This article briefly describes the current application status and trends of aluminum alloy forging technology in the automotive industry, and introduces in detail the typical aluminum forging materials, products and technological processes that are currently widely used in automobiles.
Application status and trends
With the development of the automobile industry, the global car ownership is increasing year by year, and various electric vehicles are also emerging. The resulting energy crisis, air pollution and climate warming are becoming more and more serious. Governments are increasingly demanding policies and regulations on vehicle emissions. Harsh. Whether for fuel vehicles or electric vehicles, lightweight vehicles are an important means to effectively improve product competitiveness. One of the main ways is to use lightweight metal parts to replace traditional steel parts, thereby reducing emissions from fuel vehicles and improving electric vehicle batteries. Battery life. The density of aluminum alloy is small, and its density is only one-third of that of steel. At the same time, the thermal conductivity, processing performance and corrosion resistance are all better than steel. The weight reduction effect of typical aluminum alloy parts can reach 30%-40%. The secondary weight loss effect can be further increased to 50%. The main production processes of aluminum alloy parts are divided into casting and forging. The parts produced by the casting process are mainly shells and supports, such as engine cylinder heads, gearbox housings, steering gear housings, engine brackets, Steering gear brackets, etc.; the parts produced by the forging process are mainly parts with higher mechanical performance requirements, such as wheels, chassis suspension system control arms, steering knuckles, air-conditioning compressor scrolls, etc.
Typical automotive aluminum forging materials
The aluminum alloy forging raw materials used in the automobile industry generally use extruded or cast bars, and the material grades are generally derived from the American Aluminum Association (AA) registration, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the deformed aluminum alloy standards formulated by various countries. The reference standard for the designation method of wrought aluminum alloy in my country is GB/T 16474-2011 "Method for designation of wrought aluminum and aluminum alloy". In addition, the relevant national standards include GB/T 3190-2020 "Chemical composition of wrought aluminum and aluminum alloy" ", GB/T 33910-2017 "Aluminum and Aluminum Alloy Extruded Profiles for Automobiles". The material grades used for typical automotive aluminum forging parts are mainly 6 series, such as 6060, 6061, 6066, 6082, etc. Some products need to use 2 series, 4 series, 5 series and 7 series materials, such as 2014, 4032, etc. 5754 and 7075, etc.