Industrial Subcontracting Sectors
Discover to this page the:
Know how, Key figures, Strengths and Innovations offered by industrial subcontracting’s trades:
Mechanical engineering
Forging
Surface treatments and thermal treatments Electronic subcontracting
Plastics Industry Fabrication, piping
Foundry
Moulds, Modelling
Cutting, Beating, Tools
Springs
Subcontracting innovations are to be found throughout the show
Forming metals in thin sheets
In sheet metal work the robotization of bending presses is becoming widespread. In stamping, process simulation is improving, with predictable shrinkage being taken into account in the design of tools. Direct, ‘under pressure’ monitoring is developing and beginning to be applied to machines with multiple dies. The first industrial application of adiabatic cutting and incremental forming are also beginning to appear.
Machining, Industrial mechanics
The architecture of the machines is being transformed to make the most of high speed machining and 5 axis control. Tilting systems, Twist heads, parallel kinematics… Tools and software are also adapting to new machining strategies: trochoid, drawing, toric milling sweeping… And for even greater productivity, the ancillary equipment is being robotized: loading/unloading, finishing, monitoring, packaging.
Forge
In a tight economy, companies strive to limit their spending on energy, hence the spread of the digital simulation of processes to optimize all the parameters and the development of transverse lamination techniques and closed die forging processes or ‘casting-forging’. Sometimes, thermal treatments are carried out ‘at temperature’…
Foundry
The range of design and investigation tools in this industry is becoming more and more extensive, as shown by the development of monitoring by tomography and ferro-magnetic noise or the simulations of pouring and solidification (thermomechanical analysis). Amongst the most striking process advances are the application of precision casting (particularly carapace) to larger and larger pieces or the use of thixomoulding or rheomoulding for alloys prepared in situ.
Metal treatments
Wet treatment software is becoming more sophisticated to optimize process choice and parameter control. Composite and multi-layer chemical spray deposition (Jetmetal) is developing. Trials are being carried out into the industrialization of dielectric breakdown (micro-arc) oxidation. The major new developments in dry treatments are ‘Solgel’, waterless electrolytic metal deposition (‘ionic liquids’), nanocrystalline deposition and spray coatings.
Mechanical fastenings
The problems of choice and the dimensions of assemblies are being solved by more and more powerful modelling. For screws it is necessary to enter into the equations the new parameters for the protective surface treatments that have replaced the banned chrome 6. The proliferation of multi-material assemblies also requires the development of innovative fastening systems that distribute the constraints as much as possible.
Fabrication, mechanical welding
Digital simulation and the sophistication of ‘sources’ are in full swing. It is possible to generate complex currents, predict the shape of baths, avoid any risk of sticking… Studies are being carried out to increase the industrial reliability of the welding of HLE steels or stainless austenitic substitutes. Similarly, hybrid welding, already applied to aluminium, is now being extended to steels. Ultrasound hammers (Solnats) improve seam finishing.
Processing of plastics and composite materials
New process simulation systems combine rheological and thermal analysis. Throughout the industry the emphasis is on process automation and the development of new materials. The result is the appearance of composites with thermoplastic matrices, nanocomposites offering very high resistance. There are also ‘intelligent’ biocompatible materials that remember shape, insulating, etc.
Electronic subcontracting
Inevitably, the subcontractors in this sector are the first to learn about and implement technical advances in electronics. Hence the increasing robotization of card transport, assembly, testing… Digital vision in all directions. Applied to the guidance of placement machinery, it increases the precision and the speed of component placement. There is also a growth in inline testing.
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