Light-metal extrusions are widely used as frame-structure elements. Joining these profiles via screw coupling is a challenging task due to the small wall thickness of the extrusions and the missing accessibility within a frame structure. The combination of flow drilling and thread forming offers a possibility to cope with this task. These processing techniques allow the manufacture of stable threads in thin-walled structures with the profile accessible from one side only. Nowadays, aluminium profiles can be continuously reinforced through composite extrusion. Mechanical properties, like increased tensile strength compared with homogeneous profiles, make reinforced profiles preferable for applications such as safety-relevant components. However, the reinforcement can seriously affect machining processes as well as the machining results. Therefore, the flow-drilling operation, the thread-forming operation, and the process results have been analysed in detail with a new, difficult-to-machine material combination, namely steel-wire-reinforced aluminium extrusions. The crucial factor when machining lightweight extrusions are the forces acting perpendicular to the thin walls, so the influence of the reinforcement and the processing parameters on the feed force during flow drilling is presented. To examine the effect of the reinforcement on the thread-forming result and to quantify the benefit of flow drilling, the threads are stressed with a defined tensile load until failure.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Flow drilling and thread forming of continuously reinforced aluminium extrusions


    Contributors:
    Engbert, T. (author) / Heymann, T. (author) / Biermann, D. (author) / Zabel, A. (author)


    Publication date :

    2011


    Size :

    10 Seiten, 10 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 14 Quellen



    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




    Aircraft aluminium extrusions

    Emerald Group Publishing | 2000


    Aircraft aluminium extrusions

    Emerald Group Publishing | 2000


    Aluminium Extrusions for Shipbuilding

    Siegrist, M. / Aluminum Association | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997


    Powder extrusions of aluminium alloys

    Schaeffler,P. / Alulight International,AT | Automotive engineering | 2009


    Aluminium extrusions for suspension arms

    Sato,S. / Enomoto,M. / Kato,R. et al. | Automotive engineering | 1998