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In the field of automobile disk wheels, demands for aluminum wheels have been increasing for the reason of ride comfort and better appearance. And over 90 percent of luxurious passenger cars are equipped with aluminum wheels. This trend is spurred also by the demand for higher fuel efficiency for the cause of environmental protection, which calls for weight reduction of automobiles. This paper reports our research on manufacturing light-weight, high-quality aluminum cast wheels; covering the entire process from basic design to casting, and placing emphasis on the following three points. 1) Determination of optimum wheel configuration through computer simulation 2) Selection of optimum material composition 3) Optimization of the thin plate casting conditions Combination of the above technologies developed for the purpose of weight reduction resulted in the weight reduction of approximately 20% over the conventional aluminum wheels.

The technology for grinding camshafts and crankshafts with vitified bond CBN is discussed. The wheels have strong abrasive retention, long life and chip pockets which are easy to dress. There are advantages from two viewpoints. The first is the process can utilize a small-sized machine and reduced initial tool cost due to the use of wheels of the smallest diameter which is calculated taking machine and machining method into consideration. The second consideration is high-efficiency grinding technology using vitrified bond CBN wheels of concentration 150 and high-speed grinding technology.