PECOL and INEGI create a cold forging process that guarantees the quality of automotive components and requires less raw material

PECOL Automotive, a company specialized in the production of steel parts for the automotive industry, has joined forces with INEGI to respond to an increasingly demanding market and to adapt its production unit to manufacture high-performance components, with demanding manufacturing complexity.

The company is investing in cold steel forging processes (a technique that consists of working the material at room temperature), and in greater control and automation of the process through digital tools and advanced monitoring and self-regulation techniques. The objective is to guarantee the quality and technical requirements of the components and, at the same time, reduce the use of raw materials.

It therefore counts on the support of INEGI to "develop new methodologies for processing and process control, fine-tune the process and introduce real-time monitoring capabilities in order to reduce defects and rejection rates", says Ana Reis, responsible for project at the Institute.

"The innovative nature of this technique is also based on the use of tools with movable dies, which allow greater flexibility in the process and greater proximity of the forged shape to the final geometry", explains Ana Reis. "In this way, it is possible to avoid highly complex secondary operations, maintaining the mechanical characteristics achieved in the cold forging process”.

Alongside this, the team is developing numerical simulation methodologies, which "will translate into a deeper knowledge of process variables, making it easier to diagnose production failures and defects".

These advances allow the company to position itself as a producer of critical components for the automotive industry, managing to integrate the entire production value chain and add value to its offer. This partnership is in line with PECOL's commitment to innovation and development to gain competitive advantages in its area of ​​activity, having already collaborated with INEGI in the past to innovate in the manufacture of differentiating products.

The TOP 4GED project - Development of new high value-added products for the automotive industry is co-financed by Portugal 2020, within the scope of Compete 2020 - Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization, through the European Regional Development Fund.