Page 34 - MetalForming-Oct-2018-issue

Lubrication Challenges
Material Trends Illustrated—HSS and LW
Audi S1 Sportback
Materials in the body structure
Audi A8 L
Multi-material Audi Space Frame
Aluminium sheet Aluminum section Aluminum castings
Ultra-high strength steels (hot-formed) Magnesium Conventional steels
Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP)
Ultra-high strength steels (hot-formed) Conventional steels
Aluminum section
Audi Q7
Multimaterial body
Ultra-high strength steels (hot-formed) Conventional steels
Aluminum section
Aluminium sheet
Aluminum castings
Audi R8 e-tron
Multi-material body using Audi Space Frame principle
Sheet aluminium Cast aluminium Aluminum profile
Hot-formed steel CFRP
Fig. 2—Many vehicle manufacturers are incorporating more HSS and aluminum into their vehicle frames. (Figure courtesy of Houghton International)
back problems as HSS, along with high- er costs, McClure says. These factors had been holding back the use of alu- minum, but now that manufacturers are moving toward higher-strength materials, there is less of a barrier to using aluminum.
“Aluminum is expanding into more applications,” at least for some vehicles, says Dianne Carmody, Americas mar- keting director, global product man- agement adjacent businesses for Houghton International (Fig. 2).
Randy Sebastian, Houghton’s tech- nical program manager, research and technology, concurs. He says that some semi-truck manufacturers have reduced the weight of their diesel engines by 50 percent by going from cast iron to compacted graphite iron for their engine blocks, but that this material
is very difficult to machine. As a result, Sebastian says engine makers are mov- ing toward aluminum for their gasoline engines. Among them—Mitsubishi and Cummins, who already have begun introducing aluminum diesel engines. Other aluminum engines are in the prototype stage.
Fluids Evolve
As materials and alloys change, the processes for working with them must change as well. Fluid formulators are looking for fluids with long service life to reduce downtime and increase pro- ductivity. Their customers are going toward faster speeds, using smaller sumps. Everyone wants low-foaming fluids that do not stain, emulsions that remain stable in hard water and addi- tives that do not promote microbial
growth (while still complying with reg- ulations on allowable biocides). Not only that, but manufacturers are look- ing for compatibility with everything the fluid comes into contact with. “You have to look far downstream,” McClure says.
“All of the products have a place in the industry,” says Zhao. “North Amer- ican and Asian companies use more water-based fluids, but European com- panies also are starting to move away from straight oils and toward water- based fluids.
“Water-based fluids are complex packages, though, and require users to balance all the components,” Zhao continues. “Operations using high- strength materials generate more heat, and water-based fluids are better coolants than straight oils. Newer fluid
32 MetalForming/October 2018
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