This cast flow formed wheel is made with the highest level of design and engineering available in the world today. In this respect the process shares similar properties to those found in the forging process. To achieve the desired width, the wheels are stretched and compressed to improve the grain structure of the aluminum. Rated from 10 to 100 packages per minute depending on materials, application and machine configuration. The main difference is that the tool is not a roller, which moves along a specific contour.
Forged is pretty much always strongest, but flow formed wheels arent terrible. What is flow forming technology konig wheels konig wheels. Flowforming begins with a preform pressed, turned, drawn or forged being pushed onto a flowforming mandrel held by the main spindle with low tolerance. Friction stir welding can also be used for the production of aluminium. Flow forming services for medium to large metal parts and components. Preform,cnc flow forming machine, flow forming, forward flow forming, shear spinning,tube spinning,reverse flow forming. Winkelmann flowform technology is a subsidiary of winkelmann group, founded in 1898 by heinrich winkelmann and caspar pannhoff and still owned by the winkelmann family. Chair of forming technology, dortmund university, germany. Tectran corporation uses high power flow formed machine made by nihon spindle mfg. Facing the challenge of making the aluminum wheel ever lighter, for years the ronal group has successfully made use of flowforming, a technology that is popular in the oem sector.
Materials worked with include stainless steel, coldrolled and lowalloy steel, commercial and highstrength carbon steel, spring steel, and aluminum. The key difference between the original cast wheel and flow formed wheels is in the. Mises true strain for flow forming of splined steel wheels. This race inspired wheel design features a curved 5spoke y design with a deep outer rim inlay, and weight saving spoke pockets. Conflex, model cw160, continuous motion, flow thru shrink wrapper. In forward flow forming, a tailstock is used to fix the preform to the mandrel. The flow forming is based on the rolling roller spinning technology. In shear forming a reduction of the wall thickness occurs before the 1950s, spinning was performed on a simple. Flow forming is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies in wheel industry. Use of this new technology of casting and rim forming, is critical to drastically improve the material properties and strength of wheels. Manufacturing of lightweight components by metal forming. Flow forming of internally geared wheels is an innovative process that performs very well on low to medium production series. Flow forming is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies to enter the wheel industry. In shear spinning the area of the final piece is approximately equal to that of the flat sheet metal blank.
Our wheels are initially cast using our low pressure heat treated process increasing strength and durability. In shear forming a reduction of the wall thickness occurs. Gear flanges epicyclic gear star wheels gearbox shafts conveyor rollers printing rolls gear flanges air bag pr essur v ss ls shock absorber tubes conveyor rollers flow forming 1 advantages of the flow forming technology cost reduction assemblies replaced by parts made as single piece components reduced machining times increased. Experimental study of flow forming process parameters on. Wheels of destiny forged vs flow formed vs cast part. Ambit wheel s flow forming process all doss series wheels are produced by the flow forming method, which greatly improves strength and reduces the weight. In addition, enkeis rimrolled technology shapes the rim to improve material elongation without sacrificing the wheels hardness. The cast wheel is then transferred to the flow forming drum where a combination of heat and pressure applied by three hydraulic rollers compress, stretch and form the wheel barrel to a predefined th11tickness and desired profile.
The top countries of suppliers are south korea, china, and malaysia, from which the percentage of flow formed wheels supply is. Thus, in some cases, the weight of cast aluminium wheels is equal or only slightly less than a standard steel wheel without any styling. The forming operation was performed on a 3 roller cnc flow forming machine make. This is due to the long tool life and the simple mechanical implementation. Shear forming, also referred as shear spinning, is similar to metal spinning. As the flow forming is the non linear plastic deformation. An initial casting unique to flow forging technology is placed onto a steel rim and mold and prepped to be processed. During a flow forming process, a hollow metal blank, a tube, or a disk is fixed on a rotating mandrel and plastically deformed by one or more rollers due to the fact that the distance between the mandrel and axially moving rollers is at least in some areas of the workpiece smaller than the initial thickness of the workpiece. Runge runge 1516 l07 shear forming and flow forming 7. The flow forming or rim rolling technology is a specialized wheel production process that begins with. In flow forming of tubes, the work piece is held on the mandrel, the forming roller moves along the work piece axially to reduce the thickness shown in fig 2.
Below are some visual charts for you to see the drastic benefits as it relates to elongation and tensile strength vs a regular cast wheel. Flow forming is a well known technique to produce cartridge case, rocket nose cones, rocket launcher casing etc. Designed in san diego using the highest quality flowforming technology. Design of experiments doe is used only by five authors, who. Flowforming cylinder tube wft winkelmann flowforming. They still have some of the same benefits of a forged. The flowforming drum is heated and coated before the cast wheel is mounted, waiting to be formed. Flow formed means pretty much just the barrel of the wheel is forged, then the face is cast and the two are rolled or bolted together. During the precision machining process lowstress material areas are targeted and hardened to increase the yield stress without compromising the durability, safety and performance of the wheel.
The result is greater strength with a thinner wall and higher. During the precision machining process lowstress material areas are targeted and hardened to increase the yield stress without compromising the durability, safety and. Spinning is commonly known as a process for transforming flat sheet metal blanks, usually with axisymmetric profiles, into hollow shapes by a tool which forces a blank onto a mandrel, as illustrated in fig. Application and modelling of flow forming manufacturing. Available in prototypes to high volume production runs. Figure 6 steel wheels manufacturing process flowchart 11. True wheel aficionados, and especially those with a performance orientation, will also know theres also a hybrid wheel manufacturing method that produces a wheel that falls somewhere in between cast and forged called flow formed wheels. Flow forming requires a comfortable rivet gun that not only durable, but more importantly is easy to hang onto and control.
Flow forming technology wheel manufacturing process and benefits. We prefer and sell taylor pneumatic 4x and 5x guns, as well as rebuilt cleco e5 guns for flowforming. Flow forming is often used to manufacture automobile wheels and can be. Flow forming is arguably the most advanced manufacturing process to be brought into the wheel industry. Experimental procedure for warm spinning of cast aluminum. During the manufacturing process, pressure is applied to the wheel s inner barrel to stress and compress the aluminum for increased tensile strength. Basically hard plastic that can be set into a air hammer tool. Flow forming technology involves the application of pressure to the inner barrel of the wheel, while spinning and after it has been casted. The blanks are clamped rigidly against the mandrel by means of a tailstock and the shape of the mandrel bears the final profile of the desired product. Application and modeling of flow forming manufacturing processes for internally geared wheels. The pressure plate fastens the preform to the mandrel. Parts produced with this technology have to be rotationally symmetric.
The specifications of the machine are given in table 1. Flowforming begins with a preform pressed, turned, drawn or forged being pushed onto a flowforming mandrel held by the main spindle with. A wide variety of flow formed wheels options are available to you, there are 456 suppliers who sells flow formed wheels on, mainly located in asia. Since 1950, flow forming has been used to produce rocket nose cones, rocket motor cases, gas turbine components, and dish antennas in the aerospace industry. Flow one race spec creates stronger and lighter wheels using advanced flow forming technology. Typically, its not just poured in but also shaken and moved to eliminate air pockets during the forming process.
It is more about a potshaped tool with an incorporated forming shape. The elongation of the workpiece during forward flow forming is at the same direction with the relative axial movement of the rollers. Flow forming process ambit wheels flow formed series. Analysis and technology in metal forming 29 influence of strainrate i. First type is forward flow forming figure1 and it is used to form preforms which have a shape with one side is partially closed or fully closed.
The flow forming drum is heated and coated before the cast wheel is mounted, waiting to be formed. The rim barrel then experiences intense pressure, with specially designed hydraulic rollers stretching the cast aluminum wheel. This process stretches and compresses the aluminum. Pdf finite element analysis of the tube flow forming process.
The light weight rs05rr is made using enkeis matdura flow forming method. Thus, flow forming has significantly improved flexibility and accuracy in forming parts with large thickness variation. The blanks material is constrained to flow in an axial direction by the movement i. Flow forming is a process that decreases the weight of the wheel by reducing material thickness in low stress areas. Flow forming technology, one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies to the wheel industry, allows the final product to be lighter and stronger. Tectran corporation uses high power flow formed machine made by nihon.
Extensive heat and pressure is applied using three individual rollers to shape the aluminum to the rim mold. Second type of flow forming is backward flow forming figure2 and it is used to form preforms with a continous hole inside. The flow forming process, sometimes called flow forging, rotary forging, spun rim, or rim rolling, begins with a cast wheel that is loaded into a specialized machine that spins the wheel while pressing steel rollers against the rim area to pull the rim to. The ringprinciple is the best tooling concept to date. Casting takes molten aluminum and pours it into a mold that creates the wheel. Designed in san diego using the highest quality flow forming technology. One of maxion wheels customeracknowledged weight reduction production processes is flow forming for passenger car steel wheels. Flow formed, flow forming wheel production youtube. Flow forming technology has a great number of benefits. This process stretches and compresses the aluminum, which increases tensile strength. The flow forming process, sometimes called flow forging, rotary forging, spun rim, or rim rolling, begins with a cast wheel that is loaded into a.
Flow forming plastically deformation a hollow metal blank on a rotating mandrel by means of forces generated by a number of moving rollers figure 3. The next process cuts the weld sides that form a little bulge in both fronts of the piece, which. The wall thickness is maintained by controlling the gap between the roller and the mandrel. Flow forming technology is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies to enter the wheel industry. Konig has been producing flow formed wheels since 2010 and is always improving on the process and efficiency to improve the end product. Product jams in the forming area and or cutting head.
As a result, these stateoftheart, flow formed wheels feature enhanced shock resistance and load. There are three different construction types for aluminum wheels. Flow forming technology involves the application of pressure to the inner barrel of the. High performance, cast aluminum automotive wheels are increasingly being incrementally formed via flow formingmetal spinning at elevated. Finite element analysis of the tube flow forming process 231 w ong, c. Numerical investigation of the effect of process parameters during. The individually shaped rollers fortifies the barrel to the specified width and density allowing for a stronger wheel. Development of a dedicated cnc controller for wheel flow.