American Trim Takes Delivery of a New, More Powerful Capacitor Bank to Support its Growing Electromagnetic Forming Business
American Trim will use the more powerful capacitor bank to increase its capability to form high strength
steel and other alloys and potentially replace traditional stamping methods
Lima, Ohio – April 5, 2010
American Trim announced it has received its 90 kilojoules capacitor bank from EWI out of Columbus, OH to
support its expanding electromagnetic forming business. American Trim and EWI both recognize the
potential for EMF and Magnetic Pulse Welding (MPW) as emerging technologies.
"MPW allows unique utilization of materials and fabrication with dissimilar material combinations not found
in industry today," said Dr. Jerry Gould, Technology Leader, EWI. "EMF techniques studied at EWI and
American Trim likewise allow for the precision forming of
materials in ways previously unimaginable."
The new capacitor bank will expand American Trim's offering;
the 90 kJunit will join a 2-24 kJ banks, 16 kJ bank, 6 kJ bank
and 1.2 kJ bank already in operation at the Company.
"This new capacitor bank signals our commitment to continue to
advance the technology to a much greater audience," said Steve
Hatkevich, Director of Research and Development for American
Trim. "We have been working closely with our existing and
several new clients on a diverse set of applications including
crimping and decorative stamping and soon will launch a
production line supporting those applications. The promise of
EMF in terms of precision forming, uniform strain distribution of
the material and cost reduction is being delivered."
About Electromagnetic Forming
Electromagnetic forming uses electrical energy which is stored in a capacitor bank and released through an
actuator to form a part. The part is accelerated to a speed of up to 150 meters per second. This
acceleration renders the part into a hyperplastic state which permits a very precise and uniform
deformation of the substrate.
American Trim has advanced the technology commercially in the areas of crimping and high precision, low
stress stamping for decorative aluminum material as well as stainless steel fuel cell bipolar plates.
Inquiries for the technology should be directed to John Swigard, Director of Marketing for American Trim at
jswigard@amtrim.com.
About American Trim
American Trim specializes in the forming, decorating, and coating of metal and composite substrates and is Tier 1
supplier to the transportation and appliance markets. These core competencies are supported and enhanced by
American Trim's Design and Research and Development activities ensuring the most advanced and cost effective
solutions for its customer partners.
About EWI
EWI is a leading engineering and technology organization dedicated to materials joining and allied
technologies. We provide applied research, manufacturing support, and strategic services to nearly 2,800
member company locations of global leaders in the aerospace, automotive, defense, energy and chemical,
government, heavy manufacturing, and electronics industries. Visit ewi.org for more information.