Thin-walled and large-sized magnesium alloy die castings for passenger car cockpit:Application,materials,and manufacture

In order to effectively reduce energy consumption and increase range mile,new energy vehicles represented by Tesla have greatly aroused the application of integrated magnesium(Mg)alloy die casting technology in automobiles.Previously,the application of Mg alloys in automobiles,especially in automotive cockpit components,is quite extensive,while it has almost disappeared for a period of time due to its relatively high cost,causing a certain degree of information loss in the application technology of Mg alloy parts in automobiles.The rapid development of automotive technology has led to a higher requirement for the automotive components compared with those traditional one.Therefore,whatever the components themselves,or the Mg alloy materials and die casting process have to face an increasing challenge,needing to be upgraded.In addition,owing to its high integration characteristics,the application of Mg alloy die casting technology in large-sized and thin-walled automotive parts has inherent advantages and needs to be expanded urgently.Indeed,it necessitates exploring advance Mg alloys and new product structures and optimizing die casting processes.This article summarizes and analyzes the development status of thin-walled and large-sized die casting Mg alloy parts in passenger car cockpit and corresponding material selection methods,die casting processes as well as mold design techniques.Furthermore,this work will aid researchers in establishing a comprehensive understanding of the manufacture of thin-walled and large-sized die casting Mg alloy parts in automobile cockpit.It will also assist them in developing new Mg alloys with improved comprehensive performance and new processes to meet the high requirements for die casting automotive components.

Theory of Flexural Shear, Bending and Torsion for a Thin-Walled Beam of Open Section

Aspects of the general Vlasov theory are examined separately as applied to a thin-walled channel section cantilever beam under free-end end loading. In particular, the flexural bending and shear that arise under transverse shear and axial torsional loading are each considered theoretically. These analyses involve the location of the shear centre at which transverse shear forces when applied do not produce torsion. This centre, when taken to be coincident with the centre of twist implies an equivalent reciprocal behaviour. That is, an axial torsion applied concentric with the shear centre will twist but not bend the beam. The respective bending and shear stress conversions are derived for each action applied to three aluminium alloy extruded channel sections mounted as cantilevers with a horizontal principal axis of symmetry. Bending and shear are considered more generally for other thin-walled sections when the transverse loading axes at the shear centre are not parallel to the section = s centroidal axes of principal second moments of area. The fixing at one end of the cantilever modifies the St Venant free angular twist and the free warping displacement. It is shown from the Wagner-Kappus torsion theory how the end constrained warping generates an axial stress distribution that varies with the length and across the cross-section for an axial torsion applied to the shear centre. It should be mentioned here for wider applications and validation of the Vlasov theory that attendant papers are to consider in detail bending and torsional loadings applied to other axes through each of the centroid and the web centre. Therein, both bending and twisting arise from transverse shear and axial torsion applied to each position being displaced from the shear centre. Here, the influence of the axis position upon the net axial and shear stress distributions is to be established. That is, the net axial stress from axial torsional loading is identified with the sum of axial stress due to bending and axial stress arising from constrained warping displacements at the fixing. The net shear stress distribution overlays the distributions from axial torsion and that from flexural shear under transverse loading. Both arise when transverse forces are displaced from the shear centre.

Preparation and modulation of a novel thin-walled carbon foam

By foaming and carbonization processes under atmospheric pressure, a novel thin-walled carbon foam with developed foam structure was successfully prepared from loose medium component(LMC) separated from raw coal by extraction and back-extraction method. The influences of foaming time, carbonization time, and micromolecule content on foam structure were investigated by scanning electron microscope and mercury injection data. Moreover, foaming mechanism of LMC was analyzed and expounded. The results showed that spherical pores and uniform ultrathin pore walls constitute threedimensional foam structure of carbon foam and foam structure is developed with well connectivity.The effects of foaming time, carbonization time, and micromolecule content on foam structure are significant. Especially, average pore diameters of carbon foams prepared from the extracts of LMC are much smaller. With the rise of extraction rate, average pore diameter decreases and pore size distribution is more concentrated on the aperture section of 0–10 μm.

Newly developed vacuum differential pressure casting of thin-walled complicated Al-alloy castings

The newly designed vacuum differential pressure casting (VDPC) unit was introduced, by which the capabilityof the VDPC process to produce thin-walled complicated Al-alloy castings, that are free from oxides, gas pore andshrinkage cavity and thus enhance overall part quality, was studied. Experimental results were compared with those oftraditional gravity pouring and vacuum suction casting. The first series of experiments were focused on investigating thecastability of thin section Al-alloy casting. In the second series of experiments the metallographic evidence, castingstrength and soundness were examined. Finally, case studies of very interesting thin walled complicated casting applicationswere described. The advantages of the described technique have made possible to produce thin walled complicatedAl-alloy casting (up to a section thickness of 1 mm), which is not practical for gravity pouring and vacuum suction casting.

Research of precise pulse plasma arc powder welding technology of thin-walled inner hole parts

The inner hole parts played an oriented or supporting role in engineering machinery and equipment,which are prone to appear surface damages such as wear,strain and corrosion. The precise pulse plasma arc powder welding method is used for surface damage repairing of inner hole parts in this paper. The working principle and process of the technology are illustrated,and the microstructure and property of repairing layer by precise pulse plasma powder welding and CO2 gas shielded welding are tested and observed by microscope,micro hardness tester and X-ray residual stress tester etc. Results showed that the substrate deformation of thin-walled inner hole parts samples by precise pulse plasma powder welding is relatively small. The repair layer and substrate is metallurgical bonding,the transition zones( including fusion zone and heat affected zone) are relatively narrow and the welding quality is good. It showed that the thin-walled inner hole parts can be repaired by this technology and equipment.

Numerical simulation of spinning deformation of thin-walled tube in necking process

The spinning deformation of thin walled tube in necking process is simulated with a dynamic explicit FEM program,LS DYNA3D and the distributions of Cauchy strains and thickness are analyzed through time history to achieve a good understanding of the deformation in necking process by spinning and the numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the test results.

Natural Frequency of Planetary Transmission with Thin-Walled Ring Gear on Elastic Supports

A lumped parameter-rigid elastic coupled dynamic model of two-stage planetary gears for a hybrid car is established through the inter-stage coupled method,in which the supports of the ring gear of planet set Ⅱ are represented as an elastic foundation with radial and tangential uniform distributed stiffness,and the ring gear of planet set Ⅱ is modeled as an elastic continuum body. The natural frequencies based on the eigenvalue problem of dynamic model of planetary transmission are solved and the associated vibration modes are discussed. The rules are revealed which are the influences of the ring gear elastic supports stiffness and rim thickness on natural frequencies of planetary transmission. The theoretical analysis indicates that the vibration modes of planetary transmission with thin-walled ring gear on elastic supports are classified into seven types: Ⅰ/Ⅱ stage coupled rotational mode,Ⅰ stage translational mode,Ⅰ stage planet mode,Ⅱ stage translational mode,Ⅱ stage degenerate planet mode,Ⅱ stage distinct planet mode and purely ring gear mode. For each vibration mode, its properties are summarized. The numerical solutions show that the elastic supports stiffness and rim thickness of the ring gear of planet set Ⅱ have different influences on natural frequencies.

Supramolecular electrostatic self-assembly of mesoporous thin-walled graphitic carbon nitride microtubes for highly efficient visible-light photocatalytic activities

For efficient solar energy conversion,the morphology engineering of hollow graphitic carbon nitride(gC3 N4)is one of the promising approachs benefiting from abundant exposed active sites and short photocarrier transport distances,but is difficult to control on account of easy structural collapse.Herein,a facile supramolecular electrostatic self-assembly strategy has been developed for the first time to fabricate mesoporous thin-walled g-C3N4 microtubes(mtw-CNT)with shell thickness of ca.13 nm.The morphological control of g-C3N4 enhances specific surface area by 12 times,induces stronger optical absorption,widens bandgap by 0.18 e V,improves photocurrent density by 2.5 times,and prolongs lifetimes of charge carriers from bulk to surface,compared with those of bulk g-C3N4.As a consequence,the transformed g-C3N4 exhibits the optimum photocatalytic H2-production rate of 3.99 mmol·h^-1·g^-1(λ>420 nm)with remarkable apparent quantum efficiency of 8.7%(λ=420±15 nm)and long-term stability.Moreover,mtw-CNT also achieves high photocatalytic CO2-to-CO selectivity of 96%(λ>420 nm),much better than those on the most previously reported porous g-C3N4 photocatalysts prepared by the conventional hard-templating and soft-templating methods.

Optimal Design for Thin-Walled Box Beam Based on Material Strength Reliability

According to the reliability of material strength,the optimal design for the cross sectional size of thin walled box beam was studied.Firstly the cross sectional size as design random variable was determined,then its stochastic nature was researched,with which the objective function is to seek the maximum reliability of the beam under given constraint conditions.This way is not the same as the conventional optimal design for the minimum weight of the material.With establishing the optimal objective,the reliability of the material under conditions of static and fatigue was considered.The corresponding calculated expressions are given.Normally the cross section sizes are fitted to the normal distribution,for the simplification of the design variable,the variation of the section size is assumed as a dependent variable proportional to the mean of the size.The way is different not only with the conventional optimal design but also with the common reliability design.The maximum reliability of material is obtained,meanwhile the area of the cross section is reduced,i.e.,the weight of the material is decreased.

Study on buffering performance of thin-walled metal tube with different angles

High frequency shock load is often generated during pyrotechnic device working, which is detrimental to spacecraft structures and electric devices. Therefore, it is valuable to reduce the shock load in pyrotechnic device design. Actually, there are several ways to decrease pyroshock loads, such as reduction of powder,installation of buffering structure, insulation of damageable devices, and so on. Considered assuring the function of pyrotechnic device and minimum of structure modification, shock absorbing structure is more propitious to be introduced in pyrotechnic device. In this paper, based on the method of thinwalled metal tube diameter-expanding, a thin-walled tube shock buffering structure was designed on a separate bolt. Built on the simplified structure of a separate bolt, the model of cone piston impacting thin-walled tube absorber was established, and the thin-walled tube shock absorbing characteristics and the relation between cone angles and absorber performance were analyzed. The results showed that the change of buffering force of thin-walled tube could be divided into four phases, and each phase was correspondent to the cone piston structure. In addition, as the cone angle increases, the max shock acceleration changes in the style of decrease-increase-decrease-increase, which is the result of coupled effects of cone piston max enter depth, buffering force and energy loss. In short, these results could establish the relationships between thin-walled tube absorbing performance and its structure, which is of significance to develop low-shock pyrotechnic device.

Springback of thin-walled tube NC precision bending and its numerical simulation

The springback is one of the key factors which affect the forming quality of thin-walled tube NC precision bending. The elastic-plastic finite element method was proposed to study the springback process of thin-walled tube NC precision bending and the combination of dynamic explicit algorithm and the static implicit algorithm was proposed to solve the whole process of thin-walled tube NC precision bending. Then, the 3D elastic-plastic finite element model was established based on the DYNAFORM platform, and the model was verified to be reasonable. At last, the springback rule of thin-walled tube NC precision bending and the effect of geometry and material parameters on the springback rule of thin-walled tube NC precision bending were studied, which is useful to controlling the springback of thin-walled tube NC precision bending, and the numerical simulation method can be used to study other effect of parameters on the forming quality of thin-walled tube NC precision bending.

Effect of frictions on cross section quality of thin-walled tube NC bending

The effect of frictions between dies and tube on the cross section quality of thin-walled tube numerical controlled(NC) bending was studied by numerical simulation method, combined with theoretical analysis and experiment. The results show that the frictions between mandrel, wiper, pressure die, bending die and tube have a significant and complicate effect on the section quality of thin-walled tube NC bending. To improve the section quality, frictions between mandrel, wiper and tube should be decreased, but the frictions between the pressure die, bending die and tube increase. The effect on the section distortion is more significant from mandrel, wiper, pressure die to bending die and the effect on the wall thinning more significant from mandrel, pressure die, wiper, to bending die. The effects of frictions between all dies and tube on wall thinning are smaller than their effects on section distortion. Mandrel and wiper should be lubricated well and drawing oil is used to lubricate them in actual production. The frictions between pressure die, bending die and tube should be increased and the dry friction is used between pressure die, bending die and tube in actual production.

Physical Simulation of Mold-Filling Processing of Thin-Walled Castings under Traveling Magnetic Field

Mold-filling process of thin-walled castings under the condition of traveling magnetic field has been studied by physical simulation method using gallium melt and fast speed photography. Flow morphology and its formation mechanism were obtained and discussed for thin-walled casting. The influences of magnetic field density on the filling ability, filling velocity and mold filling time have been studied. The differences in filling capability between gravity casting and casting under the traveling magnetic field have been compared. The results indicate that the mold filling ability of the gallium melt increases greatly under the condition of traveling magnetic field; the filling time is shortened from 18 s under gravity field to 3 s under the traveling magnetic field and average flow rate of the melt increases from 1.6 to 8.68 cm3/s; the change law of the cross-section morphology of the gallium melt during the mold filling is that at first, the cross-section area does not change, then it decreases gradually. When the front of the melt reaches the end of the mold cavity, the front melt will backfill the mold; the wider the width of mold cavity, the better the mold filling ability. The mold filling ability of gallium melt in mold with upper magnetic conductor is better than that without upper magnetic conductor.

GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT MODEL OF SPATIAL THIN-WALLED BEAMS WITH GENERAL OPEN CROSS SECTION

Based on the theory of Timoshenko and thin-walled beams, a new finite element model of spatial thin-walled beams with general open cross sections is presented in the paper, in which several factors are included such as lateral shear deformation, warp generated by nonuni- form torsion and second-order shear stress, coupling of flexure and torsion, and large displacement with small strain. With an additional internal node in the element, the element stiffness matrix is deduced by incremental virtual work in updated Lagrangian （UL） formulation. Numerical examples demonstrate that the presented model well describes the geometrically nonlinear property of spatial thin-walled beams.

Die Casting Mold Design of the Thin-walled Aluminum Case by Computational Solidification Simulation

Recently, demand for the lightweight alloy in electric/electronic housings has been greatly increased. However, among the lightweight alloys, aluminum alloy thin-walled die casting is problematic because it is quite difficult to achieve sufficient fluidity and feedability to fill the thin cavity as the wall thickness becomes less than 1mm. Therefore, in this study, thin-walled die casting of aluminum （Al-Si-Cu alloy： ALDC 12） in size of notebook computer housing and thickness of 0.8 mm was investigated by solidification simulation （MAGMA soft） and actual casting experiment （Buhler Evolution B 53D）. Three different types of gating design, finger, tangential and split type with 6 vertical runners, were simulated and the results showed that sound thin-walled die casting was possible with tangential and split type gating design because those gates allowed aluminum melt to flow into the thin cavity uniformly and split type gating system was preferable gating design comparing to tangential type gating system at the point of view of soundness of casting and distortion generated after solidification. Also, the solidification simulation agreed well with the actual die-casting and the casting showed no casting defects and distortion.

Finite element modeling of power spinning of thin-walled shell with hoop inner rib

A 3D elasto-plastic finite element(FE)model of power spinning of thin-walled aluminum alloy shell with hoop inner rib was established under software ABAQUS.Key technologies were dealt with reasonably.The reliability of the FE model was verified theoretically and experimentally.The forming process was simulated and studied.The distribution of the thickness and stress,and the variations of spinning force were obtained.The workpiece springback was analyzed with ABAQUS/Standard.The results show that the FE model considering elastic deformation can not only be used to analyze the workpiece springback in the complex spinning process,but also serve as a significant guide to study the local deformation mechanism and choose the reasonable parameters.

Thin-Walled Tube Extension by Rigid Curved Punch

Computer model is developed for non-steady and steady-state process of thin-walled tube extension by the rigid punch with curved profile. Rigid-plastic membrane shell theory with quadratic yield criterion is used. Tube material normal anisotropy, work hardening, wall thickness variation and friction effects are considered. FORTRAN programs of the model predict distributions of the thickness, meridian stress, yield stress and pressure along curved generator of deformed tube and the tube extension force versus punch displacement relation. Model predictions are correlated with experimental data.

Effects of process parameters on numerical control bending process for large diameter thin-walled aluminum alloy tubes

Numerical control(NC) bending experiments with different process parameters were carried out for 5052O aluminum alloy tubes with outer diameter of 70 mm, wall thickness of 1.5 mm, and centerline bending radius of 105 mm. And the effects of process parameters on tube wall thinning and cross section distortion were investigated. Meanwhile, acceptable bending of the 5052O aluminum tubes was accomplished based on the above experiments. The results show that the effects of process parameters on bending process for large diameter thin-walled aluminum alloy tubes are similar to those for small diameter thin-walled tubes, but the forming quality of the large diameter thin-walled aluminum alloy tubes is much more sensitive to the process parameters and thus it is more difficult to form.

Strength differential effect and influence of strength criterion on burst pressure of thin-walled pipelines

In the framework of the finite deformation theory, the plastic collapse analysis of thin-walled pipes subjected to the internal pressure is conducted on the basis of the unified strength criterion （USC）. An analytical solution of the burst pressure for pipes with capped ends is derived, which includes the strength differential effect and takes the influence of strength criterion on the burst pressure into account. In addition, a USC- based analytical solution of the burst pressure for end-opened pipes under the internal pressure is obtained. By discussion, it is found that for the end-capped pipes, the influence of different yield criteria and the strength differential effect on the burst pressure are significant, while for the end-opened pipes, the burst pressure is independent of the specific form of the strength criterion and strength difference in tension and compression.

Combined stress waves with phase transition in thin-walled tubes

The incremental constitutive relation and governing equations with combined stresses for phase transition wave propagation in a thin-walled tube are established based on the phase transition criterion considering both the hydrostatic pressure and the deviatoric stress. It is found that the centers of the initial and subsequent phase transition ellipses are shifted along the sigma-axis in the sigma tau-plane due to the tension-compression asymmetry induced by the hydrostatic pressure. The wave solution offers the 'fast' and 'slow' phase transition waves under combined longitudinal and torsional stresses in the phase transition region. The results show some new stress paths and wave structures in a thin-walled tube with phase transition, differing from those of conventional elastic-plastic materials.