimate that the use of each new tool, assuming it has a lifetime of seven years, can reduce CO2 emissions by an average of at least 10 percent.
Additive manufactured, optimized design. Additive manufacturing offers similar design optimizations for car components, tools and molds. The Audi Toolmaking division is home to a newly established Metal 3D Printing Center. Here, specialists from Audi Toolmaking collaborate closely with experts from the Casting Technical Center of Production Planning in Ingolstadt. There, 15 casting engineers from Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt develop new technologies and produce small series magnesium and aluminum die-cast parts like chassis components. The center hosts two cold chamber die-casting plants as well as aluminum and magnesium smelting systems.

In cooperation with the Technical Development division, the Casting Technical Center uses its three metal printers to produce steel and aluminum parts for testing in engines and suspension. The Technical Development division in Ingolstadt houses nearly 9,000 employees at its approximately 82.8-acre complex. Another 1,700 employees work in Neckarsulm.

With 3D metal printers in the Casting Technical Center, the goal is to better understand printed aluminum materials and the production technology. Various automobile parts are produced, like space-frame components that integrate fluid containers and suspension components. Also, Audi has recently entered a development partnership with EOS. With their additive manufacturing technology, we can integrate internal structures and functions in tools that has not been possible with conventional manufacturing. Now we can quickly and economically produce components using lightweight construction, especially with components in small batches.
Additionally, Audi will focus on producing parts and vehicle components more cost-effectively with inserts for die casting molds and hot-forming tools that use conformal cooling. This optimized cooling performance can reduce cycle time by 20 percent, decreasing energy consumption and cost.

Audi’s toolmaking division is well prepared for future challenges. The entire industry faces enormous challenges in the fields of powertrains and digitization, and Audi is not resting on its laurels.