The recognition of the Adiabatic Metal Forming Process as one of the most technologically significant products of the year places LMC in fine company, said R&D representative Jill Marie LaVine. The award program began in 1963 and has recognized a wide range of important developments over the years, including antilock brakes, the ATM machine, the fax machine, and the Nicoderm anti-smoking patch. LMC will receive their award at a banquet held on October 4, 2001, at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

LMC's patented Adiabatic Metal Forming Process, which will be demonstrated at FABTECH International 2001 in Booth 8041, is a two-step process which begins with the feeding of material from coil or bar stock into an adiabatic cut-off station, where in less than a millisecond a high quality precision blank is produced with consistent length/mass tolerance at a high cycle rate, without burrs, strain hardening, micro-crack formation, smoke, or material waste. During the second step, the blank is transferred into the adiabatic forming station where, once it is positioned in the cavity of the forming tool, it is transformed into a net or near-net part in milliseconds. When the press ram accelerates the die, heat is generated, and localized softening occurs adiabatically due to the extreme energy concentration in time and space. Immediately after completion, the part is ejected, with virtually no time for heat transfer into the forming tool.

The award-winning manufacturing process is based on the adiabatic softening phenomenon discovered during World War II, when scientists observed that piercing armor plates at high velocities produced clean holes with little distortion to the surrounding material. The phrase "adiabatic softening" refers to the process in heat-transfer theory, with no heat loss to the surroundings. To apply this phenomenon in manufacturing environments, LMC engineered and patented a mechanical adiabatic unit that successfully creates the necessary acceleration speed. Whereas conventional metal forming/forging presses typically reach closing speeds from .03 to 5.0 meters per second, LMC's adiabatic press systems produce controllable speeds up to 100 meters per second, which creates the condition for this phenomenon. The result, according to LMC President Gordon Goranson, is more consistent quality and increased efficiency.

With the Adiabatic Metal Forming Process, parts can be produced to tighter tolerances, minimizing or even eliminating secondary operations required by conventional blanking and forming processes, Goranson explained. Cut-off and forming with adiabatic technology are extremely rapid processes, requiring only milliseconds to accomplish. Adiabatic technology also offers the advantage of forming material that cannot be formed cold with conventional methods. In addition, the adiabatic process is environmentally friendly and energy efficient, with electrical energy requirements less than 10% of conventional blanking and forming methods.

Applications for the Adiabatic Metal Forming Process are currently being studied within the automotive, electronics, flow control, aviation, fastener, and hardware/tooling industries. Most notably, LMC worked with Stanford University last year to successfully complete Phase I of an SBIR Grant from the Department of Energy to determine the feasibility for the Adiabatic Forming of Copper Accelerator Cells for the Next Generation Electron Positron Linear Collider (NLC). This precision application was completed to the full satisfaction of the Stanford Physicists and the Phase II Grant was awarded to LMC in June, 2000 to actually manufacture the press system which will produce the Copper Accelerator Cells for the Next Linear Accelerator.

Headquartered in DeKalb, Illinois, LMC, Inc. is a world leader in the engineering, design and manufacture of systems based on Adiabatic Process Manufacturing (APM) for the metalworking industry. The company also provides complete turnkey systems to process blanks from virtually any material in solid, shapes and tubing from bar or coil stock. In 1998, LMC established their APM Process Center to provide the adiabatic cut-off service to customers awaiting delivery of their press system, to provide a secondary location for production of customer parts in times of crisis, and to enable prospects to enter new markets with initial trials of production parts.