Abstract
Automotive crash boxes require a material selection with strength and ductility in a balanced combination. In this work, the behaviour of double-chamber AA6063 and AA6082 aluminium profiles subjected to quasi-static and dynamic axial crushing was studied experimentally. The profiles were stretched to two different levels between extrusion and artificial ageing to temper T6. The higher pre-stretch resulted in a more ductile material with a slightly lower ultimate tensile strength. By visual inspection and by studying X-ray Computed Tomography scans of the tested profiles, dynamic loading was found to cause a larger amount of fracture than quasi-static loading.
Highlights
Due to a high strength-to-weight ratio combined with high ductility, aluminium alloy components have good specific energy absorption ca pacity and are often used in energy absorbing structures that require low weight
Little differ ence is seen when comparing the strain at necking for the inner wall specimens and the outer wall specimens for AA6063, while the inner wall specimens of AA6082 has a lower strain at necking than the outer wall specimens
The results indicate a higher energy absorption for the 4% pre-stretched AA6082-profiles than for the 0.5% pre-stretched profiles in the dynamic case
Summary
Due to a high strength-to-weight ratio combined with high ductility, aluminium alloy components have good specific energy absorption ca pacity and are often used in energy absorbing structures that require low weight. With an ever increasing focus on safety and fuel efficiency of cars, lightweight energy-absorbing components are relevant in the automotive industry. Fracture and energy absorption are closely coupled, as fracture may alter the deformation mode and the energy dissipated in material deformation [1,2]. Some studies report that incipient fracture has no detectable effect on the global response nor the energy absorption of thin-walled profiles [3,4]
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