Southwest Aluminum Provides Multiple Key Aluminum Alloy Materials For Tianzhou-3

On September 20, the Long March 7 Y4 carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft was successfully launched at the Wenchang Launch Center in Hainan.

In this launch mission, Southwest Aluminum undertook the development of multiple varieties and specifications of key aluminum alloy materials for rockets and cargo spacecrafts.

The aluminum alloy materials provided by Southwest Aluminum for the Long March 7 Y4 carrier rocket and Tianzhou-3 spacecraft include forgings, plates, profiles, pipes and other major categories with more than 10 specifications. They are mainly used for the main structures such as the connection frame, middle frame, end frame and surface of the spacecraft and the transition ring, adapter frame, tank and other key parts of the carrier rocket. Aluminum accounts for more than 60% of the total. The main structure aluminum frame of the shell of the Tianzhou-3 cargo cabin is 100% provided by Southwest Aluminum.

The key aluminum alloy materials required for the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft project have the characteristics of high metallurgical quality, high technical index requirements, multiple varieties and specifications, and large component sizes. Its manufacturing technology is the world's leading aluminum processing technology today.

In order to firmly guarantee the demand, Southwest Aluminum carried out in-depth process research and technological breakthroughs, effectively solved a series of process problems, achieved important scientific research results in melting, hot processing, heat treatment, etc., and overcame many key technical difficulties in material research and development and production. The comprehensive performance of the products has reached the international level, breaking the long-term foreign technology monopoly and successfully ensuring the high-precision and advanced aluminum material demand for the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft project.