With the rapid development of China’s manufacturing industry, the sheet metal processing industry has also developed and grown. Now sheet metal involves various industry, such as environmental protection, medicine, engineering, IT, etc., but for any sheet metal product, it has A certain process. Sheet metal fabrication process and material selection determines the quality and service life of sheet metal products, so how to select materials for products has become a top priority.
Selection of materials
The material generally used in sheet metal processing are cold-rolled sheet, hot-rolled sheet, galvanized sheet, aluminum sheet, aluminum profile, stainless steel sheet, etc. Depending on the function of the product, the choice of materials is different. It generally needs to be considered from the product using and cost. We can refer to the following instructions:
No.1 Cold rolled plate: mainly used for electroplating and powder coating parts, low cost, easy to shape, material thickness 0.2-4mm.
No.2 Hot-rolled plate: material T≥3.0mm, also used for electroplating and powder coating parts, low cost, but difficult to form, mainly flat parts.
No.3 Galvanized sheet: mainly used in automobile manufacturing, refrigerators, construction, ventilation and heating facilities, furniture manufacturing and other industry.
No.4 Aluminum plate: generally used surface chromate, oxidation, silver plating, nickel plating, high cost, suitable for home appliances and electronic product enclosures.
No.5 Aluminum profile: materials with complex cross-section structure, used in various sub-boxes, and the surface treatment is the same as aluminum plate.
No.6 Stainless steel: better anti-rust ability, high cost. Mainly used in daily life, food industry, pharmaceuticals, etc.
Process flow of sheet metal processing
No.1 Sheet metal cutting
There are mainly the following ways of cutting materials:
*Shearing machine: It uses a shearing machine to cut out the shape of the unfolded drawing. If the length and width dimensions are punched and cut corners, then the punching machine is combined with the die to punch and cut corners to form;
* CNC turret punch press: When NC blanking, you must first write a CNC machining program. Use the programming software to write the drawn expanded diagram into a program that can be recognized by the NC data processing machine tool, and then punch it out on the plate step by step according to these programs. Flat pieces of various structural shapes;
*Laser cutting: using laser cutting method to cut out the structure shape of the flat plate on a large flat plate. It is necessary to write a program like NC blanking. It can cut a variety of complex shapes of flat parts with high cost and accuracy greater than 0.1mm;
*Sawing machine: mainly use aluminum profiles, square pipes, round pipes, round bars, etc., with low cost and low precision;
*Plasma cutting: mainly for non-ferrous metals (stainless steel, aluminum, copper, titanium, nickel) cutting effect is better especially thick plate.
No.2 Sheet metal stamping
It is a processing procedure that uses mold forming. Generally, stamp processing includes punching, cutting corners, blanking, punching convex hull, punching and tearing, punching, forming and other processing methods. The processing requires corresponding molds to complete the operation, such as punching Hole blanking mold, convex mold, tearing mold, hole punching mold, forming mold, etc.
No.3 Sheet metal bending
It is the part that folds the flat piece into the required radian or camber. The processing needs to be completed with a bending machine and corresponding bending molds, and it also has a certain bending sequence. The principle is that the first bending does not interfere with the next cut.
No.4 Sheet metal welding
Welding, also known as fusion, is a manufacturing process and technology for joining metals or other thermoplastic materials by heating, high temperature, or high pressure.
Classification:
Fusion welding: argon arc welding, submerged arc welding, gas welding;
Pressure welding: heating and pressing, cold pressing;
Brazing: electric chromium welding, copper wire.
Welding method:
CO₂ gas shielded welding; Argon arc welding; Spot welding.; Robot welding.
No.5 Sheet metal riveting
Pressure riveting mainly includes pressure riveting nuts, screws, studs and so on. The operation is completed by hydraulic pressure riveting machine or punching machine, riveting them to the sheet metal parts, and the expansion riveting method. Pay attention to the directionality.
No.6 Sheet metal surface treatment
The surface treatment generally includes zinc electroplating, chromate, baking varnish, oxidation and so on. Zinc electroplating is generally used for cold-rolled plates and other steel; chromate and oxide are generally used for surface treatment of aluminum plates and aluminum profiles; the specific surface treatment methods are based on customers Depends on the requirements.
No.7 Sheet metal assembling
Assembling is to assemble multiple accessories or electronic components together according to the assembly process to make it a complete product. During the assembly process, pay attention to the protection of the materials and ensure that the product is intact and undamaged.
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