Aluminum Alloy Forging Production and Application

【SHENZHEN SCZY TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD.】 ABSTRACT: The comprehensive, systematic and in-depth presentation of the important status, production status and development level of Aluminum Alloy Forging production in the national economy, and analysis of the market demand and application prospects of forgings, suggests that China should step up efforts to build several large, The medium-sized aluminum alloy forging production line is very necessary, which has great practical significance and long-term significance for the rapid development of the national economy and the modernization of the defense industry.

Key words: aluminum alloy forging production; large and medium-sized Aluminum Alloy Forgings; production technology; level of development; application development; aircraft Aluminum Forgings; automotive aluminum wheels 1 forging production in the national economy an important position forging production is to provide machinery to various industrial sectors One of the main ways of part blanks. The advantage of forging production is that it not only obtains the shape of the mechanical parts, but also improves the internal structure of the material and improves the mechanical properties. In general, most of the important mechanical parts with high mechanical and mechanical requirements are manufactured using forging methods.

The weight of the forgings in the aircraft accounts for 70%, the weight of the forgings on the tanks accounts for 60%, and the weight of the forgings on the cars accounts for 50%. In the power industry, the turbine shaft, turbine impeller, rotor, and guard ring are all forged. . As can be seen from these examples, forging production plays an extremely important role in the industrial industry.

Aluminum alloy has been used in various industrial sectors because of its small specific gravity, specific strength, and high specific stiffness. Aluminum alloy forgings have become indispensable materials for mechanical parts in various industrial sectors. All kinds of forgings that can be forged with low carbon steel can be forged out of aluminum alloy. Aluminum alloys can be forged on various forging equipment such as forging hammers, mechanical presses, hydraulic presses, head forging machines, and hole-expanding machines. They can be used for free forging, die forging, roll forging, upset forging, roll forging and hole expansion.

Generally speaking, aluminum forgings with small size, simple shape and laxity requirements can be easily forged on the hammer. However, for aluminum forgings with large specifications and severe deformation, water (liquid) presses should be used. forging. Aluminum forgings with large and complex overall structures are not produced by large-scale die forging hydraulic presses. For large precision ring parts, precision rolling ring forging is preferred. Especially in the past ten years, with the advancement of science and technology and the development of the national economy, higher and higher requirements have been put forward for materials, forcing aluminum alloy forgings to develop in the direction of large-scale integration, high strength, high toughness, and sophisticated precision. Promote the development of large and medium hydraulic presses and forging ring machines.

With the development of China's transportation industry toward modernization and high speed, the lightweighting of transportation and transportation tools has become increasingly demanding. The demand for aluminum-based steels is increasing, especially for aircrafts, spacecrafts, and railway vehicles that require high lightness. Major force components and structural parts such as underground railways, high-speed trains, freight cars, automobiles, ships, ships, artillery, tanks, and mechanical equipment, etc. In recent years, aluminum and aluminum alloy forgings and die forgings have been extensively used to replace the original steel structural parts. For example, almost all aircraft structural parts use aluminum alloy die forging; automotive (especially heavy-duty vehicles and large and medium-sized passenger cars) wheels, bumpers, base frame beams; tanks of the load wheel; battery rack; helicopter's moving ring and fixed ring; The cylinders and piston skirts of trains; the woodworking machinery fuselage; the seats, tracks and stranding plates of textile machinery have been manufactured using aluminum alloy forgings. Moreover, these trends are growing dramatically, and even some Aluminum alloy castings have begun to use aluminum alloy die forgings instead.

At present, there are few large-scale forging hydraulic presses in the world, and there are few in China. With the modernization of the national defense industry and the development of the civilian industry, especially the transportation industry, the type and output of aluminum alloy die forged parts can not only meet the needs of the domestic market. There is also a big gap in the international market. Therefore, it is necessary and timely for China to step up the construction of several large and medium-sized aluminum alloy forging production lines. It has important practical significance and long-term significance for the rapid development of the national economy and the modernization of the defense industry.

2 Properties and application areas of aluminum alloy forgings 2.1 Characteristics of aluminum alloy forgings 1 Density is small, only 34% of Steel Forgings , 30% of copper forgings, is an ideal material for lightweight.

2 has higher specific strength, higher specific rigidity, higher specific modulus of elasticity and higher fatigue strength, and is suitable for key components with high requirements for light weight. Its comprehensive performance is much higher than other materials.

3 The internal organization is fine, uniform and flawless. Its reliability is much higher than that of aluminum alloy castings and die castings, and it is also higher than that of other material castings.

4 The aluminum alloy has good plasticity and can be processed into various high-precision forgings with complex shapes. The machining allowance is small, which is only about 20% of the aluminum alloy drawing plate allowance, which greatly saves man-hours and costs.

5 Aluminum forgings have good corrosion resistance, thermal conductivity and non-magnetic properties, which are unmatched by steel forgings.

6Smooth and beautiful surface, good surface treatment performance, beautiful and durable.

It can be seen that the aluminum forgings have a series of excellent features, which provide good conditions for aluminum forgings to replace steel, copper, magnesium, wood and plastics.

2.2 Application Fields of Aluminum Alloy Forgings In recent years, due to the decrease in the cost of aluminum materials and the improvement of performance, the specifications of the aluminum alloys have been expanded, and their application areas have been increasing. Mainly used in aerospace and aviation, transportation, automotive, shipbuilding, energy and power, electronic communications, petrochemicals, metallurgical mining, machinery and electrical appliances and other fields. The characteristics and uses of the main wrought aluminum alloys are shown in Table 1.

3 aluminum alloy forging production technology and development level 3.1 Analysis of the status and development of foreign development Forgings production is a very old industry, but the aluminum alloy forgings mass production applications began in the 1950s. After decades of modernization, no matter in terms of industrial equipment, mold design and manufacturing, production technology and technology, or in product variety specifications, production scale and quality, etc. have been rapidly developed, especially the United States, Russia, Germany The development of forging production in Japan, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and other countries has reached a very high level.

At present, there are thousands of forging mills and thousands of forging presses in the world. The annual output of forgings is nearly 5 million tons per year, among which aluminum alloy die forgings are about 300,000 tons per year (the annual consumption is nearly 500,000 tons per year). There are more than 500 large and small water (liquid) presses in the world, of which more than 10 large-scale water (liquid) presses with more than 100MN are available. The distribution of heavy-duty forging presses above 300MN is: 4 in Russia. One of them is 750MN, which is a comparison in the world; the United States has 5 (including 2 450MN); France 1 is 650MN; Germany 2; China 1 (China is constructing and manufacturing 450MN and 800MN giant die forging hydraulic press) 1 in Romania; 1 in the United Kingdom. The main characteristics of these large-scale water (liquid) presses are compact structure, multi-function, high degree of automation, equipped with a manipulator and a quick mold changing device, reasonable plane configuration, which is conducive to continuous operation and high production efficiency.

In addition, with the increase in the size of aluminum alloy die forgings and the improvement in precision, large-scale precision multi-directional die forging hydraulic presses have been receiving increasing attention. Each country has a number of large-scale multi-directional die press hydraulic presses, among which three are from the United States, the largest is 300 MN, and one from France. It is 650 MN; in the United Kingdom, it is 300 MN; in China it is 100 MN, in Russia it is 200 MN and 500 MN; in Germany it is 350 MN. Multi-directional die forging machine belongs to precision forging equipment. It is equipped with PLC system and computer control system. It can automatically adjust the energy, stroke, pressure and speed, control the key parts better working point, and monitor various working conditions. Display, forecast and protection against system failures, equipment overload, over-temperature and out-of-control, and control product quality. Some also include offset detection, synchronization system, workbench and rack deformation compensation, magnetic packet memory, integrated circuit, optical fiber communication, color screen, etc., which can realize the automatic control of the entire machine or the entire train, or even the entire workshop. Scientific management.

In addition, in order to produce large and medium-sized precision forgings of various specifications and varieties, various types of precision forging machines are also installed in various countries. Large-sized forging hammers and flat forging machines with a capacity of 50 tons or more and large precision ring rolling machines with Φ5 to Φ12M are also installed. Such as the United States Φ12M, Russia's Φ10M precision rolling ring machine, China is also equipped with more than one Φ5M precision rolling ring machine.

Table 1 Characteristics and Uses of Wrought Aluminum Alloys In the technical direction of aluminum and aluminum alloy forgings, a large number of new forging processes and technologies have been developed, such as liquid forging, semi-solid forging, isothermal forging, powder forging, multi-directional forging, Non-diagonal precision die forging, subdivided die forging, and jacket die forging to simplify the process, reduce processes, save energy, expand quality, increase specifications, improve quality and productivity, protect the environment, reduce labor intensity, and improve the economy Benefits and other aspects have played a major role. Dedicated computer software provides reliable assurance for controlling major process parameters such as forging temperature, forging pressure, deformation degree (under pressure) and process lubrication, controlling product size, internal organization, and mechanical properties.

Die forging design and manufacturing is the key to aluminum alloy forging technology. Forging CAD/CAM/CAE system has been very mature and popular. In the United States, CAD/CAM/CAE system is being replaced by CIM (computer integration). CIM includes complete sets of technologies, computer technologies, CAD/CAM/CAE technologies, robots, expert systems, processing plans, control systems, and automated material handling, providing conditions for optimized design and process improvement of die forgings. For example, in the automobile industry, the design and process optimization of the front beam, clevis, hub, crankshaft, etc., can optimize the design of the sheep horn weight loss 15%, wheel weight reduction 30%, crankshaft weight loss 20%, and greatly improved Production efficiency, reduce energy consumption.

Breakthrough progress has been made in the variety and quality of products. At present, there are hundreds of forged aluminum alloys developed in the world, with more than ten states. Mass production of different alloys, different states, different properties, different functions, and various shapes Aluminum alloy forgings of various specifications and various uses have been used by large enterprises with a scale of more than 30,000 tons/year. At present, the larger projected area of aluminum alloy die forgings that can be produced in the world reaches 5m2 (750MN), the longer aluminum forgings reach 15m, the heavier aluminum forgings reach 1.5 tons, and the larger forging rings have a diameter of 11.5m. It can meet the needs of larger aircrafts, spacecrafts, rockets, missiles, satellites, boats, aircraft carriers, power generation equipment, and lifting equipment. The internal organization, mechanical properties and dimensional accuracy of the product can also meet various user requirements, achieving a high level of product development.

In recent years, with the exception of China's construction of 450 MN and 800 MN giant forging machines, the countries around the world have made little efforts in the construction and reconstruction of large and medium-sized forging presses. Therefore, in general, the production of aluminum alloy forgings in the world is not yet satisfactory. Lightweight transportation The demand for aluminum forgings requires the construction of several modern large- and medium-sized Aluminum Forging production lines.

3.2 Domestic Development Status and Level Analysis Forging production has a long history in China. Forging industry has been used for weapons production since the early period of Yin Ruins culture more than 3300 years ago. Before liberation, forging production was very backward. After liberation, the forging and press production developed rapidly. Forging presses below 180 MN, 300 MN forging presses, die forging hammers up to 160 KN, friction presses up to 16,000 KN, and hot die forging presses up to 8000 KN have been equipped with various forging presses.

But so far, China's aluminum processing enterprises only 300MN, 100MN, 60MN, 50MN, 30MN10 Taida, medium-sized aluminum forging water (liquid) press and a 100MN multi-directional molding hydraulic press and Φ5m rolling ring machine 2 units, aluminum forgings year The production capacity is only about 20,000 tons, and the project area of the larger die forgings is 2.5m2 (aluminum alloy) and 1.5m2 (titanium alloy), the greater length is 7m, the larger width is 3.5m, and the larger diameter of the forging ring is Φ6m, and Aluminum alloy stranded discs with a disc diameter of 534 mm to Φ 730 mm and automobile rims of Φ650 mm or so. There are relatively few product varieties. For example, die forgings in industrial developed countries account for about 80% of all forgings, and China only accounts for about 30%. Former foreign die forgings design, mold manufacturing has introduced computer technology, die forging CAD / CAM / CAE and forging process simulation has entered the practical stage, and many of our forging plant in this area has just started. The level of automation and technological level of technological equipment is also relatively backward.

Based on the above analysis, we can see that China's aluminum alloy forging industry, at present in terms of technical equipment, mold design and manufacturing, product output and scale, production efficiency and mass production, product quality and efficiency and other aspects of the existence of foreign advanced level A big gap. Not only can not meet the growing demand for aluminum alloy forgings in the domestic and foreign markets, but also can not keep up with the pace of transportation (such as aircraft, automobiles, high-speed trains, ships, etc.) lightweight aluminum forgings instead of steel forgings.

To this end, China should concentrate its human, material and financial resources to improve the technological equipment level and production technology level of aluminum alloy forging production as soon as possible, and build several large and medium-sized modern aluminum alloy forging hydraulic press production lines as soon as possible to reduce the level of advanced foreign The gap to a greater extent to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets. Fortunately, with the implementation of China's large aircraft projects and aircraft carriers and other large-scale key projects, 200MN heavy-duty horizontal extruders and 450MN and 800MN giant vertical die-forging hydraulic presses are under construction, which are moving toward the world's aluminum alloy forging power and power.

4 Technology development and application prospect analysis of aluminum alloy forgings 4.1 Analysis of production and elimination of aluminum alloy forgings Aluminum and aluminum alloy forgings have a series of advantages above, in aerospace, automobiles, ships, transportation, weapons, telecommunications, etc. The industrial sector is highly favored and has a wider range of applications. According to preliminary statistics, in 1985, aluminum forgings accounted for 0.5% of the world's total forgings (ie, 18,000 tons), rising to about 18% in 2008. At present, the world consumes about 4.5 million tons of forgings, of which aluminum forgings account for 800,000 tons. About a year or so; titanium forgings and high-temperature alloy forgings account for about 1.5% (that is, 18,000 tons / year or so); steel forgings still account for the vast majority.

From the aluminum processing industry's point of view, currently the world's aluminum production (including recycled aluminum) is about 50 million tons/year, of which 85% is to be converted into processed materials, that is, the world's annual output of processed materials is about 40 million tons. Among them, about 57% of plates, belts, and foils account for about 38% of extruded materials. Due to the high cost of aluminum alloy forging materials, the production technology is more difficult, and it is only applied to the particularly important stress parts, and the proportion is not large. However, aluminum forgings are aluminum materials with a faster growth rate. In the past decade or so, due to the needs of military and civilian industries, especially the modernization and lightweighting of the transportation industry, the requirements for aluminum replacement steels are very urgent. Therefore, aluminum is required. The variety and application of forgings have grown rapidly. Its proportion in aluminum has increased from 0.5% in 1985 to 2.5% in 2009, ie around 800,000 tons/year.

In order to meet the growing demands of military and civil departments for aluminum and aluminum alloy forgings, all countries in the world have concentrated human, material and financial resources to develop aluminum forging production, designing and manufacturing various forging and pressing equipment, especially for large and medium-sized water (liquid) forging and pressing. machine. However, due to the relatively expensive forging equipment, long manufacturing cycle, and forging production technology are also more complex, it is difficult to meet market needs. At present, the production capacity of aluminum forgings in the world is about 800,000 tons/year, which cannot meet the demand for consumption of 1 million tons/year. Due to the large amount of heavy and heavy water (liquid) pressure forging equipment and low production capacity, China is far from meeting the demand for Aluminum Forging Parts from the industrial sector. The annual gap is more than 40,000 tons. By 2015, the annual consumption of aluminum forgings may reach more than 80,000 tons/year due to the substantial increase in automobiles, aircraft, ships, transportation and machinery manufacturing in China.

4.2 Analysis of Market Demand and Application Prospects According to the above analysis, aluminum and aluminum alloy forgings are mainly used in industrial sectors requiring a large degree of lightness. According to the current application situation in various countries, the main market distribution is as follows.

(1) Aviation (aircraft) forgings: Forgings on aircraft account for about 70% of the weight of aircraft materials, such as landing gear, frames, ribs, engine parts, moving rings, and non-moving rings. Thousands of forgings are used on an aircraft. Among them, except that a few high-temperature components use superalloys and titanium alloy forgings, most of them have been aluminized. For example, the Boeing Company of the United States produces thousands of aircrafts each year and consumes tens of thousands of tons of aluminum alloy forgings each year. China's fighter planes and other military aircraft and civil aircraft are also developing rapidly. In particular, the launch of large-aircraft projects and the implementation of key projects such as aircraft carriers, aluminum forgings to be consumed will increase year by year.

(2) Aerospace forgings: Forgings on spacecraft are mainly forging rings, rims, wing spars and frame bases. Most of them are aluminum forgings, as long as there are a few titanium forgings. The development of spacecraft, rockets, missiles, and satellites has increased the demand for aluminum forgings. For example, in recent years, AL-Li alloy shell forgings for ultra-long-range missiles developed by our country each weigh more than 300 kilograms worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. The amount of Φ1.5-Φ6mm aluminum alloy forging rings is also increasing.

(3) Weapons Industry: The number of aluminum alloy forgings used as load-bearing parts, such as tanks, armored vehicles, personnel carriers, combat vehicles, rockets, artillery holders, warships, etc., has greatly increased, basically replacing steel forgings. In particular, important forgings such as aluminum alloy tank wheels have become important materials for lightweight and modern weapons.

(4) Automobiles are more promising industries that use aluminum alloy forgings, and they are also large users of aluminum forgings. Mainly used as hubs (special heavy-duty vehicles and large and medium-sized passenger cars), bumpers, base frames and other small aluminum forgings, among which the aluminum hubs are heavy-duty aluminum forgings and are mainly used for buses, trucks and heavy-duty vehicles. In recent years, it has also begun to be used in small and medium-sized cars, motorcycles and limousines. According to statistics, the annual growth rate of aluminum wheel usage in the world has reached over 20% in recent years, and the current usage amount reaches several billion.

China has just started, but large auto companies such as FAW and Second Automobile are starting R&D. With the increase in automobile production (China's auto production is expected to reach 15 million vehicles/year in 2010, the world's auto output may exceed 70 million vehicles/year), aluminum The use of hubs and other aluminum forgings will be surprisingly advanced. At present, there are two methods for manufacturing aluminum alloy wheels commonly used in industry: casting and forging.

The casting method is further divided into gravity casting and Pressure Casting . The wheel products produced by the casting method have poor tissue density and uniformity and low mechanical properties. The manufacturing accuracy (thickness) is also poor, and the amount of follow-up machining is too large to meet the high-reliability lightweight passenger vehicle performance requirements, and it is unable to meet the impact resistance, fatigue life, and bearing capacity requirements of the commercial vehicle wheels.

The aluminum alloy automobile wheels produced by the forging method have good mechanical properties, high structural strength, light weight (thick wall thickness), high impact resistance, excellent anti-corrosion performance and fatigue resistance, and can meet the requirements of commercial vehicle wheels. Therefore, it gradually becomes the preferred accessory for automobiles, especially for limousines and wheels for large, heavy, luxury passenger cars and trucks, and there is a tendency to gradually replace cast aluminum alloy wheels. For example, the 6061T6 automobile wheel produced by the Alcoa Company with a 80MN forging hydraulic press has a grain deformation flow direction that is consistent with the direction of force. The strength, toughness, and fatigue strength are both much higher than those of a cast alloy wheel, while the weight is reduced by 20%. Up to 12% to 16%. And has a very high ability to absorb shock and pressure, withstand strong impact.

In addition, the wrought aluminum wheel has a high density, no looseness, pinholes, no pores on the surface, and has a good surface treatment performance. Uniform coating, high bonding force, harmonious color and beautiful appearance. Wrought aluminum wheels have very good machining properties. It can be seen that forged aluminum wheels have light weight, high specific strength, toughness and fatigue resistance and corrosion resistance, good thermal conductivity, easy machining, good circularity, impact resistance, safe use, easy maintenance, and use cost Low, energy-saving, environmentally friendly, beautiful and durable, it is an ideal material for the transportation of rotating parts such as car wheels, and has broad application prospects.

(5) In the energy and power industry, aluminum forgings will gradually replace some steel forgings to make racks, retaining rings, moving rings and immovable rings, as well as coal transportation wheels, LNG flanges, nuclear power station fuel racks, etc., which are generally large. Medium-sized forgings.

(6) Aluminium forgings are used on ships and ships as racks, moving rings, immovable rings, turrets, etc.

(7) In the machinery manufacturing industry, it is currently mainly used for making racks, sliders, connecting rods, and stranded wire trays in woodworking machinery, textile machinery, etc., and only the stranding aluminum forgings for textile machines are needed every year in China. Tens of thousands of pieces, weighing more than 1,500 tons.

(8) Mould Industry Use aluminum alloy forgings to make rubber molds, shoe molds, and other light-duty molds.

(9) In the transportation machinery and train locomotive industries, aluminum alloy forgings are widely used as cylinders, pistons, and skirts. Only 4032 alloy cylinders, piston skirts, and other forgings consumed in the country each year amount to tens of thousands.

(10) Other aspects, such as electronic communication, household appliances, sports equipment, etc., have begun to use aluminum forgings instead of steel, copper and other materials forgings.

5 Conclusions (1) Forging production is one of the important ways to provide mechanical parts blanks to various industrial sectors. It plays an important role in the sustained and rapid development of the national economy and the modernization of the defense industry and plays a special role.

(2) As the aluminum alloy forgings have a series of excellent characteristics, their application range is more and more extensive, the market potential is huge, and the application prospect is very good. In particular, it has broad application prospects in the production of key aircraft components and car wheels.

(3) Forging production has a long history, but the development speed is relatively slow compared to rolling and extrusion. In recent decades, aluminum forging production and technology have made significant progress abroad, and there is still a big gap between China's development level and that of foreign countries. Therefore, China's aluminum alloy forging production process and process equipment levels should be improved as soon as possible, and We will pay close attention to the construction of several 60MN~800MN modern aluminum alloy forging hydraulic presses production lines to narrow the gap with foreign advanced level, to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets to a large extent, and to move forward into the forging of aluminum forging power.

References [1] Xiao Yaqing, Xie Shuisheng, Liu Jingan et al. Practical Handbook of Aluminum Processing. Beijing: Metallurgical Industry Press, 2004

[2] Ma Mingtu, You Jianghai et al. Semi-solid forming aluminum alloy wheels. Chinese Aluminum Industry, 2009. No. 2: 29-40

[3] Ma Mingtu, Ma Lulu. Application of Aluminum Alloy in Automobile Lightweight and Forward-looking Technology. New Materials Industry, 2008 (9): 43-50

[4] Liu Jingan, Xie Shuisheng. Application and technology development of aluminum alloy materials. Beijing: Metallurgical Industry Press, 2004

[5] Liu Jingan. Development trend of aluminum alloy materials and processing technology. Guangzhou: Lw2004 Aluminum Profile Technology (International) Forum Collection [6] Zheng Yanshun, Yang Guoqing. Development of multi-directional isothermal forging technology for aluminum wheels. Aluminum processing, 1995(3)

[7] Chen Nengxiu. Dimensional and geometric tolerance control of landing gear joint forgings. Aluminum Processing, 1995 (5)

[8] Zeng Qinghua. Research on the improvement of billet forgings for weight-bearing wheels. Aluminum Processing, 2004, (3)

[9] Zeng Sumin. Research on new heat treatment process for super-thick aluminum alloy forgings. Aluminum Processing, 1995(2)

[10] Zeng Sumin. The status quo and development prospects of the world's forging industry. Aluminum Processing, 1996(4)

Shenzhen SCZY Technology Co., Ltd

Business Type: Manufacturer
Product Range:  CNC Machining , CNC Machining Parts , Precision Machining, CNC Milling , CNC Turning Parts , Machining, Forging, Forging Parts , Investment Casting, Die Casting , Casting Parts, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Product Assembly Service...
Tel: +86-769-81582278
Mobile: +86 189 2921 5001 (WhatsApp/WeChat)
Email: sandy@sczyltd.com
Address: No. 1906, Vanke Center, Changqing South Road, Chang` An Town, Dong Guan City, Guangdong Province, PR China 523850