As electric vehicle (EV) production continues to grow, manufacturers are demanding higher precision and greater efficiency when machining battery components. Thin-wall aluminum battery housings, in particular, present significant challenges due to their susceptibility to deformation during clamping.

In May 2021, BORUI developed a customized hydraulic chuck solution for a leading EV component manufacturer. By combining a three-jaw hydraulic power chuck, specially designed soft jaws, and intelligent automation features, the project dramatically improved machining accuracy, production efficiency, and product quality.

Customer Challenges

The customer specializes in the mass production of 6061 aluminum battery housings for new energy vehicles. While expanding production capacity, they encountered several critical machining issues.

The battery housing features an ultra-thin wall thickness of only 1.2 mm, making conventional hard jaws unsuitable. Excessive clamping force frequently caused deformation, edge chipping, and surface damage.

At the same time, the machining process required dimensional tolerances of ±0.02 mm and roundness of ≤0.015 mm, leaving very little room for positioning errors.

Production volume was equally demanding, with approximately 800 parts manufactured every day, requiring full compatibility with automated loading and unloading systems.

The existing workholding solution delivered only 89% production yield, while jaw replacement and changeover consumed valuable production time.

BORUI Custom Hydraulic Chuck Solution

To address these challenges, BORUI engineered a complete customized workholding system consisting of a precision hydraulic power chuck, specially designed soft jaws, and intelligent automation functions.

High-Precision Hydraulic Power Chuck

The foundation of the solution is a 210 mm hollow hydraulic power chuck designed for CNC turning centers.

The chuck body is manufactured from high-strength alloy steel and undergoes precision heat treatment to maximize rigidity while minimizing thermal deformation during continuous production.

Key specifications include:

• 210 mm hollow hydraulic power chuck
• High-strength alloy steel construction
• Heat-treated body for superior stability
• Repeat positioning accuracy of ≤0.005 mm
• Excellent rigidity for high-volume machining

Customized Soft Jaws for Thin-Wall Components

The most important part of the project was the development of customized soft jaws specifically designed for thin-wall aluminum battery housings.

Compared with standard jaws, the new design increases the contact area by approximately 40%, distributing clamping force more evenly across the workpiece.

The jaw surfaces are precision polished and feature anti-slip micro-textures, preventing scratches while ensuring secure clamping.

To further reduce deformation, the hydraulic system allows the clamping force to be adjusted between 500 N and 1000 N, enabling low-pressure clamping without sacrificing stability.

Advantages include:

• Fully enclosed three-jaw soft jaw design
• 40% larger contact area
• Precision-polished jaw surface
• Anti-slip micro-texture
• Adjustable clamping force (500–1000 N)
• Reduced deformation during machining

Intelligent Automation Integration

Since the customer’s production line relies heavily on automation, the chuck was designed for seamless integration with robotic systems.

A built-in clamping force sensor continuously monitors gripping pressure to ensure stable machining quality throughout production.

The chuck supports EtherCAT communication, allowing direct integration into automated production lines and robotic loading systems.

A quick-change positioning mechanism also reduces changeover time from 25 minutes to only 6 minutes, significantly improving production flexibility.

Automation features include:

• Real-time clamping force monitoring
• EtherCAT communication support
• Robot-compatible loading and unloading
• Quick-change positioning structure
• Fast product changeovers

Project Results

Following installation, the customized hydraulic chuck delivered substantial improvements in both machining quality and production efficiency.

The optimized soft jaw design completely eliminated clamping marks and significantly reduced workpiece deformation. Roundness consistently remained between 0.008 mm and 0.012 mm, comfortably exceeding the customer’s original specification.

Production yield increased from 89% to 99.2%, while machining cycle time was reduced by approximately 12%.

Daily output increased from 800 parts to 950 parts, and the automation rate reached 98%, reducing manual intervention by approximately 70%.

Performance Improvements

Customer Feedback

“BORUI’s customized hydraulic chuck completely solved our long-standing deformation issues when machining thin-wall aluminum battery housings. The machining accuracy is highly consistent, automation integration is seamless, and our overall manufacturing costs have been reduced by more than 20%. It has become an essential workholding solution for our EV battery production line.”

Conclusion

Thin-wall workpieces require more than a standard chuck—they require a workholding solution specifically engineered for precision, stability, and automation.

BORUI specializes in designing customized hydraulic chucks, soft jaws, power chucks, and complete workholding solutions for industries including new energy vehicles, aerospace, automotive, medical devices, and precision machining.

Whether your application involves thin-wall components, irregular shapes, or automated production lines, our engineering team can develop a customized chuck solution that improves machining accuracy, increases productivity, and lowers manufacturing costs.