All about sheet metal forming for the automotive industry: Are you curious?

by Groshan Fabiola I try to cover as many topics as I can

The automotive industry is changing so fast that it’s almost impossible to keep up. Digital transformation has completely changed the way companies and organizations do things. More specifically, they are better able to serve consumers, moving towards a unique approach for production and supply chain. Suppliers have understood that they need to innovate in order to remain relevant.

The automotive industry may be going through a transformation, but some things are the same. Sheet metal forming processes continue to be used. Sheet metal forming is utilized in just about any sector of industrial manufacturing. Taking into consideration that competition is fierce and that productivity enhancements are expected, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that sheet metal forming is a key technology. If you want to find out everything there is to know about this technology and how it’s being used in the automotive industry, keep on reading.

Sheet metal forming for car body structure

Those who are in charge of manufacturing vehicle body structures have come to the conclusion that it’s necessary to come up with a new strategy of operation. As you’re able to guess, fabrication engineers and production managers now use steel for their applications. Steel represents a leading material when it comes to automotive structures. The fact of the matter is that steel is one of the few materials that meets the industry’s stringent challenges. Steel usage makes it possible to achieve weight savings and better fuel economy. It’s enough to take a look at the most common areas in the car and you’ll find steel.

Plants don’t manufacture more than fifty panels in-house due to the fact that they don’t have the necessary dies. Therefore, they outsource the steel pressing. So as to obtain an unvarying quality of auto body skin panels and avoid costly mistakes, professionals focus all their attention on formability and ductility. What happens with the metal is that it’s shaped by two die. The technique is referred to as open-die surging. The main advantages of resorting to this method include strength and variety in size. As far as the steel is concerned, aluminium-killed steel is mostly used.

Sheet metal forming for chassis structure

At present, the automotive industry is dominated by trends like autonomous driving or digitization. The thing is that the automobiles of tomorrow will still need basic parts like wheels, seats, and, most importantly, chassis. The chassis is the framework of the vehicle, meaning that it’s very important. If you’re like everybody, then you haven’t given too much thought to what components are found in the cassis. What you need to know is that chassis components are stamped. The elements are valuable and they are supplied to OEM body shops every now and them. Car manufacturers choose a metal pressing company and contract out the necessary work.

As far as chassis applications are concerned, steel is used to a large extent. The reason why steel is preferred is that it has many useful characteristics, such as mechanical, chemical, and thermal resistance. Not only does steel allow for better pressing, but also for various welding techniques. Lighter aluminium can be used for weight reduction. The problem is that it’s a lot more expensive as compared to steel. When utilizing steel, it’s easy to produce significant volumes at a low cost. Owning to the numerous developments in steel, it’s more powerful, weightless, and has other enhanced characteristics. After many years, it’s possible to make new ground-breaking grades that can be used for all kinds of chassis parts.

Manufacturing aluminium sheet is a little bit more complicated. To be more precise, it’s hard if not impossible to meet fuel economy requirements, as well as consumer demand. Some of the difficulties encountered in the production of aluminium sheet include escalating costs and material specifications. As mentioned earlier, aluminium is pricey. Manufacturing widespread aluminium sheet is therefore out of discussion. The properties of the material impact the end result, which is why the metal stamping industry has the tendency to use components that don’t result in flaws in pressing.

Automation and industrial sheet forming

Sheet metal forming plays an important role in the automotive industry and it’s not hard to understand why. There is an increasing need for high volume production, not to mention that metals can be made into various shapes. The next generation of cars will largely depend on this incredible technology. So far, the trends in the stamping industry have affected the manufacturing concepts of companies and organisations. Automation is becoming more and more prevalent, almost taking over industrial sheet forming. What is the story behind robotics, anyway? Collaborative robots have been around for some time now, enabling the optimization of many operations.

More and more companies use automation within their metal pressing facilities. Put simply, more equipment is digitized. Investing in automatic equipment is one of the best things that a metal pressing company can do. Equipment of this kind enables them to be more productive and get more output from their employees. As the metal stamping industry continues to make progress, it’s expected that automation will be the norm. If not, it’s the loss of the industry. If companies insist on using traditional metalworking die and press, it’s their decision. This isn’t to say that their processed won’t be productive. It’s just that automatic equipment makes things a lot simpler.

Organisations that offer metalworking are bound to thrive in this economy. In the United Kingdom alone, vehicle production is on the rise. In spite of considerable decline in the previous years, the automotive industry has experienced steady growth. Many think that UK car production will decline due to Brexit. It’s difficult to predict the future. However, it’s easy to see that an increasing number of vehicles is manufactured. Companies activating in the automotive industry need to carefully choose with whom they collaborate. Obviously, an organisation that deploys automatic equipment is a good choice. Nonetheless, those making use of older technologies aren’t worth neglecting. It’s the solution that counts and not the means to the end.