OPTIMA - Optimisation of a chrome-free pre-treatment process for lightweight alloy components

汽车原始设备制造商越来越多地使用铝是由于其高强度重量比，在取代较重的材料时，可以大大提高燃油经济性并减少二氧化碳排放。然而，材料的变化对连接的设计和方法提出了新的挑战。在粘接前对Alsurface进行预处理是延长使用寿命的关键。航空航天工业成功采用的预处理不能用于汽车生产，因为汽车生产需要更便宜和更环保的预处理。具体来说，铬酸盐的使用是不可接受的。因此，有必要开发不含铬的预处理，以始终提供所需的性能水平，同时在一般工程实践和经济方面都是可接受的。因此，OPTIMA将证明在我们的轻量化合金无铬预处理过程中实施在线无损检测的技术可行性，以提供过程控制和保证，我们可以达到客户所要求的性能水平。

The increasing use of Al by vehicle OEMs is driven by its high strength to weight ratio, enabling substantiallyimproved fuel economy & reduced CO2 emissions when substituted for heavier materials. However, the changeof material presents new challenges with respect to design & methods of joining. The pre-treatment of the Alsurface prior to bonding is the key to long service life. Pre-treatments successfully employed by the aerospaceindustry cannot be used in automotive production, where cheaper & more environmentally friendly pre-treatments are required. Specifically, the use of chromates is unacceptable. Hence, there is a need to developchromate-free pre-treatments that will consistently provide the required level of performance, whilst beingacceptable both in terms of general engineering practice and economy.OPTIMA will therefore prove technical feasibility of implementing in-line NDT within our chrome-free pre-treatment process for lightweight alloys to provide process control and assurance that we can achieve the levelof performance required by our customers.