Aluminum is key to the sustainable automobile. Beijing Benz Automotive relies on the technologies of Oerlikon Balzers when punching and casting the metal.
In the land where iron was born, metal stamping is being reinvented.
You might not think that automotive origins would be uncovered in archaeological sites whose artifacts date to the 5th century BC. After all, this is the century when Pheidippides ran 42 kilometers from Marathon to Athens – a distance he could have covered much faster if he’d had access to a rental car. But in that same era, the ancient Chinese had already processed iron, and they went on to invent the method for making steel. We couldn’t get behind the wheel or onto the highway today without the work of those pioneering ironworkers.
And speaking of pioneers: You also might think of cars as an early 20th century invention. But in fact, the first motorized (“horseless”) carriage appeared in 1886 – the work of two German gentlemen named Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler.
Given those twin histories of innovation, it’s no surprise that automotive R&D thrives at Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd., a Mercedes-Benz subsidiary. Today, the company’s priorities include initiatives that promote environmental protection. Major OEMs have issued requirements for vehicle weight reduction as a means of increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. To comply with those demands, the company must reduce the weight of sheet metal parts as much as possible without compromising rigidity and strength.
The obvious material to achieve these goals is aluminum, but the company faces many challenges in developing this solution. “These changes will place high requirements on molding, such as the molding of aluminum alloy,” says Li Shanshan, Stamping Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering. “The relevant parameters may not simply be copied from the existing parameters for steel molding. We need to start all over again.”
