| At present, energy and environmental issues have become increasingly prominent issues today, focus on the automotive lightweight is of great importance to the energy saving, emissions reduction and sustainable development. As the most eye-catching green engineering material for 21st century, Mg alloys has attracted R&D attention worldwide for automobile industry.As a large complex of die casting, Mg seat frame can effectively reduce the weight of automobile and emission, reduce the noise and vibration of a running vehicle, and improve the stability, more significantly, absorb and scatter more the energy and shock, which, in turn, make the vehicle more safe and comfortable. Consequently, Mg seat frame has been used in high-end cars made in America, Europe, Japan and South Korea, but not in China.Based on the fact that Chinese seat frames are design for steel and plastics, attention of the present study were focused on two main issues for the R&D of Mg seat frame as follows:Firstly, Mg seat frame was deigned and the service stress distribution was determined by finite element analysis. Based on the results obtained, the seat frame was redesign with full consideration of the processing characteristics of magnesium alloy, followed by preliminary design of casting process.Secondly, the melt flow, die-filling behavior, solidification process and processing quality distribution were visualized by computer numerical simulation. Based on the results obtained, the casting process parameters and the runner system configuration were validated and optimized in the light of production efficiency and service life of casting mould.As a result of above R&D activities, Mg seat frame with ensured performance and casting capability were developed to lay a sound base for its production and application. Currently, the die-casting moulds of the developed Mg seat framework are in production. It is expected that the first patch of Mg framework castings to be produced before the end of this year. |
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