From Beijing Dafeng Forming Technology Co., Ltd. to Changchun Jiefute Forming Technology Co., Ltd., and then to the company's headquarters moved back to Harbin from Beijing to establish Harbin Xindafeng Forming Technology Co., Ltd., successfully settled in Harbin Institute of Technology Advanced Technology Research Institute, and obtained special funds for the industrialization of major scientific and technological achievements in Heilongjiang Province. Wang Guofeng, the founder of Harbin Xindafeng Forming Technology Co., Ltd. and the director of the Department of Materials Processing Engineering of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology, has never stopped focusing on the optimization of the overall forming technology of large-size aluminum alloy thin-walled parts.
Curved edge sealing gas sealing technology, stamping-superplastic composite die structure setting stamping-superplastic conversion point judgment technology, air pressure history curve calculation technology, positive and negative expansion technology, sharp edge forming technology, negative angle forming technology... Entering the National Key Laboratory of Metal Precision Hot Processing of Harbin Institute of Technology, the wall shows more than 20 key technological breakthroughs achieved by Wang Guofeng and his team in recent years.
"Compared with FRP, aluminum alloy skin has outstanding advantages in terms of light weight, environmental protection, lifespan, flame resistance, toxicity, air tightness, and moisture resistance. However, aluminum alloy materials themselves have large resilience and are brittle, and traditional technology is difficult to process and shape them." Wang Guofeng told reporters that in the past, aluminum alloy materials mainly used combined welding methods to complete complex and special shapes, but the welding cost was high, the joints were uneven, and metal fatigue was prone to cracking and deformation, so the development of superplastic forming technology was imperative.
"Foreign countries have also been studying superplastic forming technology, but the equipment, molds, processes and materials are expensive. These 'four expensive' factors have become the main reason why this technology could not be widely used in the civilian field in the past." Wang Guofeng introduced, "Foreign countries use special superplastic aluminum plates, which can reach an elongation of 500% at room temperature. Ordinary aluminum plates have an elongation of only about 25% at room temperature. Can we make up for the shortcomings of materials and use ordinary aluminum plates to make special superplastic aluminum plates through the improvement and coordination of equipment, molds and processes?" Wang Guofeng led the team to independently develop composite superplastic forming technology through the "three-in-one" of drawing die, anti-expansion die and superplastic die, realizing the overall forming effects of multi-deep cavity, multi-layer plate, multi-sharp edge, multi-high rib and other complex shapes, reducing material costs by 50%, reducing labor costs by 20 to 30 people, and increasing the yield rate from 70% to 95%.
While technology is being updated, equipment is also being upgraded.
In the R&D workshop, the reporter saw the largest superplastic forming machine in China. "Why build such a large superplastic forming machine? Large-sized parts are too 'big'. How to ensure stable speed during processing, how to control the uniformity of pressure, the uniformity of heating temperature field, how to control the air pressure curve, how to ensure uniform wall thickness, these are all practical issues that need to be considered." Wang Guofeng told reporters that in the past, heating and stamping processes needed to be transferred to different equipment for processing. Multiple equipment processing took up space and was costly. It required multiple positioning and alignment, which was time-consuming and laborious. Now, only one positioning and alignment is needed to complete the processing of multiple processes continuously.
"This equipment can use positive and negative expansion technology to pre-deform the material, and then heat and stamp it to a certain position. The staff of the Superplastic Forming Technology Research Center can carry out secondary development of finite element software as needed to further improve the optimization design of the mold." Wang Guofeng introduced proudly.
Looking back on the road he has come, Wang Guofeng said that the rapid development of the company is inseparable from the strong support of the provincial party committee, provincial government, provincial science and technology department, and Harbin Institute of Technology.
"In the early days of our business, most of the funds we had were used to develop several large equipment independently. The investment was huge but the return on investment was slow. Sometimes we saw some projects that we could do but did not dare to take them, and we could only worry." Wang Guofeng said, "The province heard about our difficulties and immediately helped us inject more than 20 million yuan in financing. After successfully obtaining approval for the provincial major achievement industrialization project, we received another 7.5 million yuan in project support funds, which gave us enough confidence to expand the market." Wang Guofeng said that in addition to real financial support, after the company successfully settled in the Harbin Institute of Technology Advanced Technology Research Institute, the province also provided a series of "escort actions" in finance, legal affairs, etc. "In terms of the factory building, although we need a small area, we need to install an overhead crane, and the building needs to be high enough. This special 'chimney-style' factory building is very difficult to find. The Provincial Department of Science and Technology has been helping to contact and is currently considering developing a dedicated customized factory building, which also touched us very much." Wang Guofeng said that the team has always been flowing with the "Harbin Institute of Technology" gene. This time, returning to the fertile land of science and innovation in Longjiang, they will work with Longjiang universities to "shape" new momentum for advanced manufacturing and help rail transit move towards a new "aluminum" journey.
"At present, my country's new energy vehicles have entered a period of comprehensive market expansion. How to improve technology, energy consumption, emissions and other standards to better meet the needs of automobiles and other consumer products for replacement and upgrading is a problem we need to constantly think about. In the future, aluminum alloy skins can be used not only on high-speed railways and subways, but also on new energy vehicles. Especially in extremely cold environments, how to achieve lightweight body while keeping warm and ensuring battery power stability are all directions we need to work hard to solve in the next step." Wang Guofeng said.