Improvement of Sheet Metal Processing Technology
In view of the process control problems in sheet metal processing, the process has been analyzed in detail, the main difficulties encountered in the production process have been summarized, and how to choose the best processing and improvement methods have been analyzed. Hopefully, the sheet metal processing process requirements can be further improved.
0. Introduction
The special process control and quality assurance requirements in the current sheet metal process make the current stamping process difficult. Therefore, the process measures should be optimized and improved according to the actual situation to improve the overall process quality and performance to meet the requirements of industrial production.
1. Sheet metal processing process
1.1 Unloading
Sheet metal should be undercut first to get the sheet metal blank that meets the subsequent processing requirements, then perform preliminary processing. The method of unloading is shear unloading, using the upper and lower knife mouth of the shear stress to cut the metal material; because the method of the material blank cutting accuracy is not high, and most of the cases can only be no holes, do not need to cut the corners of the strips of material processing; punch unloading is a kind of use of stamping presses on the unfolding of the plate after the shear processing process of a process that has the advantages of fast speed, high accuracy, commonly used in mass production, especially in the manufacture of parts and components. Manufacturing parts and components can better reflect the advantages of high efficiency and low cost; laser undercutting, even if the material is processed by laser, can also be laser to cut the large sheet into the required shape. This undercutting method has a great improvement in process efficiency and accuracy, and it is more accurate than other undercutting methods, and it is more suitable for complex workpieces; sawing machine undercutting, the use of the sawing machine, the same as a shearing machine, also has some accuracy problems, but it is suitable for the processing of shaped and square cylinders, and the cost is well controlled.
1.2 Bending
In the process, the main thing is to control the bending radius, and according to the mechanical properties of sheet metal, adjust the bending method, and the minimum radius as the basis for determining the processing technology. In the bending, pay attention to the control of hole distance and height if the process conditions allow as far as possible after the bending of the hole processing. Otherwise, it is easy to affect the subsequent processing procedures. In the bending process, the material’s mechanical properties directly affect the process’s accuracy and effectiveness, so it must be strictly in accordance with its mechanical properties to carry out the bending process to prevent the product quality from having an adverse effect.
1.3 Stretching
In sheet metal processing, the metal material should also be stretched; stretching is a more complex structure. The sheet material is not necessarily uniform in stretching, resulting in uneven stress distribution and different stretching thicknesses. Usually, the thickness of both the bottom and the center portion will remain the same, but the rounded portion of the bottom will be thinner. In comparison, the top portion will be thicker, and in the case of rectangular materials, there will be larger rounded corners. Therefore, these above changes should be noted when stretching to ensure the quality of the stretching. In the case of multiple stretching, attention should also be paid to the effect of material work hardening; for the work hardening phenomenon to be more serious, the material can be heated after a stretching treatment to eliminate the stress produced by stretching and enhance its process performance.
1.4 Surface treatment and welding treatment
In plate manufacturing, it is often necessary to assemble multiple components to form new parts, which are usually welded to meet the size and mechanical properties requirements. Many types of welding methods, such as gas and arc welding, are usually selected according to the material and processing requirements. After completing the welding, it is also necessary to carry out surface treatment, such as using a cold rolling process for plating, thus changing its surface properties, oxidation of the surface of the aluminum plate, and brushed metal processing.
2. Difficulties in Sheet Metal Processing
Sheet metal processing is mainly the use of manual or mold processing of sheet metal, sheet metal processing to a certain size and shape, and welding and other processing to get a more complex product shape. Various sheet metal products, such as power protection and industrial control cabinets, can be produced through bending, welding, surface treatment, and assembly processing. Therefore, it is necessary to find the most suitable processing technology according to the processing and design requirements to ensure the product’s quality and to meet the appearance requirements. At the same time, with the rapid development of China’s industrial technology, the production of sheet metal parts has become increasingly complex; to adapt to this requirement, the a need for more stringent production processes and precision control. Various parts of the design of the work form are also more diverse, non-fixed, non-modular manufacturing, so sheet metal processing is more difficult.
3. Measures for Sheet Metal Processing Technology
3.1 Sheet metal processing material selection
Sheet metal is the basis of sheet metal processing. In the selection of sheet metal, it is necessary to ensure the strength of the sheet metal, as well as to ensure easy access to metal materials, and to control the cost of the sheet metal effectively, but also to carry out a reasonable control of the processing process, to ensure that a variety of material utilization, and to prevent the waste of materials. At the same time, the corresponding functional materials should be selected for different process requirements. In the case of certain requirements on the structural performance of the plate, a thin steel plate compression reinforcement process can be used to improve the comprehensive performance of the plate.
3.2 Hole Defect Structure Quality Control
In the process of sheet metal processing, a large number of cutting and piercing is required. If the holes are not properly designed, it will affect the subsequent process, which will not only affect the product’s appearance but also reduce the product’s performance. Therefore, the cutting and perforation methods should be designed appropriately during production, especially to control the square hole processing part of the workpiece to avoid changes in the hole position due to the sheet material during processing. In some perforation processes, it is also necessary to hit the thread, so you can use welding nuts, rivet nuts, and other methods to achieve product quality requirements.
3.3 Welding quality control
Welding is another important part of plate production; its main goal is to make the combination of parts into a complete whole, to ensure the quality of the weld, to achieve the welding effect, to ensure the appearance of the product quality, to prevent cracks or gaps in the product quality to cause adverse effects. There is no need to use the surface weld when welding, but use the fillet welding to realize the welding. According to the characteristics of the material itself and the actual performance requirements, carbon dioxide-shielded welding, gas welding, argon arc welding, etc., can be used. To effectively control the welding quality, surface processing, such as polishing, must be done on the welded joints. Due to the small thickness of the plate, the welding time and current should be accurately controlled to avoid problems in the process, especially in the welding process; the deformation should be effectively controlled to ensure the quality of the process. When welding, attention should be paid to selecting appropriate methods, for example, to ensure the symmetry of the welding point and the product’s appearance. To avoid affecting the product’s mechanical properties due to too large a gap, the spacing between the weld and the weld joint should be strictly controlled.
After completion, it should also be polished and leveled to ensure the beauty of the weld.
4. Extended process in sheet metal processing
4.1 Laser processing technology
Due to the good coherence and directionality of the laser, the impact on the metal surface is relatively small. It does not produce metal deformation, so it can be accurately controlled in the processing process, which is an ideal technology. The basic principle is to shoot the laser onto the plate to form a focal point and transfer the laser for energy transmission, thus generating heat in the focusing part, vaporizing the metal material to achieve the effect of cutting. A microcomputer controls the laser processing equipment, and the laser cutting point can be flexibly adjusted according to the design pattern and shape to achieve the purpose of cutting the plate with high precision. At the same time, the invention can also effectively and quickly process the workpiece.
4.2 Computer-aided processing
The use of computers to control the entire process can achieve higher precision and replace manual labor for certain complicated processing, thus overcoming the problems of low efficiency of manual operation, low degree of standardization, and poor quality control. Take the previous laser processing and computer-aided control technology; you can achieve precision control of the workpiece. The core of CAD is the drawing of graphics, greatly reducing the labor intensity of the design and development of personnel; advanced parametric design software can greatly circumvent human error. CAD software is the basis of CAM. CAM technology also extends the function of the machining system, combining the database with modular design to determine the process module after programming and integration with the materials in the database. The system can completely rely on the computer to realize automation, overcoming the shortcomings of the previous design inefficiency and the high cost of trial and error to achieve the design accuracy requirements. The future CAD, CAE, and CAM systems will play a greater value in machinery manufacturing.
4.3 Application of Laser Processing Technology
The rapid development of sheet metal processing technology in recent years, due to its coherence and good directionality, made it widely used in the undercutting process. When the laser irradiates a point on the sheet, it will vaporize the metal in a split second, thus solving many problems encountered in conventional sheet metal processing. In conventional sheet metal working processes, a fixed method is generally used. However, in the case of laser processing, a flexible cutting method is used so that the entire cutting process is completely controlled by a computer, improving the cutting accuracy and the quality and efficiency of sheet metal processing.
4.4 Precautions for machining process
In the selection process, it is necessary to carefully analyze the composition of the components and model them, and select the appropriate tool according to the material to avoid unthinkingly using the tool, which reduces the machining efficiency, and make a reasonable combination of various tools to maximize the advantages of various tools and prevent damage to the tool. If the tool is wrong or exceeds the standard, such as severe wear, the tool should be replaced with a new one immediately to ensure the smooth running of the process.
5. Conclusion
In the manufacturing process of plate parts, according to the actual processing requirements, the appropriate processing methods and plates should be selected to meet the product performance, efficiency, and quality requirements. In production, it is necessary to correctly recognize the process of undercutting, bending, welding, and other processes, and according to the defects of the processing methods, to take effective measures to make the processing work more perfect, and at the same time, make full use of the extended process to improve the production efficiency and overall quality.
