|
Deep-drawing
Assignment
If you look at modern car bodies with all their variations but having the same platform, then, apart from the variety, something else may strike you as being conspicious. Nowadays, to a large extent, there are no longer
section points, e.g., the transition from the C-pillar to the rear mudguard, which used to be normal. Where the roof used to be the largest body part, one-piece side-plating of more than four meters in length, can now be
produced.In addition, look also at the curves. They are sometimes only so vaguely suggested, that you may have to look twice to even notice them. Really sharp edges have become more seldom.
Function
Through the changes in technology, the coach-builders have made it possible for the designers to have a great deal more freedom. This is the result of improvements in a process that has always been the backbone of
the car body production, the deep-drawing. In the above row of pictures you can comprehend the process. For this process it is particularly important to have a certain quality of sheet-metal. Delivered in rolls, the
required part is punched out and in tightly laid out automatic production stages, after several operations, it is brought into it's final form. During these processes the drillings are also done and the surplus edges are cut
off.
However, a few pre-conditions must be fulfilled. Apart from the sheet-metal quality, the deployed lower and upper forms play an important role. Particularly at the beginning of a new series there is often still some 'filing'
to be done. The question of how much distortion in each individual stage can the sheet-metal tolerate, is of great importance. Thereby, it's possible that in certain stages, for the observer, hardly discernible changes
take place, which are however, of enormous importance for the stability of the form.
The pressure used for a large body part can equate to a weight-force of 100 tons. In addition there are very tight tolerances between the upper- and the lower part of the form. Particularly important is their surface
characteristic and the use of certain oils, because the surface of the pressed metal component should require no further finishing. In the first of the above pictures it can be seen that the sheet-metal is quite generously
cut out. When the two mouldings are driven into each other, it is imperative that the edges are held together by great force. Since, in deep drawing, creases are about as welcome as fissures in the sheet-metal. 10/10
|
|