Once, one of my friends accidentally bumped into a Mercedes-Benz S-class parked on the side of the road and gave it a side door. After the event, I decided to repair the damage and found that the door was close to 20,000. Why? Because the 4S shop said that the S-class door is made of aluminum alloy, it cannot be sheet metal and can only be replaced.
To this end, I specifically consulted the manager of a fast-repair chain to see if the 4S shop refused to pay for the aluminum alloy cover in order to make money, and the answer was the same. That is, the aluminum alloy door panel can not be used for sheet metal.
However, I still have doubts about this. Can the aluminum alloy parts really not be repaired by sheet metal? So, I went to consult an old classmate of Audi 4S shop, and finally found a satisfactory answer, that is: aluminum alloy can be used for sheet metal, but the process difficulty and cost are high.
Below, let's talk about this in detail.
First of all, sheet metal is defined as: an integrated cold working process for sheet metal, including cutting, cutting, folding, riveting, splicing, forming and other steps.
So why is it that aluminum is not suitable for sheet metal? This is because the current sheet metal process of the 4S shop and the fast repair chain is shaped by the method of tapping, heating and quenching the steel plate. Compared with steel sheets, aluminum alloys have relatively small elasticity and low melting point, so it is difficult to shape them by the aforementioned means.
The elasticity of the aluminum alloy material is small, and it is severely deformed during the heating process, and it is difficult to perform secondary setting. Moreover, since the thickness of the aluminum plate is thicker than that of the steel plate, forcible repair may cause the surface of the aluminum alloy to rise or directly break. Therefore, the aluminum alloy body can not be repaired by the traditional sheet metal process.
How to repair aluminum alloy?
So, what kind of technology do you need to do sheet metal for aluminum alloy parts? In fact, the process itself is similar to the ordinary sheet metal in the process, mainly the difference in equipment.
Unlike sheet metal, aluminum alloys require a series of tools such as aluminum shaping machines, aluminum welding machines, and aluminum cutting machines. Moreover, the aluminum alloy body cannot be filled with pottery with conventional putty, that is, putty powder, and must be leveled with a special aluminum powder and a curing agent.
In order to save costs, some fast repair shops will directly fill them with putty powder. There is no visual difference after spraying, but the performance will decline after a long time.
Generally speaking, for some small deformations, they are manually tapped out and can't be pulled out directly with tools.
Therefore, for the damage of aluminum alloy parts, the general treatment method is: if it is only the flaw of the body cover, it can be treated by sheet metal; but if it is damaged by impact, or the structural parts of the body are damaged, then only Can be replaced.
