What is the second generation of ABS aluminum alloy?

[China Aluminum Industry Network] In the global context of appealing for energy conservation and emission reduction, the reduction in the weight of automobiles has become the focus of attention in various countries. In recent years, technologies and innovations for achieving vehicle weight reduction continue to emerge. The so-called light weight is to reduce the net quality of the vehicle as much as possible under the premise of ensuring the strength and safety performance of the vehicle, thereby improving the power performance of the vehicle, reducing the “friction loss” during the running of the vehicle, and reducing the energy consumption, thereby achieving energy saving and reduction. The purpose of the row.

Scientific workers have already done experiments. If the net quality of the vehicle is reduced by 10%, the fuel efficiency can be increased by 6% to 8%; for every 100kg of vehicle mass reduced, the fuel consumption per 100km can be reduced by 0.3L~0.6L. Today, energy-saving and emission-reduction are global tasks, and automobiles are indispensable necessities in modern life. Therefore, vehicle weight reduction has become the current trend of automotive development in the world.

At present, the average energy consumption of Chinese cars is about 7.5L/100km. There is still a certain gap between them and developed countries. The goal of national planning is to reach 4.5L/100km by 2020, which is equivalent to European standards and exceeds that of the United States. The standard. To achieve this goal, it must speed up the car. European automakers are advancing "ultra-light automotive engineering". The United States has made great strides in car aluminumization. Their goal is to reduce the quality of cars by 30% on the basis of current prices.

Aluminium is an automobile manufacturing material that has earlier become a steel substitute. In 1960, the average amount of aluminum for passenger cars in the United States was 28.6kg. It rose to 109kg in 1999 and reached about 160kg in 2015. It is estimated that it will reach 205kg or more in 2025. The Audi A8 (Audi A8) and covers manufactured by the Audi A8 of Audi AG in 1994 were all made of extruded aluminium and sheet metal from Alcoa. A pioneer in aluminum passenger cars. The current data show that the use of aluminum substitute steel in automotive manufacturing can reduce the quality of automobiles by 30% to 40%. If second-generation aluminum alloys are used, the weight reduction effect is particularly outstanding. Aluminium has now become the second most used material in steel production after steel and cast iron. In all aluminum passenger cars, the amount of aluminum has risen to second place.

In 2015, the consumption of aluminum in the automotive industry around the world was about 19,500 kt (including recycled aluminum). The consumption of ABS (Auto-Body-Sheet) was about 1,850 kt, while that of China was only 32 kt, and 85% was imported. Produced with foreign-funded enterprises. It is predicted that worldwide demand for ABS in 2025 is likely to reach 12,000 kt, of which China's demand is about 3,500 kt.

Rely on previous generation ABS

The author will divide ABS into two generations up to 2016, according to the properties of aluminum alloys and their production processes. On the former, the conventional deformed aluminum alloy was used, and the cold rolled strip was produced by the ingot-hot rolling method. Now there are 27 companies and workshops that can be built in the world in the first half of 2017, all of which are on the previous generation; The second-generation alloy was recently invented by Alcoa, and the cold-rolled strip was produced using Alcoa's innovative San Antonio Micro Mill Flow PathTM (San Antonio Micro MillTM Flow PathTM). In the new process, the brand and composition of the alloy have not been reported in the media, and the tape produced from the Hazellet process and Special Alloy has also been classified as the second generation. The alloy manufactured by Zertif is a conventional deformed aluminum alloy. The alloy used by special alloy company is likely to be a conventional conventional alloy, because creating a milestone alloy with greatly improved performance is not easy.

ABS is divided into two types: inner plate and outer plate. The performance of external boards is high and production is difficult. Typical representatives of conventional ABS alloys are: 2002-T4, 21187-T4, 2036-T4, 2037-T4, 2038-T4, 5182-O, 6009-T4, 6010-T4, 6015-T4, 6016, 6111, 5754, etc. . In addition, there are some alloys developed by the company with certain characteristics, such as AlMg5, 483 alloy in France, GC45, GZ45, GC150, GV10, X660 in Kobe Steel, Japan, and AMg3 in Germany.

ABS must have good formability, surface smoothness, good weldability and excellent bake hardenability. The technical complexity of the production of ABS and the investment in the construction of ABS projects are relatively large projects in the aluminum processing industry, which is larger than the production of aerospace aluminum alloy sheet and strip.

Second-generation ABS

Second-generation ABS is produced using new alloys and/or new processes. Currently there are three processes that can produce second-generation ABS: Hazelett, Alcoa's Micro-MillTM process, and U.S. Special Alloys' process, both of which were born in the United States in 2015. The Micro-MillTM pilot and commercial production line was built at Alcoa's rolling mill in San Antonio, Texas. The ABS produced has been tested and certified by an automotive manufacturer and can be said to have been introduced.

1.Micro-MillTM Method In May 2013, the author visited the Aluminum Technology Pittsburgh Technology Center with the delegation of the Henan Province visiting the United States. The center introduced the overview of the process flow of the Micro-MillTM method to the delegation. The problems, such as casting roller size and material, thickness and material of the roller sleeve, service life of the roller sleeve, temperature of the cast strip entering the double-frame hot rolling line, etc. are avoided. The production line can cast strip width 1727.2mm (68 inches), strip thickness 2.3mm ~ 5.1mm (0.09 inches ~ 0.20 inches), casting speed 61m/min ~ 27.4m/min (200ft/min ~ 90ft/min), casting The billet temperature is 567°C (1050°F). The hot rolled strip has a width of 1549.4mm to 1701.8mm (61 inches to 67 inches) and a thickness of 0.457mm to 3.81mm (0.018 inch to 0.150 inch) after trimming. These are the technical data obtained by the author at Alcoa's Pittsburgh Technology Center.

Automotive materials entered the era of aluminum According to "Aluminium Times, Feb2015, p.12; October/November 2015 p.8", Alcoa's Micromill R can produce second-generation automotive aluminum strips. The automotive alloys produced are more than 40% more formable than current aluminum alloys, and their strength properties are 30% larger, and their surface quality can meet the demanding requirements of the automotive industry. Parts made from strips produced are twice as malleable as high-strength, low-alloy steels, and their mass is 30% lighter than steel. The processing time for semi-finished products is greatly reduced because five processes are eliminated compared to the conventional hot-rolling process: ingot sawing and finishing, uniform annealing (this is a long process), milling, heating before hot rolling, Hot rolling. Therefore, the coils from the preparation of aluminum alloy melts to hot rolling for cold rolling were shortened from 20 d to 20 min.

The ABS produced by Alcoa's minimills from the internal microstructure to the surface quality outperformed the traditional ingot hot rolling process. In particular, the microstructure has been greatly improved, the grain size is small, and the intensified phases are dispersed evenly. As a result, the forming performance can be compared with the mild steel test, and it is more desirable that the inner and outer covers of the automobile can be smoothly formed by using a common mold for the steel sheet. Due to the overall improvement of the mechanical properties of the Micro-MillR sheet, the anti-concavity performance of the cover part has been correspondingly improved. At the same time, the processing and manufacturing of the auto parts has also become a lot easier, and the production rate has also increased, and the automobile factory has also benefited greatly.

The footprint of a small rolling mill is much smaller than that of conventional mills, which is equivalent to only 1/4 of the latter, and thus its energy consumption is only 1/2 of the latter. Alcoa Micromill R technology has applied for 130 patents in different countries and regions around the world. The continuous casting machine in the production line can replace the alloy at any time without downtime, which makes it highly flexible and productive.

Ford Motor Company Uses Micromill RABS in Bulk

On September 14, 2015, Ford Motor Co. and Alcoa Corporation signed an agreement to jointly develop and promote MicromillR technology for the production of ABS and its application in automobiles. Ford Motor Co. plans to build on the F-150 pickup truck. Use more aluminum. Ford's experiments show that cars made with Micromill R technology ABS have 30% lighter parts than steel at the same collision avoidance level.

Raj Nair, head of product development at Ford Motor Co., believes that new aluminum alloys offer more flexibility in designing new models and significantly reduce design and manufacturing time. Based on the performance of new aluminum materials, parts that could not be manufactured using conventional ABS are now easy to use.

Alcoa and Danieli Group Marry to Promote MicromillR Technology and Equipment According to "Aluminium Times, 10/11/2015, P.8", Alcoa and Danieli Group in October 2015 A cooperation agreement was signed to promote MicromillR technology, alloys and production patents globally. The initial focus was on Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. Danieli Group is the second largest metallurgical equipment production and R&D company. It has obtained the authorization from Alcoa and can sell, install, and debug all MicromillR equipment in the world. Alcoa will provide all the materials' production processes. And technology, and related patented technologies.

2. The commercial production of the Hazrlett continuous casting and rolling process has been in existence for more than 50 years. China has introduced two 1950mm production lines, one in Henan Yichuan Power Group, and put into operation in 2011. Into the production stage; another in Inner Mongolia Huolin Gol Jinlian Material Co., Ltd., put into operation in 2015. Their leading products are aluminum foil rolled strips and general 1XXX series, 3XXX series alloy strip strips. The alloys and products that can be produced by this method have already been introduced. There are also some reports on the structure of the casting machine. No more remarks are made here. It should be pointed out here that it is not a multifunctional process and some alloys such as Highly alloyed 2XXX series alloys, 7XXX series alloys, 5XXX series alloys containing Mg content greater than 6%, aluminum-lithium alloys, and aluminum-beryllium alloys cannot be produced yet cannot be mass-produced, unlike articles ("China Aluminum" Industry "2016, No. 2, 2016, page 10) said that "it is also possible to produce alloys of 2000 and 7000 series". It is impossible to mass produce 2024-type and 7075-type aerospace plate and strip billets. It cannot be said that the 2XXX series and 7XXX series alloys can be produced. . The method can not produce plate thickness greater than 15mm, because it can cast a large thickness of the strip is 50mm, and the thickness of the general casting strip is less than or equal to 20mm; according to the senior technicians of Hazelite, this method can be used to cast cold rolling ABS tapes have been used, but there are no reports of which car manufacturers used their plate strips to produce cover parts in batches. It is also reported that the rolling mills in the world used this method to produce ABS in batches.

3. Special alloy company The United States Special Alloy Company allegedly planned to build a company with an ABS production capacity of 600 kt/a from 2013. Using special technologies and special equipment, construction land has been collected, but in September 2015, Suddenly declared that it was not built. The author's friend from the United States stated that some retirees engaged in steel production initiated the construction of this project. Later, it was found that the construction of this project was very difficult and it was decided to withdraw. The techniques and equipment they used have not been reported.

Automotive materials will enter the aluminum era With the Alcoa Micromill R of Alcoa, the second-generation ABS will not only enter volume production, but will also be used in batch production of Ford Motor Company's new version of the F-150 pickup truck, which is more conventional than traditional ABS alloy is 40% larger, its strength performance is 30% higher than that of traditional materials, its parts quality is 30% lighter than steel, and its properties are all better than those of low-carbon automotive steel plates. The birth of this second-generation aluminum ABS has a milestone significance. It is announced that automotive materials will enter the aluminum era, and aluminum will become the second largest automotive material. On some models, it may even be used as a front-end material with extraordinary economic benefits. Social benefits. Under such a severe situation, China's aluminum industry and automobile manufacturing industry should join together to take corresponding measures so that China, the number one automobile production country, will become the world's largest producer and developer of aluminum for automotive R&D, production, and use. What else do you need to do? Nothing more than:

● The management and technical workers of the aluminum industry should pay attention to the connotation and development of MicromillR technology and have a deeper understanding, such as the effect on vehicle weight reduction and energy saving and emission reduction, and the effect on the development of automobile manufacturing;

● MicromillR technology integrates new materials and high-end machine manufacturing, which reflects the high point of today's aluminum materials and equipment. It is highly technologically intensive, invests heavily in research and development, has a long-term impact, and has a significant impact on the national economy. The characteristics of production and markets are internationally strong and require the national level and relevant departments to come forward and organize the joint research and development of human and material resources of related units. Our family is not very strong, and the research on the previous generation of ABS materials is not enough, let alone the second-generation material. The gap with the United States in this respect may be 40 to 50 years. The second-generation ABS aluminum alloys should have considerable improvements and changes compared to the previous generation. Simply modifying the traditional alloys will not make it possible to produce materials with such a large and comprehensive performance.

● I think the key to MicromillR technology is alloying and casting machines. Alcoa has strong research and development capabilities. In the past 128 years, it has produced 41% of the 528 commonly used deformed alloys (as of January 2015) registered by the Aluminum Association of America, and MicromillR Technology has been launched. The casting machine should play a key role in the overall situation, and the size, material and internal cooling medium channels of the casting crucible are also the key. It must have strong cooling capacity and can solidify the aluminum melt within a set time.

● Entrepreneurs have the need to consider the introduction of this technology. Companies that are doing the preparatory work for the construction of ABS projects should adopt this new technology and process. The key is continuous casting machines, which can be domestically produced in melting equipment and hot rolling mills. The entire production line can be designed and manufactured at home and abroad.

The second-generation aluminum alloy ABS was launched in the United States, and the auto material aluminum age sprouted up. The Chinese aluminum industry and auto manufacturing industry should unite together to catch up and not lose fighter.

Hitachi Escalator Spare Parts

Hitachi Launches New TX Series Escalator for

India, Asia and the Middle East

Tokyo, August 21, 2017 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501, [Hitachi") and Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd. today announced the launch of the new TX Series escalator for India, Asia and the Middle East. The escalator has already been released in China*1, and will be released in stages across the remainder regions, commencing August 21, 2017.

In July 2016, Hitachi integrated its escalator businesses of Japan and China, consolidating its resources and enhancing its business operations in both countries, centered around its key business location in Guangzhou, China. The new TX Series escalator launched by Hitachi is a model that meets multiple standards in China, India, Asia and the Middle East. The model follows the same concept for the machine room-less elevator for Asia and the Middle East which was launched in September 2016. In addition to conforming to Chinese safety and quality standards for escalator equipment, the TX Series will be manufactured in accordance with Hitachi's own strict standards of safety and quality, adhering to safety standards in all other regions. It also adopts a functional design based on the concept of an escalator that fits closely with the unconscious actions of users, in the pursuit of their ease and comfort.

The TX Series offers flexibility with a selection of various product specifications, as well as its excellent design and safety features, designed to cater to a diverse range of customer needs. It also saves space required for the installation, covering a smaller area in comparison with existing products*2.

Hitachi will begin sales of the TX Series in Thailand, followed by launches in the Philippines, Malaysia and various other regions, and aims to receive orders of 10,000 units in 2018 in China, India, Asia and the Middle East.

Features of the TX Series

*2 The made-in-China escalator, [SX series," which is previous model of [TX series."

*3 The span between the beam on upper floor and that on the lower floor of the escalator when the escalator is installed.

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CEP Elevator Products ( China ) Co., Ltd. , https://www.zjelevatordoorsystem.com