The olefin carbon aluminum alloy ingot was successfully rolled off the production line of the SHXT olefin carbon metal matrix composite engineering company, marking the success of the pilot test of this composite material. This is also the first fist product launched by the Shanghai Graphene Industry Technology Functional Platform. It solves the problem of the traditional aluminum alloy's weak stiffness, and helps China's aviation, high-speed rail, and automotive high-end manufacturing fields enter the lightweight era.
With the concept of low carbon, green, energy saving and emission reduction becoming popular, lightweight has become an inevitable development direction in the high-end manufacturing field. Aluminum alloys have become more and more widely used due to their low density, high specific strength, and easy processing. , Aircraft, high-speed rail, etc. have all put on aluminum alloy "outerwear." For example, the domestic large aircraft C919 uses aluminum-lithium alloy for weight reduction, and aluminum-lithium alloy accounts for 7.4% of the body structure.
"Clothing" is light, but it has the disadvantage of being easily deformed. The reason is that the rigidity of aluminum alloy is not enough. In the industry, various materials are used to supplement the strength. Aluminum-lithium alloys and aluminum-ceramic alloys are the development direction. The addition of new reinforcing phases such as carbon nanotubes and graphene to form aluminum-based composite materials is generally more promising. Professor Zhang Huan, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, said that carbon nanotubes and graphene have excellent mechanical properties. Their density is only 1/6 of that of steel, but their strength exceeds 100 times that of steel. The stiffness is the hardest natural diamond in nature. Close. As long as a small amount of carbon nanotubes and graphene are uniformly dispersed in the aluminum alloy matrix, it can partially replace expensive alloy elements, and can greatly improve its mechanical properties such as strength and rigidity while maintaining the good processability of aluminum alloys. .
Prospects are promising, but this technological route has been slow to progress. As early as 1997, Japanese scientists began research on carbon nanotube-reinforced aluminum-based composites, with little success in the past decade. Zhang Huan said: "The diameter of carbon nanotubes is less than one thousandth of the hair, and the thickness of graphene is less than one hundred thousandth of the hair. We need to disperse them one by one in an aluminum alloy. It is really difficult not to be damaged by damage. "
Zhang Huan is good at asking inspiration from nature. He borrowed the shell structure of "mother of pearl" and finally developed the unique bionic composite technology of "micro-nano lamination powder metallurgy": first, aluminum is made into micro-nano flake powder. It is then uniformly compounded with carbon nanotubes and graphene into "bricks" on a microscopic scale, and then through process control, it forms a "brick-type" laminated olefin-carbon-aluminum-based composite material like a barrier wall.
The results of the laboratory will eventually be used. In order to follow the path of scientific and technological achievements transformation, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Shanghai Graphene Industry Technology Functional Platform form SHXT Carbon Metal Matrix Composite Engineering company, and product trials begin. . In order to accommodate the core equipment of the project, the graphene platform provided a 600-square-meter, 11-meter-high factory building for the project, and the foundation and circuits were modified. They have also selected from the world's various graphene powders the most suitable for addition to aluminum alloys. So far, the engineering center has formed a pilot production line with an annual capacity of 20 tons, which can prepare ingots with a unit weight of 0.5 tons, and has developed a series of high-modulus olefin carbon aluminum alloys such as medium-strength, high-strength, and ultra-high-strength.
Zhang Huan said that olefin carbon aluminum alloy has complete intellectual property rights from technical preparation to production equipment. It is expected that the weight reduction of active aluminum alloy components can reach 10% to 30%, and the benefits of light weight are very significant. The technology level and comprehensive performance are world-wide. Lead. Liang Yong, general manager of Shanghai Graphene Industry Technology Functional Platform, stated that the Engineering Center has cooperated with domestic application units such as AVIC, China Aerospace Science and Technology, China National Automobile Corporation, etc. Application verification on trains, new energy vehicles and other equipment. In the next step, the olefin-carbon metal-based composite materials engineering center will further integrate the advantageous resources of both parties, connect with Shanghai's advantageous industries, accelerate the application research and development and promotion, and take the lead to realize new olefins. Priority breakthrough for aluminum alloy materials.