A die that can measure thickness and hardness in-process is a fantasy for most stampers. To them, presses are machines that spit out parts. Quite the opposite is true for a growing number of stampers, however. For them, in-process measurements are a reality.
Several manufacturers are already cutting through the noise of the working mechanics inside the press to isolate the force signature of the forming process. Feature extraction software uses data in the force curve to calculate changes in thickness and hardness of the work material, based on an analysis of the pertinent parts of the signature.