Electrical appliance manufacturing falls within the scope of mechanical manufacturing and is fundamentally based on three specialized categories of materials: magnetic materials, insulating materials, and electrical contact materials.
Development of New Materials
The development of new materials encompasses magnetic materials-such as high-magnetic-induction silicon steel sheets and rare-earth permanent magnets-as well as high-performance insulating materials like polyimide. It also includes electrical contact composite materials characterized by diversified alloy compositions and composite structures. While my country has approached international standards in certain low-voltage electrical contact materials, gaps still persist regarding eco-friendly materials (such as cadmium-free alternatives) and overall product reliability.
Development of the Mold Industry
The mold industry has experienced rapid growth and is now capable of producing precision multi-station progressive dies; however, a technological gap remains between China and developed nations concerning large-scale, high-precision, and complex molds. In the realm of cold stamping dies, domestic manufacturers are now able to produce sophisticated, multi-functional automatic lamination dies for iron cores-featuring capabilities such as automatic punching and cutting, stacking, riveting, counting, grouping, rotor core skewing, and safety protection. Regarding plastic mold technology, dimensional accuracy for plastic parts can now reach IT6–IT7 grades, surface roughness can achieve Ra 0.05–0.025 μm, and mold service life exceeds 1 million cycles.
Modern Design and Manufacturing Technologies
Modern design and manufacturing technologies-such as CAD/CAM/CAE, 3D design, and rapid prototyping/rapid tooling-are being widely adopted to shorten product development cycles. Integrated 3D computer-aided design systems combine design, manufacturing, and analysis functions; this allows designers to directly visualize potential interference or collisions during part assembly on a computer screen, as well as observe the motion of moving components and associated parameters during the closing and breaking operations of switching devices, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the design. Rapid prototyping and rapid tooling technologies have garnered significant attention and undergone substantial development within my country.
Core Manufacturing Processes
Other key manufacturing processes include high-speed automatic stamping of iron cores, with stamping rates reaching 200 to 1,200 strokes per minute; automatic coil winding, utilizing self-bonding, high-strength enameled wire or epoxy encapsulation resins; vacuum insulation casting-specifically, vacuum casting for large components and vacuum-pressure casting for smaller components; and the adoption of eco-friendly anti-corrosion treatment processes-such as DACROMET-to replace traditional electroplating methods.
Comparison of Domestic and International Standards
Through the introduction of technology and increased investment, our country has achieved a significant improvement in manufacturing capabilities; however, a gap still remains compared to international standards in areas such as the application of new materials, precision machining, and the utilization of modern manufacturing technologies.
