ENGINEERING MATERIALS | METALS
RACE TO THE TOP
T raditionally, torque
wrench calibration
machines have generally
been intended for specific
manufacturers’ products. For
laboratories and OEMs this can be
a real nuisance, requiring several
different machines to cover each
torque wrench manufacturer; which
can be expensive and takes up a lot
of bench space. For this reason, a
truly universal calibration machine
is a godsend.
Environmental legislation to
control emissions and reduce
pollution continues to tighten
across the globe. To meet these
challenges in the automotive sector,
manufacturers are turning to battery
electric vehicles, hybrids and
more efficient internal combustion
engines.
A key concern for developers of
these technologies is a simple one:
vehicle mass. This critical metric
can significantly impact emissions,
range and performance, and has led
to the now well-established trend
of vehicle mass reduction known
as ‘lightweighting’. In its pursuit,
demand has rapidly increased for
lighter materials that are suitable for
high-volume production.
This growing need for lightweight
automotive components, particularly
for alternatively fuelled vehicles, is
A £10 million innovative aluminium manufacturing
process project has been validated for high-volume
automotive OEM applications.
driving innovation in both materials
and production technologies.
Meanwhile, the importance of
establishing an effective supply
chain to validate these new
technologies is encouraging greater
collaboration within the industry.
Technology pioneers, materials
experts and the academic world
are working together to catalyse
technology commercialisation and
help the adoption of lightweighting
innovations.
These trends are encouraging
exciting ventures like RACEForm,
a 30-month collaborative project
started in November 2017.
RACEForm aims to validate
Impression Technologies’ innovative
Hot Form Quench (HFQ) Technology
for the mass production of complex
aluminium components and
structures.
The large programme has been
successfully led by Impression
Technologies and is backed by
multi-million-pound funding from
the Advanced Propulsion Centre
UK, with a total project value
approaching £10million. To enable
the successful scaling of HFQ,
RACEForm is relying on a number
of complementary collaborators
including Gestamp, Innoval
Technology, Brunel University
London and Imperial College
London.
The significant interest in HFQ
Technology stems from its ability
to enable faster, less expensive
production of complex and
lightweight aluminium structures. It
offers OEMs significant savings in
weight, cost and system complexity
through its ability to produce deep
drawn, high-strength aluminium
alloys with low cycle times, no
springback and a level of formability
that is just not possible with other
techniques. It also helps aluminium
compete with steel in terms of
affordability – historically a sticking
point for widespread aluminium use.
The HFQ process begins
by heating an aluminium sheet
in an oven. The sheet is then
transferred to a high-speed press
for simultaneous forming and cold
die quenching. This allows the
aluminium to be stamped while it is
34 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | JANUARY 2020
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