Chinalco Southwest Aluminium Successfully Developed 5m Giant Aluminum Alloy Rings

Recently, a letter from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Group's Institute of Launch Vehicle Technology, the hospital successfully manufactured a new generation of large-scale carrier rocket tank structural frame parts using Southwest Aluminum's newly developed 5-meter giant aluminum alloy ring. The giant aluminum alloy ring produced by Chinalco Southwest Aluminum fully meets the requirements of subsequent processing, completely ending the history that China cannot produce super-sized aluminum alloy giant rings, and it is of great significance to the development of China's aerospace science and technology industry.

Large aluminum alloy rings are the key connectors for launch vehicles. With the rapid development of China’s aerospace industry, large-thrust rockets are in urgent need of 5m mega-aluminum alloy rings, which is an important part of restricting the success of large-thrust launch vehicles. The development of 5-meter-thick mega-aluminum alloy rings is extremely difficult and requires high equipment conditions, technical solutions, and production organization. In particular, in order to meet the requirements for large-scale, high-precision thin-walled special-shaped structural parts to be subsequently machined, nearly stringent requirements are imposed on the control of the integrated mechanical properties and residual stresses of the rings.

In order to meet the urgent needs of major national models, the company has raised funds and fully supported the construction of a 5-meter super-sized aluminum alloy ring production line in the company's science and technology fund. A single item supports the development of a 5-meter giant ring. Southwest China has overcome many difficulties, created a processing technology with independent intellectual property rights, and successfully developed a 5m super-large aluminum alloy ring with low residual stress and high overall performance. This is a new generation of large-scale carrier rocket tank structural parts for subsequent processing. The foundation has been laid and important contributions have been made to the smooth progress of the development projects for high-thrust rocket launchers.