Can Integrated Body be Realized by Casting?

Q:Can automobiles be made integral body-frames by casting?

This is a very interesting question.Most people's first reaction must be negative. This reminds me of an engineer who once said that the mobile phone shell could not be made with CNC and was overturned by Apple.The answer is still uncertain.

For the current situation of the automobile industry, there are the following problems:

1.Why is the production of car body mainly based on stamping and welding?

2. Are there any other production methods for body parts besides stamping?

3. Can we make an integrated body?

1. Why is the production of car body mainly based on stamping and welding?

The production mode is mainly determined by the product performance requirements, quality requirements, production efficiency and production costs.

Nowadays, the typical body structure is composed of the surface panels and the body frame. The surface panels are determined by the shape. Those familiar shapes are stamped by the panels. In order to meet the requirements of safety, NVH and other performance requirements, and at the same time reduce the weight as much as possible, the body frame is mainly composed of a beam structure with a hollow closed interface.

The outer panels are thin plates, and the beam structure is also composed of thin plates. The most convenient and fast way to make sheet metal parts is stamping, and the dimension precision of stamped parts is also very good. In the technology of connecting steel plates, welding is the most mature and efficient. At present, stamping and welding production has achieved a high degree of automation, more than 90% of the work can be done by robots.

Simply, the current production mode of stamping and welding can well meet the quality requirements of vehicle performance, size accuracy and other requirements, but also can produce dozens of cars in an hour to meet the production requirements, the price is not expensive, naturally become the first choice.

2. Are there any other production methods for body parts besides stamping?

In fact, a small part of the high-end car body has been cast, advanced casting technology has been able to cast thin-walled parts with complex shapes and used in mass production.

The following picture shows the front wheel cover of Cadillac ATS, which is manufactured by high pressure casting aluminium technology.

The casting parts are 30% - 40% lighter than the stamping tailor-welded parts with the same properties due to the advantages of variable thickness, reinforced ribs and more complex shape than stamping, and the number of parts is greatly reduced.

In addition to casting, a large number of composite materials have been used in the production of automobile body, some of which are produced by injection moulding, which is similar to casting.

3. Can we make an integrated body?

Now the common car body is assembled by hundreds of small parts through welding. In fact, the assembly workshop and consumers can treat the car body as a whole part, which should be the largest part of the car. If the collision is severe, it must be cut and repaired by tailor welding.

The body structure of some high-end vehicles with carbon fibre body can really be called monolithic body or monocoque, the most famous of which is Lamborghini. Carbon fibre body has been developed unremittingly since 30 years ago, which was absolutely science and technology at that time.

According to the performance requirements, different materials and processing methods should be adopted in different areas. Through such a single cabin, the weight of the vehicle can be reduced and the safety performance can be improved.

With the development of technology, the products using integral body are no longer the high-end toys that can not be reached. It may be popularized to the mainstream market at any time.