The automotive industry of today is all over the world. At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States played a dominated role in car manufacturing. Nowadays, China is leading the vehicle production in the world. The market has been changed, so have the manufacturing technology.
Since the global market welcomed the launch of Model T Ford which ushered in the beginning of the automobile mass production era, the manufacturing processes of the automobile has been changed overwhelmingly. Today, speedy and automatic machines and robots have become rather common in car manufacturing. And the CNC prototype services are presently the very popular for machining prototypes and parts in the automotive industry.
Auto Parts that Commonly Produced By CNC Prototype Services
1. Car Engines
Lots of automakers are widely used CNC prototype services to produce some critical parts of the automobile internal combustion engine. For example, CNC machining is efficient and accurate in machining a large aluminum block into a cylinder block where the piston moves up and down. It can be really time-consuming to program the CNC machines, which requires high levels of professionalism and skill, but once ready, the machines can execute instructions automatically and speedily. In this way, many engine blocks can be processed sequentially without much labor involved.
2. Lighting
In the auto parts prototyping and manufacturing, the aluminum is the most commonly used material. But the other materials like acrylic glass and PMMA are also widely used to make other important components.
Using PMMA allows for machining prototypes of vehicle lighting parts, such as the headlights and interior lighting. Although the machined pieces require further processing such as grinding and polishing, the entire process is still much quicker than using traditional techniques while maintaining high levels of accuracy and quality.
Besides, PMMA, commonly known as a shatter-resistant alternative to glass, is also commonly used to produce fish tanks, windows, and transparent shields.
There are many other auto parts that can be efficiently made by CNC machining, including Bushings, Suspension Components, Fluid System Components, Carburetor Housing, Exhaust Parts, Valve Retainers, etc. Then, why should you use the CNC prototype services to create your car parts?
Advantages of CNC Prototype Services
1. Speed
Speed is one of the most critical reasons that many automakers look for CNC prototype services. In CNC machining, most processes are done automatically by programmed computers. If you are producing parts in large quantities, the advantage of CNC machining will be much more apparent as the instructions of the computers can be repeated as many times as you want.
Therefore, when there is only a single unit of the object you need to produce, using CNC machining can be a lot faster and more economical.
2. Precision
Many automakers favor machining prototypes by CNC also because of the high level of accuracy and precision delivered. In the computer-controlled manufacturing process, it is less likely to have an error occurring. It can deliver tolerance as fine as ±0.001, which is rather crucial for the automotive industry where demands the highest standards and finest tolerance. The malfunction of a critical part could cause several accidents for the driver.
3. Repeatability
In addition to fast production and high precision, CNC prototype services also provide high repeatability which means the same object can be manufactured multiple times without any inconsistency between them. Machining prototypes by CNC is proved to of great benefit for automakers who constantly demand large volumes of a single part.
In fact, CNC machining is more cost-effective in producing larger volumes as it is a less labor-intensive process. If the constant quality, cost-effectiveness, high precision, and fast lead times are your focuses, then CNC machining could be your ideal choice for creating your custom-made car parts.
Is the CNC Prototype Services Right to Your Project?
There are two common processes of making a prototype from a digital file. One is CNC machining; another one is 3D printing technology which includes FDM, SLA, SLS, and SLM.
When you are thinking about making a prototype, you may wonder about whether 3D printing has advantages over CNC prototype services? Then the following questions may help you decide:
1. What kind of car parts are you creating?
2. How is the geometric complexity of the object?
3. What material is involved, plastics or metal?
4. What’s the quantity you need to produce?
5. How fast do you need to get the prototypes?
If the speed and accuracy in the auto parts are important to you, then machining prototypes by CNC is right for you. If you need metal prototypes with complex shapes, then CNC machining is also more suitable. But if it is a small operation and a very simple metal shape, then CNC will not have a great advantage over 3D printing in cost and speed.
Today, in auto manufacturing, there are very few products made by hand as CNC machines provide high levels of precision and perfection. As technology advances constantly, more compelling features are sure to add to CNC machined parts and machining prototypes will become a lot faster, more accurate, and more economical.
Tuowei uses state-of-the-art 5-axis CNC machines and the latest CAD software to machine prototypes and parts for the automotive industry. We are your reliable partner in machining prototypes with complete accuracy, efficiency, as well as quality.