en.Wedoany.com Reported - On May 18, the integral rocket tank dome developed by the High-Performance Precision Forming Team of Dalian University of Technology successfully entered batch production at Tianjin Yongxing Technology Co., Ltd. This is the world's first integral dome directly formed from thin sheet metal using an internationally pioneering cryogenic forming technology, requiring no machining and ready for direct use, marking China's rocket tank manufacturing technology as having entered the international leading ranks.
The propellant tank is the main structure of a rocket, and the tank dome is hailed as the rocket's "crown." It is not only subject to complex stress conditions and a core component critical to rocket reliability, but is also large and thin—akin to pressing a pot from paper-thin sheet metal, where the closed-section periphery is extremely prone to wrinkling, making it the most difficult component to manufacture.
Outside of China, tank domes are traditionally manufactured by forming multiple pieces and then welding them together. The numerous weld seams reduce the dome's reliability, and the production process involves as many as 20 steps, taking days or even dozens of days, which constrains rocket launch efficiency.
The High-Performance Precision Forming Team at Dalian University of Technology leveraged the anomalous "dual-enhancement effect" exhibited by aluminum alloys under cryogenic conditions to pioneer cryogenic forming technology internationally, fundamentally solving the worldwide challenge of concurrent cracking and wrinkling during the forming of ultra-thin aluminum alloy shells.
Using this self-developed cryogenic forming technology, the team directly formed an integral dome with a diameter of 2.25 meters from a sheet only 4 millimeters thick, ready for direct use without additional machining. This represents the first international technological leap from blank forming to net-shape product manufacturing for tank domes, eliminating multiple processes such as gore panel deep drawing, chemical milling, and assembly welding. It enables sequential forming akin to "making pancakes," achieving high dimensional consistency, shortening the production cycle by 90%, increasing material utilization to over 85%, and significantly reducing manufacturing costs.
On September 9, 2025, the integral dome was successfully applied in the launch of the CZ-7A Y14 rocket, standardized as the "cryogenic integral dome," achieving a dual revolution in tank structural design and manufacturing technology.
To accelerate technology implementation, Dalian University of Technology and Tianjin Yongxing Technology Co., Ltd. established a new model of deep integration driven by "university technology + enterprise capital," building the first production line for integral rocket tank domes using cryogenic forming. The batch production of the first integral domes signifies that the production line is fully capable of stable manufacturing, with an annual capacity exceeding 1,000 units.
The team has successfully achieved batch production of various aluminum alloy integral dome products with diameters up to 4 meters, while also researching and developing larger and higher-strength integral domes. With the unique advantage of combining high reliability and low cost, this is propelling China's large-scale, high-efficiency, and low-cost rocket manufacturing.
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