Presentation

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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Welcome to Volume Plus!

This software package has been developed with the aim of helping those
professionals dealing with the production and the sales of fasteners.
Sales managers will find a simple instrument for quick calculation of the
weight of special fasteners, a basic but essential information to work out
selling prices.
No more need to beg your technical colleagues to get this information every
time you have to prepare a quote. As fast as you calculate the weight you can
also print a technical drawing that can be utilized as a budgetary quote or can
be attached to your official quote.
Technical engineers will discover a friendly instrument to get all those kinds of
information which are necessary in their daily activities, but usually are so
boring to calculate, and time consuming.

What Volume Plus is NOT

This package is not a CAD system. It cannot do all what a CAD software can
do in terms of drawing options and geometry calculations.
On the other hand it needs minutes rather than weeks to get started, and you
wont forget how to use it when coming back to work after a vacation.
Volume Plus is not a process simulation package. It does not have the
ambition of such complex calculations.

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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CALCULATION OF VOLUME AND WEIGHT FOR COMPLEX SHAPE
COMPONENTS

3 main pages quickly selectable from a top menu allow to define the Head,
the Collar and the Shank of the special Component to be designed.
Each of the 3 pages will display a specific series of Elements (geometric
elements).
The multiple combination of the various Elements will allow to generate a very
large variety of special Components, with dimensions defined by the User.
On the left of the screen there is an area dedicated to the istantaneous
displaying of the Component, while it is created by the user.
All the Elements defined by the user will be displayed in scale (i.e respecting
their proportions). This will give a significant help during the designing of the
Component, as any major error in the input of the dimensions will have
immediate evidence in the displayed drawing.
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In the same section of the program, together with the calculation of Volume
and net Weight you will istantaneously get also:
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All the extrusion ratios for each section-reduction starting from

the wire cutoff diameter, down to the lower end of the shank, with
warning messages when the limits are exceeded

Weight including the waste, in case you considered a trimming or

piercing operation

N. of wire diameters to create the head (ratio between the length

of the wire to produce the head and the cutoff diameter), with a
warning message when the limit is exceeded

All the calculations can be saved by your code and description, and recalled
at your wish.

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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A quick printing function allows the istantaneous printing of a A4 drawing of

your Components and all the relevant data:

Further functions in the same program section are:

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Switching from millimenter to inches

Displaying of threads
Accurate definition of recesses, ring (raised and indented), ribs,
etc. with calculation of the relevant volumes and weights
Design of excentric Components
Help function describing the input fields

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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Design of bushings and sleeves

A specific menu allows the creation of bushings and sleeves.
The relevant menu shows a variety of geometries for the cavities:

Example of a bushing

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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CYCLE
A specific section of the program allows to create FORMING CYCLES (or
progressions) in a quick way.
The first problem when designing a progression is to keep the volume of the
Component constant in the various operations. The changes in the
geometries from one forming station to the next force the engineers to effect a
lot of calculations of volumes for single solid Elements, which are added up to
constitute the blank at the various stages of the progression. This is generally
done by a pocket calculator, sometimes by an Excel sheet with home-made
formulas. The method is subject to possible input errors, and theres no
evidence of the results on a scaled drawing.
Alternatively the task can be permormed by CAD programs, but these are
more complex and require more time.
With CYCLE the progressions are designed and printed in minutes; a special
HELP function allows to play with geometries variations, but keeping the
volumes always constant.
By the HELP function:
- Simply select the shape of the head or shank you wish to design.
- Define the diameter, as required by the Head Style.
- Adjust diameters and lengths by cursors.
The volumes of Head, Collar and Shank will be keep constant, to be the same
as the volume of the finished Component.
Definition of the Head

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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Definition of the Shank

A quick printing function allows the istantaneous printing of a drawing of your

Cycle (Progression) and all the relevant data:

Trimming
Progressions requiring a trimming operation can be designed considering the
waste due to the trimming operation. Volumes are automatically
compensated.

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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Calculations of Loads and Energy

It is possible to effect quick calculations of Load and Energy for the extrusion,
Forming and trimming operations and compare them for the various forming
stations:

VolumePlus by Forgeelab LLC Presentation, march 2016

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PUNCH

This section of the program allows to design and calculate the Volume of
preform punches very quickly.
4 different geometries of typical preform Punches can be considered:

In a few seconds it is possible to design the geometry of the chamber of a

preform punch and obtain the relevant volume, to be compared with the
volume of the Head of the component to be coldformed.

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TRILOB
This section of the program allows to design and calculate the geometry of
shanks with trilobular section (typical of screws to be utilized for plastic
assemblies). The geometry of the shank section is not taken from tables, but
calculated istantaneously on the basis of the paramenters set from time to
time by the User.

The definition of the shank section geometry is very simple, requiring the input
of just 2 paremeters. These can be the nominal Shank Diameter and the
Eccentricity, alternatively the diameter ofr the Circumscribed Circle and the
Inscribed Circle.
Once you have input the two data that you have available, you immediately
get all the details to define the geometry of the heading die.
Fields to generate the trilobular profile

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Circles which are respectively circurmscribed and inscribed to the trilobular
profile:

Scheme of lines and circles which are necessary to define the trilobular
profile:

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Main dimensions from the center of the triloburar profile:

Data required by an EDM (spark erosion) machine to cut the trilobular profile
inside the die:

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SHANK

When you have to produce a screw with a special thread, one information
that you need is the diameter of the shank to be obtained by cold forming,
prior to the rolling operation.
This section of the program allows to calculate the diameter of the blank prior to the rolling operation - for special threads. The diameter is not taken
from tables, but calculated istantaneously on the basis of the parameters set
from time to time by the User.
4 kinds of threads that can be choosen:

From left to right:

The first button can define threads with some space between the spirals, like
for example self tapping threads.
The second button can define threads without space between the spirals,
like for example machine threads (metric, etc.).
The third button can define Hi-Lo (High-Low) threads, having 2 spirals.
The fourth button can define special geometries, like for example the threads
for plastic.
Once you have choosen the kind of thread (for example the thread for plastic):

the relevant input fields will be immediately displayed:

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Once you have filled up the fields with the dimensions, the thread geometry
will be immediately displayed and the THEORETICAL SHANK DIAMETER
before rolling will be displayed:

Printing
By clicking in the area of the drawing you have chance to print what is
displayed.
Saving and Searching
Every special Thread can be saved with code and description, and stored in a
specific archive.

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EXTRUSION
This section of the program allows to calculate the length of an extruded
cylinder resulting from a forward or backward extrusion.
Forward extrusion
Once you have defined diameter and length of the cutoff and the geometry of
the extruding die, you can proceed click by click until you have reached the
required length of the extruded cylinder, or the required punch stroke.
Alternatively you can drag the cursor until you have reached the desired
position.
Result is immediate, both numerical and graphical: you will see the blank
being extruded in real time.

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Aside you will have the following information displayed:

% of Reduction
This ia calculated as surface reduction
Height of extr. Area This is the height of the conical portion of the extruding
Die
Volume of the blank This is the total volume of the material for the blank
Volume before extr. This is the volume of the material which is still above
the extrusion area
Volume of extr. Area This is the volume of the conical portion of the
extruding die.
Extruded Volume

This is the volume of material that has been fully

extruded (in other words it is the volume of the cylinder
generated by the extruding process, just under the
extruding area.

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Backward extrusion

In case you select Backward Extrusion, once the fields have been filled up,
you will have immediate results, both numerical and graphic.

At the start position the blank will be positioned at the top of the extruding
punch, ready to be extruded.
Same as for the forward extrusion, you can proceed click by click until you
have reached the required length of the extruded cylinder, or the required
punch stroke. Alternatively you can drag the cursor until you have reached the
desired position.
Result is immediate, both numerical and graphical: you will see the blank
being extruded in real time.

Printing
By clicking in the area of the drawing you have chance to print what is
diplayed. Click on Print to confirm the printing.

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