Hosted by the Implementation Management Office of the “High-end CNC Machine Tools and Basic Manufacturing Equipment” Science and Technology Major Project, and organized by AVIC Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute, Xi'an Aerospace Power Machinery Factory of Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, AVIC Aeronautical Special Equipment R&D Engineering Center, and AVIC Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Center, the Large CNC Powerful Spinning Equipment and Technology Application Promotion Conference was held in Xi'an on September 6. At the meeting, Wang Fuchang, inspector of the Equipment Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Cao Chunxiao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, spoke highly of the equipment.

　　The Best in Asia

　　On September 6, at Xi'an Aerospace Power Machinery Factory, originally a state-confidential unit, on the occasion of the acceptance of the SY-100L large vertical CNC powerful spinning machine equipment, the reporter observed on site the spinning forming process of large thin-walled parts.

　　“14 meters above ground, 3 meters underground.” The first impression this large machine gave the reporter was mighty. As a major participant in the manufacture of the equipment, Huang Guojun, deputy general manager of the Casting and Forging Sales Company of CITIC Heavy Industries Group, told the reporter from a professional perspective that although this equipment is not very large in volume compared with other large equipment products manufactured by the enterprise, its technical parameter requirements are very high. The successful development through multi-party participation over ten years shows its weight and gold content. Moreover, as a hundred-ton spinning equipment, it is not only unique in China but also can be called the best in Asia. At present, in this technical field, apart from the United States and Russia, only China can reach this level.

　　What does “ten years to sharpen a sword” mean? Zhang Jun, director of AVIC Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute, introduced that the development of large vertical CNC powerful spinning equipment mainly meets the manufacturing needs of large thin-walled revolving parts in aviation, aerospace, shipbuilding, nuclear industry, chemical industry and other industries. In order to solve the manufacturing bottlenecks of high-thrust launch vehicles, missiles, aircraft engines, etc. urgently needed for national defense, promote the application of spinning structural parts in large aircraft, aircraft engines, missiles and large pressure vessels, and fill China's strategic gap, in 2001, Xi'an Aerospace Power Machinery Factory launched the development project of large CNC powerful spinning machine tools. In early 2004, it formally signed an equipment development contract with AVIC Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute. The project was listed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the 2011 annual project of the national “High-end CNC Machine Tools and Basic Manufacturing Equipment” science and technology major project (hereinafter referred to as the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project”). With the strong assistance of relevant component manufacturing units such as Zhejiang University, Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group Co., Ltd., CITIC Heavy Industries, and JIER Machine-Tool Group, AVIC Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute and Xi'an Aerospace Power Machinery Factory overcame various difficulties and achieved final assembly at the user site in November 2011, completed static, dynamic and functional debugging of the equipment in November 2012, and began trial spinning.

　　Up to now, after more than half a year of spinning process tests, it has been shown that the equipment has high overall structural strength, good rigidity, high control precision, and advanced functions such as synchronous feed, staggered spinning, and intelligent adjustment of spinning force. Its overall performance is superior, and the various performance indicators of the spun parts meet the user's requirements. Its roller thrust and the size of parts that can be spun are the best in Asia.

　　Wang Decheng, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Machinery Science and Technology, spoke highly of the success of the equipment. He said that it is a new breakthrough from scratch in spinning equipment for the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project” after the 36,000-ton extrusion press and the 80,000-ton forging press. The successful development of the project has achieved two major breakthroughs in process and equipment. The first is the breakthrough in process. If two years ago, the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project” achieved breakthroughs in extrusion process and forging process, today it has achieved a new breakthrough in spinning process. This is an important realization of the main research goal of the large CNC forming theme of the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project”.

　　The breakthrough in equipment is mainly reflected in: it will strongly support the special project's needs for forming large thin-walled revolving parts in the four major fields of aerospace, shipbuilding, power generation and automobiles. The “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project” was originally aimed at the four major fields of aerospace, shipbuilding, power generation and automobiles. It should be said that this equipment has clearly broken the constraints of foreign technology blockades on the development bottlenecks of the above four fields, made up for the shortcomings of existing forming processes and equipment, and enhanced the coverage capacity of large complex precision forming equipment.

　　User-Driven

　　Looking back on the ten-year development process, the experts involved in the equipment development all lamented that the large vertical CNC powerful spinning equipment has the characteristics of high precision of CNC machine tools, strong rigidity and heavy load of heavy machine tools, etc. It is difficult to survey and initiate the project, difficult to design, has high precision requirements, complex structure, difficult procurement of key parts, oversized component dimensions, difficult manufacturing, difficult coordination among various units and departments, difficult assembly, difficult inspection, difficult debugging and spinning, and difficult funding. The cycle has been constantly adjusted, and huge challenges are faced in every link. The successful development of the large vertical CNC powerful spinning machine marks that China's development in the field of manufacturing technology for large thin-walled revolving metal structural parts has reached a new height, and it is the result of industry-university-research-application collaboration.

　　In addition to the breakthroughs in process and equipment, Wang Decheng told the reporter that the breakthrough of the project is also reflected in the fact that it will become a successful example of the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project” adhering to the industry-university-research-application cooperation model. In this equipment, there are many technical cooperations, including large castings and forgings, hydraulic control, etc. Each exists as a separate technology and meets the volume of a “topic”; all are challenges, and it should be said that all are challenges to extreme manufacturing. Under the suggestion of the Special Project Office and the full organization of the lead unit, the cooperative advantage of industry-university-research-application has been formed.

　　Wang Decheng also believes that after 10 years of reserves, finally achieving a breakthrough under the support of the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project” once again proves the necessity and core role of the national major special projects, especially the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project”, in the development of strategic emerging industries such as national defense and military industry. High-end technology is not achieved overnight; it requires long-term preparation and cannot be separated from national support.

　　Wang Fuchang agreed with this. He said that in the implementation process of the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project”, continuous exploration, improvement and adjustment have mainly emphasized four aspects. First, demand-driven. The topics included in the special project must be urgently needed for national economic and national defense construction, not for completing a certain indicator.

　　Second, close integration of industry, academia, research and application, especially the close integration of manufacturers and users. Because manufacturing enterprises are not familiar with user needs and process issues, most of the topics currently arranged are led by users.

　　Third, the combination of main machines with functional components such as CNC systems and cutting tools. Although domestic CNC systems and functional components still have certain gaps in practical applications, especially some equipment researched in major special projects are relatively high-end, we emphasize giving opportunities. Every topic requires the participation of CNC systems and functional components. Only in this way can domestic functional components be “brought along”.

　　Fourth, emphasize “use”. Current topics require users to use them for at least half a year. No development can guarantee 100% success, so use is very important.

　　Wang Fuchang said that the “04 CNC Machine Tool Special Project” has been implemented for five years and is currently undergoing mid-term evaluation to clarify the focus of the next step. He hopes that relevant enterprises will actively participate and offer suggestions for the implementation of the special project, especially enterprises in aerospace and other fields, and put forward suggestions for the development of related equipment urgently needed by the country such as aerospace.