On February 7, 2014, athletes from all over the world will have to fight at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Preparations for the Olympic Games are in full swing. About 1300 medals have been produced for the award of the strongest athletes. Their unique design with a polycarbonate insert sets them apart from all previous awards. Olympic medals have always aroused great interest in any person, especially Olympic gold. Is the medal really made of gold?
The competition for the production of Olympic medals was won by Adamas, one of the largest enterprises in the country. To craft an Olympic medal, you need to complete 25 different operations.
Work begins in furnaces with the melting of silver ingots. The cast metal sheet passes through the rolling machine. Next, square plates with a size of 12x12 cm and a thickness of 12 mm are cut out.
The round billet is produced by a high-precision lathe. On the resulting washer with a diameter of 10 cm and a thickness of 1 cm, a milling machining center applies patterns, symbols and emblems of the Olympics.
On a wire-cutting machine, windows are cut out for polycarbonate crystals, the manufacturing accuracy is 1 micron. Then the medal is ground, cleaned from dirt and polished. Gold plating takes place in an electroplating bath. Each medal is branded by the state inspection.
Polycarbonate elements are cut on a CNC machine. The laser machine applies patterns according to a given program. The installation of polycarbonate elements in the grooves of the medal is based on the physical properties of the material. Under the influence of temperature, the contraction and then expansion of the polycarbonate elements occurs.
The entire manufacturing process takes 18 hours. The weight of the gold medal is 531 grams, of which 525 grams of 960 silver and only 6 grams of 999 gold.
The Olympic medal is not just an award. It is a distinction for the highest achievement in sports. A medal awarded to athletes who have won competitions at the Olympic Games.
