New Developments in China Automotive Panel Molds

The technical progress of automobile panel mold manufacturing enterprises in recent years is mainly reflected in the following aspects.

The level of equipment has greatly improved. No matter whether it is a newly-built enterprise or an old enterprise that has undergone technological transformation in recent years, it has invariably purchased advanced numerical control equipment. These equipment include three-axis to five-axis high-speed machining machines. Large gantry machining centers and CNC milling machine tools, advanced large-scale measurement and debugging equipment and multi-axis CNC laser cutting machines.

At present, many mold companies already have about 10 large-scale CNC equipment, and some companies already have more than 30 units. At present, there are more than 400 large-scale numerical control processing equipments in the whole industry. Therefore, the level and capability of producing car cover molds have been greatly improved. In the past, it was difficult for a company to complete the molds of the entire vehicle within one year. Now, some key enterprises have already had this capability. Individual companies also have the ability to simultaneously complete 4 to 5 models of complete molds within one year through industry collaboration. Most companies also deploy many advanced software at the same time. Judging from the current level of equipment, China has already had the ability to complete more than 20 models of vehicle molds in one year.

The design and processing technology has greatly improved. In recent years, companies have used more and more three-dimensional CAD, and some companies have reached 100%. At the same time, CAE technology has also been widely used. On the one hand, the CAE software imported from abroad has undergone secondary development and the application level has been greatly improved. On the other hand, it has been developed on its own. The advanced CAE software with independent intellectual property rights has also been successfully applied in production. Currently used CAE software includes imported LS, DYNA3D, DYNAFORM, PAMSTAMP, OPTRIS, AUTOFORM, and VFORM, KMAS, sheetForm, and CADEMII systems developed by China. As the core technology CAE technology in the development of automotive large-scale cover molds, the current CAE software has been upgraded in the traditional form-analysis only, and can participate in the whole process of the stamping process, analyzing the breadth, practicality, and precision of the content. There has been significant progress in sex. This has a significant effect on the product design and process analysis, the improvement of the mold's extraordinary success rate of the drawing die, the shortening of the die manufacturing cycle, and the improvement of the die quality. Advanced technologies such as digital manufacturing, reverse engineering, concurrent engineering, agile manufacturing, and lean manufacturing have also been applied in the production of automotive panel molds and have produced good results. Although CAPP is widely used in mold factories, it is not without success. The high-speed machining technology that was rarely used before is now being used more and more, and it can be said that it has reached the stage of extensive application. Combining a large number of experience, standards, and specifications in mold design with CAD/CAM technology systems, intelligent and automated all-around (from data to product) mold design and processing solutions have begun to be applied. And effectively improve the quality of the mold 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 mold has also been greatly improved. The improvement of mold level is various and reflected in the whole process of mold production. Dies that could not have been produced in the past can now be produced, which reflects the improvement of the level. Now, all the cover molds for mid-range sedan including highly difficult overall side panels and fenders have been able to be produced domestically. The molds and some export molds for foreign vehicles of joint ventures can also be accepted by foreign companies (such as Japan and Germany). Some domestic backbone enterprises have realized their ability to produce parts from the oversold parts of the middle and low-end cars to the parts of the entire vehicle and the moulds of medium and high-grade cars. Large-scale continuous-mode and multi-position progressive dies that are matched with automatic presses now have a higher level of products in China. The gap between domestic high-end mold level and foreign countries is narrowing. The phenomenon that all mid- to high-grade car molds rely on imports is gradually changing. In recent years, the emergence of cover molds for the production of automated production lines and the emergence of large-scale multi-station automation molds have also demonstrated the progress in the overall level and strength of mold technology quality.

Due to the popularization and application of CAD/CAE technology, some domestic companies have approached foreign standards in the analysis of stamping processes for DL ​​diagram design. The use of standardized structures, standard parts, and curved structures and their flexible handling on this basis have resulted in a high level of compound structure, reasonable 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. Virtual machining can be implemented to check interference. Some companies have also independently developed software that can avoid over-cutting. After the application, they can completely prevent over-cutting of CNC machine tools. The application of precision machining, multi-axis linkage processing, and inclination processing methods has improved the quality of mold manufacturing. The progress of solid casting technology provides a better casting blank for the die. Many varieties and high-quality standard parts provide the conditions for mold standardization, which greatly shortens the production cycle of the mold and also reduces the cost. In 2004, Germany's Volkswagen headquarters, Volkswagen China, FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen made market assessments for mold suppliers in China, and they believed that companies such as FAW Mold Manufacturing Co., Ltd. had fully equipped the Volkswagen Group with the ability to provide car outer cover molds. This fully demonstrates the increase in the level of molds for automobile panels in China in recent years.