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Deburring and surface refinement for automotive industry

Source:Rösler Release Date:2022-07-11 1182
Industrial MetalworkingMetalworkingSurface TreatmentMetal MaterialsSemiconductor/Electronic ChipSemiconductor / Electronic Chip
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Meeting surface finishing specifications in a sustainable, efficient and flexible manufacturing environment

Alternative drive systems or conventional combustion engines, light-weight designs or the use of 3D printing for the volume production of vehicle - all the components going into the manufacture of automobiles have one thing in common:  They must have a surface finish that fully meets the technical specifications. Rösler  offers a broad spectrum of mass finishing, shotblasting and 3D post processing  solutions along with comprehensive experience in the automotive industry. This  allows the company to handle the most challenging surface finishing tasks with stable, sustainable and efficient processes and excellent results. 


IMG Automotive parts (002).jpg

Compact shot blast machines with automated work piece handling allow the continuous processing of lightweight castings made from nonferrous metals within the required cycle times. This includes de-sanding, deburring and surface homogenization. Because of their compact design the shot blast machine can be easily integrated into automated manufacturing lines. 


The rapid technological developments in the automotive industry have also far-reaching consequences for the surface treatment function. This is not only true for the components  used in alternative drive systems and self-driving cars. The higher surface finishing standards also apply to conventional drive systems with combustion engines. Optimal finishes ensure less friction losses, lower fuel consumption and lower emissions. In  addition, they minimize vibrations and wear of components exposed to high loads. Moreover, the use of light-weight materials, a long tradition in the automotive industry, is a  key factor, irrespective of the utilized drive systems. All these factors underline the importance of the role of the surface finishing function. Accordingly, the number of aluminum, magnesium and 3D printed components is rapidly growing. Individualized and personalized automobiles are another reason, why component surfaces must meet completely new optical and haptic demands. Another trend is the need to make the manufacturing operations more flexible and reduce the labor costs. As a competent, long-term partner of the automobile companies and their suppliers the Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH has been working extensively to provide suitable equipment and processes. The company has developed innovative surface finishing solutions in the fields of mass finishing, shot blasting and post processing of 3D printed components. As such they help the customers to organize their manufacturing operations in a sustainable and resource-saving manner. 


Mass finishing solutions for electric vehicles

Vehicles driven by batteries or fuel cells and plug-ins contain a large amount of electrical and mechatronic components. These include connectors, circuit boards and busbars. For transferring the power they must handle high electric volumes. To function well, they must be free of burs and perfectly clean. For this surface finishing task the mass finishing technology represents a highly effective and economic solution. By fine-tuning the equipment and the consumables (media and compound), all developed and produced in-house, Rösler ensures that the required surface finishes are consistently achieved within short cycle times. Mass finishing systems are also used for finishing copper bars and various kinds of stampings. Copper bars are increasingly employed as winding material for rotors, whereas bent and stamped components are used for all kinds of housings.


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Be it deburring or surface smoothing by removing roughness peaks and valleys the mass finishing technology handles these tasks in automated systems with consistent results and at low costs. Single piece processing with the finishing of targeted surface areas on the work pieces is also possible. 


Reduced friction and wear

Friction causes not only increased wear and fuel consumption. It also generates unwanted noise emissions, vibrations and increased temperatures. Minimizing friction is, therefore, an important goal for components in vehicles that are powered by batteries or combustion engines. The optimal surface smoothing of components such as gears, cam segments, piston rings and camshafts are achieved with fully automatic mass finishing systems, for example, drag and surf finishers. The component surface is not only smoothed by removing roughness peaks and valleys. In addition, the components are also completely deburred. Such multi-function finishing operations in one single process generate significant cost savings and repeatable results. 


In-line shot blasting of light-weight components

One major challenge of battery-driven vehicles is to reach a maximum driving range before having to recharge the battery. In vehicles with combustion engine the fuel consumption and the emissions must be lowered. This leads to an increasing use of non-ferrous metals like aluminum and magnesium. These materials are used to produce stator carriers, housings, drive components, axle clamps and wheel holders as sand castings, die-castings and injection moldings. Following the shaping process these components must be de-sanded, deburred, and their surface must be homogenized. For these tasks Rösler has developed compact swing chamber shot blast machines with automated work piece handling. Because of their small footprint the machines can be easily integrated into manufacturing lines, thus allowing in-line, continuous flow processing.

 

Additive manufacturing for volume production

In the past years 3D printing was primarily utilized for rapid prototyping and production of small pilot runs. Today additive manufacturing is increasingly employed for volume production. In a recently published report SmarTech Analysis expects that the production of 3D printed standard automotive parts will reach a sales volume of US $ 9 billion by 1929. In 2019 the total volume amounted to US $ 1.39 billion. This explosive development has become possible through improvements of the printer technology, better printing methods and new, improved materials. Among the numerous benefits of 3D printing is the high design freedom resulting in lighter components with more complex shapes. In addition, 3D printing allows the personalization of exterior and interior components, an important aspect for product differentiation. However, the successful utilization of modernprint systems for volume production depends not only on sustainable print processes and lower costs per piece. It equally depends on the economical and consistent post processing of the 3D printed components. In this respect „AM Solutions – 3D post 

processing technology” provides innovative solutions that meet the demands of the industry. This division within the Rösler group specializes in automated post processing solutions for volume production. Over the past years it has gained valuable experiencewithin a broad field of different applications.


IMG Polymer parts_V (1).jpg

In the past the automotive industry used additive manufacturing primarily for rapid prototyping and pilot production. Today 3D printing is increasingly used for volume production of standard components. With its innovative developments AM Solutions - 3D post processing technology replaces manual operations with cost-efficient automated systems. This allows the automotive industry to also maintain its strict quality standards for the post processing of 3D printed components


Consistently meeting cleanliness specifications

The cleanliness of components has become another important quality criterion. Especially the electric and electronic components in electric vehicles are subject to the most stringent cleanliness requirements. To meet these requirements Rösler offers a range of belt, drum and chamber washing machines that can be easily linked with mass finishing, shot blasting and post processing systems. Because the washing machines are built in-house, they can be perfectly adapted to the entire process for optimal cleaning results. Especially when the washing machines are linked with mass finishing systems, the process liquids can be easily mixed. Depending on the work piece shape such a mix-up can be minimal. However, to ensure a safe operation of the entire line, it is essential that both process liquids are compatible and are not negatively impacting the process results. Rösler offers eco-friendly compounds that are precisely adapted to the mass finishing and washing operation and, thus, guarantee a high degree of process stability.


Process development for a wide spectrum of applications

The different requirements for the new components, materials and manufacturing methods demand, among other things, the development of new or the adaptation of existing finishing processes. With decades of experience and the know-how of numerousimplemented projects in many industries like aerospace, automotive, medical engineering, machinery building, etc., Rösler is uniquely qualified for these tasks. The fact that Rösler maintains well-equipped customer experience centers represents an additional benefit for the customers. This facilitates the development of finishing processes under actual production conditions. 


Custom engineered automation and digitization

Perfectly adapted to the individual customer requirements and the existing manufacturing environment the Rösler specialists develop special automation solutions. These include not only the work piece handling but also the integration into new or already existing manufacturing lines. Suitable monitoring systems by matrix code or with visual systems can also be supplied. 


Moreover, with its Smart Solutions brand Rösler also offers soft- and hardware packages for the digitization of mass finishing and shot blasting operations. For shot blasting equipment this includes primarily the operating parameters that determine the blast cleaning quality and influence the equipment maintenance. For mass finishing operations the focus is frequently on the monitoring and maintenance of process water recycling systems. 


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