The production process of aluminum alloy automobile wheels is mainly divided into the following categories:
1. Casting process:
• Gravity casting: Pour the liquid aluminum alloy into the mold, fill the mold under gravity and cool it into shape. This process has low equipment investment and relatively simple operation, which is suitable for small-scale production. However, the casting efficiency is low, the product quality consistency is poor, and casting defects such as pores and shrinkage are prone to occur.
• Low-pressure casting: In a sealed crucible, the aluminum alloy liquid is pressed into the mold at a low pressure through an inert gas to solidify it under pressure. The castings produced by this process have dense structure, good internal quality, high production efficiency, and are suitable for mass production, but the equipment investment is large, the mold requirements are high, and the mold cost is also high.
• Spin casting: It is an improved process based on low-pressure casting. First, the blank of the wheel is formed by low-pressure casting, and then the blank is fixed on the spinning machine. The structure of the rim part is gradually deformed and extended by the rotating mold and pressure. This process not only retains the advantages of low-pressure casting, but also improves the strength and precision of the wheel, while also reducing the weight of the wheel.
2. Forging process
After the aluminum alloy is heated to a certain temperature, it is forged into a mold by a forging press. Forging processes can be divided into the following two types:
• Conventional forging: A whole piece of aluminum ingot is directly forged into the shape of a wheel under high pressure. The wheel produced by this process has high material utilization, less waste, excellent mechanical properties of forgings, and good strength and toughness. However, the equipment investment is large, the process is complex, and the technical level of the operator is required to be high.
• Semi-solid forging: First, the aluminum alloy is heated to a semi-solid state, at which time the aluminum alloy has a certain fluidity and forgeability, and then forged. This process can reduce energy consumption in the forging process, improve production efficiency, and also improve the quality of the wheel.
3. Welding process
The sheet is rolled into a cylinder and welded, and it is simply processed or pressed into a wheel rim with a mold, and then the pre-cast wheel disc is welded to produce a wheel. The welding method can be laser welding, electron beam welding, etc. This process requires a dedicated production line with high production efficiency and is suitable for mass production, but the appearance is poor and welding quality problems are prone to occur at the welding points.
Post time: Nov-27-2024
