Numerical modelling of forming high strength aluminium

Abstract

In recent decades the developments of vehicle materials and technologies have been influenced by the environmental regulations. Reducing the mass of vehicles is important to reduce the air pollution emissions. In order not to break the safety standards with this reduction, the strength of the used materials should be increased. Nowadays the high strength steels have not enough formability, so the base materials of the vehicle need to be changed. The density of aluminium is significantly lower than that of steels, which is positive for weight reduction, but the strength of the traditional aluminium alloys is low, so it needs to be enlarged. However, due their different alloying elements and the rigid disperse precipitates phase they create, the ductility of high strength aluminium is not sufficient in most cases. The lower formability is a serious technical challenge for automotive engineers. The solution is in the newest dedicated FEM codes. With the help of these software the engineers can more easily plan the technical background of manufacturing a part, or making formability test in virtual environment without using specimen. Because of this, the objective of this paper is the numerical modelling of forming high strength aluminium.