Stamping dies come in many forms and can generally be classified according to the following key characteristics:
Classification by process nature
Blanking dies: Dies that separate material along a closed or open contour. Examples include blanking dies, piercing dies, cutoff dies, notching dies, trimming dies, and parting dies.
Bending dies: Dies that cause sheet metal blanks or other stock to undergo bending deformation along a straight line (bend line), thereby producing a workpiece with a specific angle and shape.
Drawing dies: Dies used to form sheet metal blanks into open hollow parts or to further alter the shape and dimensions of existing hollow parts.
Forming dies: Dies that shape a blank or semi-finished workpiece by directly replicating the contours of the punch and die, with the material itself undergoing only localized plastic deformation. Examples include bulging dies, necking dies, flaring dies, embossing dies, flanging dies, and sizing/coining dies.
Classification by degree of process combination
Single-operation dies: Dies that perform only one stamping operation during a single press stroke.
Compound dies: Dies featuring a single station where two or more stamping operations are performed simultaneously during a single press stroke.
Progressive dies (also known as continuous dies): Dies featuring two or more stations arranged along the direction of blank feeding, where two or more stamping operations are performed sequentially at different stations during a single press stroke.
Transfer dies: Dies that combine the characteristics of single-operation and progressive dies; by utilizing a robotic transfer system to rapidly move the product between stations within the die, they significantly boost production efficiency, lower production and material costs, and ensure stable, reliable quality.