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Crash resistant aluminum alloy sheet products and method of making same

a technology of aluminum alloy and sheet products, applied in the field of aluminum alloys, can solve the problems of poor bending performance, surface irregularities and water staining that are unacceptable for outer auto body applications, and achieve good as-processed formability and shape, good crashworthiness and strength

Inactive Publication Date: 2005-01-06
ARCONIC INC
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  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention controls alloy compositions and quench rates to produce aluminum alloy sheet products exhibiting good as-processed formability and shape, and good crashworthiness and strength in the artificially aged condition.
A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of treating an aluminum alloy sheet, the method comprising providing a heat treated aluminum alloy sheet comprising Si, Mg, Mn, and the balance aluminum and incidental impurities, and slow quenching the heat treated aluminum sheet at a rate of less than about 200° F. / second.

Problems solved by technology

However, rapid water quenching often results in distortion, surface irregularities and water staining that are unacceptable for outer auto body applications.
Air quenching offers many advantages over water quenching with respect to eliminating quench distortion problems, but air quenching can lead to poor bending performance.

Method used

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  • Crash resistant aluminum alloy sheet products and method of making same
  • Crash resistant aluminum alloy sheet products and method of making same
  • Crash resistant aluminum alloy sheet products and method of making same

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Embodiment Construction

The present invention provides aluminum alloy sheet products having favorable crash resistant properties. As used herein, the term “sheet” refers to aluminum alloy products having thicknesses from 0.2 to 6.3 mm. For auto body sheet products, thicknesses of from 0.7 to 3.5 mm are preferred. The aluminum alloy sheet products exhibit favorable crash resistance or crashworthiness properties. For the purpose of this invention, crashworthiness is defined as the ability of a material to absorb energy by plastic deformation without appreciable cracking. The crashworthiness of the sheet products can be quantified by critical fracture strain (CFS).

A preferred process path includes the following steps: casting of an aluminum alloy ingot by conventional or continuous methods; hot rolling; intermediate annealing; cold rolling; solution heat treating; and slow quenching, e.g., air quench or minimum distortion water quench. The steps of solution heat treating and slow quenching preferably occur...

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Abstract

Aluminum sheet products having high strengths and favorable crashworthiness are disclosed. The aluminum alloys include Si, Mg and Mn in controlled amounts which provide high yield strengths while retaining formability and crash resistant properties. The sheet products undergo heat treatment and slow quenching. The sheet products are particularly suitable for use as auto body sheet products.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to aluminum alloys, and more particularly relates to aluminum sheet products in which alloy compositions and processing methods are controlled in order to produce improved crash resistance properties. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of aluminum sheet in automotive applications has generally been limited to Aluminum Association 6xxx alloys (Al—Mg—Si) for outer panels and 5xxx alloys (Al—Mg) for inner panels and structural members. In order to maximize the weight savings potential of aluminum, it is desirable to replace relatively low strength 5xxx alloys in the structure with higher strength 6xxx alloys. However, a shortcoming of existing 6xxx auto body sheet (ABS) alloys is their ability to absorb energy during crash situations. This is generally termed crashworthiness. Autobody sheet requires a combination of good forming properties along with good strength after paint baking operations. The forming properties require good...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): C22C21/02C22F1/00C22C21/04C22C21/06C22C21/08C22F1/05
CPCC22C21/02C22F1/05C22C21/08
Inventor BUTLER, JOHN F. JR.BRICHET, CLAUDE E.SAENZ DE MIERA, VINCENTE MARTINYEH, JIEH-REN
Owner ARCONIC INC
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