Three aspects of progress in China's automotive panel mold technology

Three aspects of progress in China's automotive panel mold technology

The equipment level has been greatly improved. Whether it is a newly-built enterprise in recent years or an old enterprise that has undergone technological transformation, without exception, a large number of advanced CNC equipment has been purchased. These equipment include

The equipment level has been greatly improved

Whether it is a newly-built enterprise in recent years or an old enterprise that has undergone technological transformation, without exception, a large number of advanced CNC equipment has been purchased. These equipment include three-axis to five-axis high-speed processing machine tools, large gantry machining centers and CNC Milling and other machine tools, advanced large-scale measuring and debugging equipment, and multi-axis CNC laser cutting machines, etc.
At present, many mold companies have about 10 large-scale CNC equipment, and some companies have more than 30. At present, there are about 400 large-scale CNC machining equipment in the whole industry. Therefore, the level and ability of producing automobile panel molds have been greatly improved. In the past, it was difficult for a company to complete the mold for the entire vehicle model within one year. Now some key key companies already have this capability. Individual companies also have the ability to complete 4 to 5 vehicle models at the same time within a year through industry collaboration. Most enterprises have also equipped many advanced ones at the same time. According to the current equipment level, China has the ability to complete more than 20 vehicle models in a year.

Design and processing technology have been greatly improved

In recent years, more and more companies use 3D CAD, and some companies have reached 100% application. At the same time, CAE technology has also been widely used. On the one hand, CAE introduced from abroad has been re-developed and the application level has been greatly improved; on the other hand, advanced CAE developed by itself and with independent intellectual property rights has also been successfully applied in production. At present, the CAEs that have been applied mainly include imported LS, DYNA3D, DYNAFORM, PAMSTAMP, OPTRIS, AUTOFORM and domestically developed VFORM, KMAS, sheetForm and CADEM II systems. As the core technology CAE technology in the development of automotive large-scale panel molds, the current CAE has been upgraded from the traditional forming analysis only, and can participate in the entire process of the stamping process. The analysis content is extensive, practical, and accurate. Significant progress has been made in all aspects. This has a significant effect on product design and process analysis, improving the success rate of molds, especially drawing dies, shortening mold manufacturing cycles, and improving mold quality. Advanced technologies such as digital manufacturing, reverse engineering, concurrent engineering, sensitive manufacturing, and lean production have also been applied in the production of automotive panel molds and have produced good results. Although it is very difficult to widely adopt CAPP in mold factories, there are no shortage of successful examples. High-speed machining technologies that were rarely used in the past are now being used more and more, and it can be said that they have reached the stage of widespread application. The intelligent and automated all-round (from data to product) mold design and processing solutions that integrate a large amount of experience, standards and specifications in mold design with CAD/CAM technology systems have also begun to be applied, and Effectively improve the mold quality and shorten the mold production cycle.

The mold level has been greatly improved

Due to the improvement of equipment level and design and processing technology, coupled with the improvement of personnel quality and the application of some new technologies, in recent years, the level of domestic automobile panel molds has also been greatly improved. Luo Baihui, secretary-general of the International Mould Association, believes that the improvement of the mould level is multifaceted, which is reflected in the whole process of mould production. Molds that could not be produced in the past can now be produced, which further reflects the improvement of the level. Now, all the cover molds for mid-range cars, including the high-difficulty overall side panels and fenders, can be produced in China. The molds and some export molds for the joint venture's foreign models can also pass the standard acceptance of foreign companies (such as Japan and Germany). Some domestic key enterprises have realized the ability to produce parts and components, medium and high-end car molds, from partial parts and low-end car molds. Large-scale continuous molds and multi-station progressive molds that are matched with automated presses now have high-level products in China.
The gap between the level of domestic high-end molds and foreign countries is narrowing. The phenomenon that medium and high-end car molds all rely on imports is gradually being changed. In recent years, the appearance of cover molds and large-scale multi-station automatic molds used in automated production line production also illustrates the progress of comprehensive level and strength in mold technology and quality.
Due to the popularization and accumulation of CAD/CAE technology, some domestic enterprises have approached the foreign level in DL drawing design stamping process analysis. The use of standardized structures, standard parts, and curved structures, and their flexible processing on this basis, have satisfied the high degree of composite mold structure, reasonable structure layout, and reliable use. With the use of high-performance processing equipment and the maturity of CAM technology, some units have also established corresponding knowledge bases, tool libraries, spindle head libraries, etc., which can implement virtual processing to check interference. Some companies have also independently developed methods that can avoid over-cutting, which can completely prevent the over-cutting of CNC machine tools after application. The use of precision machining, multi-axis linkage machining, and inclination machining methods have improved the quality of mold manufacturing. The advancement of solid casting technology provides better casting blanks for molds. Multi-variety, high-quality standard parts provide conditions for mold standardization, greatly shortening the mold production cycle, and reducing costs at the same time.