Current US fuel economy standards require manufacturers to improve average automobile efficiencies from 27.5 MPG to 54.4 MPG by 2025. The European Union mandates that carbon dioxide emissions must fall from 130 grams to 95 grams per kilometer by 2021. For automakers, the challenge is to meet these various emission and fuel economy standards while still producing safe vehicles.
A key strategy, of course, is to reduce weight and that means less steel and more lightweight materials. Although steel currently accounts for about 60% of an average automobile’s weight, automakers are incorporating aluminum, plastics, manganese, composites and advanced high-strength, but lighter weight, steel alloys into their vehicles. The most recent example is the Ford F-150 pickup that now uses aluminum for 25% of its curb weight.
For CNC machine shops that serve the automotive industry, this means being capable of not only machining a number of different materials to tight tolerance but also, because of the cost of materials and pricing pressures from their automotive customers, to do so extremely efficiently and without scrap and rework.
The first step, of course, is to have the right CNC machines and other equipment necessary to efficiently make parts from a variety of materials. Aluminum, for example, requires machines with thermal stability to insure accuracy. Plus aluminum creates sticky chips that usually require precisely delivered, high-pressure coolant to keep the cutting area clear and a filtering chip conveyor to eliminate bottlenecks. Composites also create significant heat when being machined, and because they are made up of layers of various materials, require different kinds of tooling than conventional metals. Other exotic metals each have their own unique characteristics. All of this means that it’s critical to match CNC machines with the power, rigidity and accuracy to the materials being machined.
To find the right CNC machines for the materials you work with, contact your Torrance Haas Factory Outlet to learn more. Call (310) 381-0750, email: jphillips@haasfactoryoutlet.com, or visit www.haasfactoryoutlet.com.