The solid solution heat treatment furnace for medium and heavy aluminum alloy plate is the high-end and high-precision equipment necessary for pre-stretched plates for aircrafts, vessels and weapons, which are used for the solid solution hardening of 7xxx, 2xxx and 6xxx medium and heavy aluminum alloy plate of high property and surface quality required by aviation and aerospace. It has always been controlled by foreign companies because the equipment has high technical contents and challenges of research and development.
In response to the major demands for aluminum alloy high-precision heat treatment equipment, the R&D teams of State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation at NEU and Guangxi Advanced Aluminum Processing Innovation Center have cooperated with the companies such as AlnanAluminiumlnc., Guangxi AlnanAluminium Processing Co. Ltd, etc. to carry out the arduous scientific and technological researches with the support of the national key special projects of high-quality development. The project focuses on overcoming the two major technical problems of “R&D and construction of high-precision heating and high-surface-quality equipment systems” and “R&D and construction of high-uniformity and low-quenching-deformation equipment systems”. It will make the breakthroughs on five aspects: the high-speed hot air heating system of high-precision roller hearth furnace, high-density metal brush rollers, high-uniformity heating devices and systems, large-scale overall high-performance homogenizing cooling systems, rapid heating and cooling mechanisms, and finally realize the fully independent and domestic manufacturing of the core components of equipment.
On the afternoon of April 16, 2020, the first domestically-made high-precision medium and heavy aluminum alloy plate roller hearth furnace was ignited and hot tested in Nanning, marking that the project achieved the phased results.
The high-end and high-precision aluminum heat treatment complete equipment project is one of the national key special projects of high-quality development, including the development, engineering, promotion and application of the three sets of equipment i.e. the profile hearth furnace, the roller hearth furnace for medium and heavy plates and air cushion furnace for thin plates. As the project leader, Professor Wang Zhaodong of Northeastern University hopes to work together with domestic enterprises and experts in the field of non-ferrous processing in the process of project development and engineering to solve the key equipment technical problems in the development of domestic production line complete equipment of high-quality aluminum alloy plate, strip and profile heat treatment. They will try to make the equipment reach the domestic leading and international advanced levels, fill in the domestic gaps, promote the technological progress in this field, reduce the manufacturing cost of high-end and high-precision aluminum alloy products, achieve its independent control, and promote the application of domestic high-end and high-precision aluminum alloy products in the manufacturing of automobiles, aerospace, high-speed rails and vessels.
The project of roller hearth furnace for medium and heavy plates is another important achievement of the national key special project of high-quality development, which is one of the projects of the first major equipment for high-end and high-precision aluminum and Guangxi’s “Double Hundred and New” industry completion projects. It is strongly supported by the relevant departments of the state and autonomous region. Moreover, it demonstrates the implementation of the guiding principles from General Secretary Xi Jinping’s major policy addresses as well as the joint efforts from several parties such as the relevant units in Nanning, State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation at NEU, Guangxi Advanced Aluminum Processing Innovation Center，GuangxiAlnanan Aluminum Processing Co. Ltd, etc.
