Common Metal Fabrication Processes

1、Cast iron - mobility

Sewer covers being an inconspicuous part of our daily environment, few people pay attention to them. The main reason cast iron has such a large and wide range of uses is because of its excellent fluidity and its ease of casting into various complex forms. Cast iron is actually the name given to a mixture of several combinations of elements, which include carbon, silicon and iron. The higher the content of carbon in it, the better its flow characteristics during the casting process. Carbon is found here in the form of both graphite and iron carbide.

The presence of graphite in cast iron gives the sewer cover excellent wear resistance. Rust generally appears only on the topmost layer, so it is usually polished off. In spite of this, there is also a special measure to prevent rust during the pouring process, i.e. a bituminous coating is added to the surface of the casting, and the bitumen penetrates into the fine pores of the cast iron surface, thus acting as an antirust agent. Metal processing weibo, the content is good and worthy of attention. The traditional process of producing sand casting materials is now used by many designers in other newer and more interesting fields.

Material properties: excellent flowability, low cost, good wear resistance, low solidification shrinkage, very brittle, high compressive strength, good machinability.

Typical uses: cast iron has a history of several hundred years of application, involving construction, bridges, engineering components, household, and kitchen appliances.

2, stainless steel - no rust revolution

Stainless steel is an alloy made by incorporating chromium, nickel and some other metal elements in the steel. Its rust-free properties are derived from the chromium composition of the alloy, chromium in the surface of the alloy formed a layer of firm, self-healing chromium oxide film, the film is invisible to our naked eye. We usually refer to the ratio of stainless steel and nickel is generally 18:10.

Eight common metal materials and their processing process details

At the beginning of the 20th century, stainless steel began to be introduced into the field of product design as a genius, designers developed many new products around its toughness and corrosion resistance, involving many previously uncharted territory. This series of design attempts were very revolutionary: for example, sterilized and reusable equipment appeared for the first time in the medical industry.

Stainless steel is divided into four main types: austenitic, ferritic, ferritic-austenitic (composite), and martensitic. The stainless steel used in household products is basically austenitic.

Material characteristics: health care, corrosion prevention, fine surface treatment, high rigidity, can be formed by various processing processes, more difficult to cold processing.

Typical uses: Austenitic stainless steel is mainly used in household items, industrial pipelines and building structures; martensitic stainless steel is mainly used for making knives and turbine blades; ferritic stainless steel is anti-corrosive and is mainly used in durable use washing machines and boiler parts; composite stainless steel has stronger anti-corrosion properties, so it is often used in aggressive environments.

3, zinc - 730 pounds in a lifetime

Zinc, shining silver and slightly blue-gray, it is the third most widely used non-ferrous metal after aluminum and copper. A statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Mines shows that - in its lifetime - an average person consumes a total of 331 kg of zinc. Zinc's low melting point makes it an ideal casting material.

Eight common metal materials and their processing in detail

Zinc castings are very common in our daily life: the material under the surface layer of door handles, faucets, electronic components, etc. Zinc is extremely resistant to corrosion, a property that gives it another, most basic, function as a surface plating material for steel. In addition to these functions, zinc is also used as an alloy material for the synthesis of brass together with copper. Its corrosion resistance is not only used in the surface coating of steel - it also helps to strengthen our human immune system.

Material properties: health care, corrosion resistance, excellent castability, outstanding corrosion resistance, high strength, high hardness, inexpensive raw materials, low melting point, creep resistance, easy to form alloys with other metals, health care properties, brittle at room temperature, ductility around 100 degrees Celsius.

Typical uses: Components for electronic products. Zinc is one of the alloy materials used to form bronze. Zinc is also clean and hygienic and resistant to corrosion. In addition, zinc is also used in roofing materials, photo engraving plates, cell phone antennas and shutter devices in cameras.

4、Aluminium (AL) - the present material

Compared to gold, which has been used for 9,000 years, aluminum, the white metal with a slightly blue light, can only be considered a metal material in the baby. Aluminum was introduced and named in the early 18th century. Unlike other metallic elements, aluminum does not exist in nature as a direct metallic element, but is extracted from bauxite ore containing 50% alumina (also known as bauxite). Aluminum in this form in minerals is also one of the most abundant metallic elements on our planet.

Eight common metallic materials and their processing processes are explained in detail eight common metallic materials and their processing processes are explained in detail

When the metal aluminum first appeared, it was not immediately applied to people's lives. Later, for its unique functions and characteristics of a number of new products gradually came out, this high-tech material also gradually have more and more broad market. Although the history of aluminum application is relatively short, the production of aluminum products on the market now far exceeds the sum of other non-ferrous metal products.

Material properties: flexible and moldable, easy to make alloys, high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance, easy to conduct electricity and heat, recyclable.

Typical uses: transportation skeletons, aircraft components, kitchen appliances, packaging, and furniture. Aluminum is also often used to strengthen some large building structures, such as the statue of Eros in London's Piccadilly Circus, and the top of the Chrysler Building in New York, etc., have used aluminum reinforcement material.

5, magnesium alloy - ultra-thin aesthetic design

Magnesium is an extremely important non-ferrous metal, it is lighter than aluminum, can be well with other metals constitute a high-strength alloy, magnesium alloy has a lighter specific gravity, higher than the strength and stiffness, good thermal and electrical conductivity, both good damping and shock absorption and electromagnetic shielding properties, easy to process molding, easy to recycle and other advantages. But for a long time, due to expensive and technical limitations, magnesium and magnesium alloy only a small number of applications in aviation, aerospace and military industry, and therefore is known as "noble metal". Nowadays, magnesium is the third largest metal engineering material after steel and aluminum, and is widely used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, mobile communication, metallurgy and other fields. It can be expected that magnesium metal will become more important in the future due to the increase of production cost of other structural metals. The nature becomes greater. The sex becomes bigger. 

Magnesium alloy specific gravity is 68% of aluminum alloy, 27% of zinc alloy, 23% of steel, commonly used in automotive parts, 3C products casing, construction materials, etc.. Most of the ultra-thin laptop and cell phone casing use magnesium alloy for casing. Since the last century, human beings still have an undeniable love for metal texture and luster, although plastic products can form a metal-like appearance, but its sense of luster, hardness, temperature, texture still has a gap with metal. Magnesium alloy as a new metal raw material, give a high-tech goods feeling.

The corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy is 8 times of carbon steel, 4 times of aluminum alloy, more than 10 times of plastic, the corrosion resistance is the best of the alloy. Commonly used magnesium alloy has non-combustibility, especially used in the motorcycle parts and building materials, can avoid instant combustion. Magnesium reserves in the earth's crust ranked 8th, most of the magnesium raw materials from seawater extraction, so its resources are stable and sufficient.

Material characteristics: lightweight structure, high rigidity and impact resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, good thermal conductivity and electromagnetic shielding, good non-combustibility, poor heat resistance, easy to recycle.

Typical uses: Widely used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, mobile communications, metallurgy and other fields.

6、Copper - a partner of mankind

Copper is simply an incredibly versatile metal, it is so closely related to our lives. Many of mankind's early tools and weapons are made of copper. Its Latin name "cuprum" originated in a place called Cyprus, an island so rich in copper that people used the abbreviation of the island's name, Cu, to name the metal material, and so copper took on its current code name.

Copper plays a very important role in modern society: it is heavily used in building structures, as a carrier of electricity, and has been used for thousands of years as a raw material for body ornaments by people from many different cultures. From its simple beginnings as a decoder for transmission to its key role in complex modern communication applications, this malleable, orange-red metal has progressed with us along the way. Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity, second only to silver. From the point of view of the history of the use of metal materials, copper is second only to gold as the oldest metal used by mankind. This is largely due to the fact that copper ore is easy to mine, and copper is relatively easy to separate from copper ore.

Material characteristics: very good anti-corrosion, excellent thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, hard, flexible, with ductility, polished, unique effect.

Typical uses: Wires, engine coils, printed circuits, roofing materials, piping materials, heating materials, jewelry, cookware. It is also one of the main alloy components for making bronze.

7、Chromium - high gloss finish

Chromium is most commonly present in the form of an alloying element used in stainless steel to enhance the hardness of stainless steel. The chrome plating process is usually divided into three types: decorative plating, hard chrome plating and black chrome plating. Chrome plating is used in a wide range of engineering applications, and decorative chrome plating is usually applied as the top layer on top of the nickel layer, which has a fine, mirror-like polish. As a decorative post-treatment, the chrome coating is only 0.006 mm thick. When planning to use the chrome plating process, it is important to take into account the dangers of this process. In the last decade, there has been an increasing trend for hexavalent decorative chrome water to be replaced by trivalent chrome water, as the former is very carcinogenic, while the latter is considered to be relatively less toxic.

Material properties: very high finish, excellent corrosion resistance, hard and durable, easy to clean, low coefficient of friction.

Typical uses: Decorative chrome plating is the plating material for many automotive components, including door handles and buffers. In addition, chrome is also used for bicycle parts, bathroom faucets, and furniture, kitchen utensils, tableware, etc. Hard chrome plating is more often used in industry, including random memory in job control blocks, jet engine components, plastic molds, and shock absorbers. Black chrome plating is mainly used for musical instrument decoration and solar energy utilization.

8, titanium - light and strong

Titanium is a very special metal, very light in texture, but very tough and corrosion-resistant, at room temperature for life to maintain its own tone. The melting point of titanium is similar to that of platinum, so it is commonly used in aerospace . Military precision parts. The addition of electric current and chemical treatment results in different colors. Titanium has excellent resistance to acid and alkali corrosion in the "aqua regia" soaked in titanium for several years, but still shiny, shiny. If titanium is added to stainless steel, only about one percent, it greatly improves the ability to resist rust.

Titanium has a small density, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and other excellent characteristics, titanium alloy density is half of the steel and steel strength and about the same; titanium both high temperature, and low temperature resistance. In -253 ℃ ~ 500 ℃ such a wide range of temperatures can maintain high strength. Metal processing weibo, the content is good and worthy of attention. These advantages are exactly what is necessary for space metal. Titanium alloy is a good material for making the shell of rocket engines and artificial satellites and spacecraft, and has the name of "space metal". Because of these advantages, titanium has become a prominent rare metal since the 1950s.

Titanium is a pure metal, because of the "pure" titanium metal, so when the material and its contact, no chemical reaction. In other words, because of its corrosion resistance and high stability, titanium does not affect its nature even after long-term contact with people, so it does not cause human allergies, and it is the only metal that does not have any effect on human plant nerves and taste, and is known as a "pro-biological metal.

The biggest disadvantage of titanium is that it is difficult to refine. This is mainly because titanium can be combined with oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and many other elements at high temperatures. In fact, the content of titanium accounts for about 6‰ of the weight of the earth's crust, which is more than 10 times more than the sum of copper, tin, manganese and zinc.

Material properties: very high strength, weight ratio excellent corrosion resistance, difficult to cold work, good weldability, about 40% lighter than steel, 60% heavier than aluminum, low electrical conductivity, low thermal expansion rate, high melting point.