12

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.STAMPINGJOURNAL.COM STAMPING JOURNAL an fma publication

R&D UPDATE
Editors Note: This is Part I of a two-part series that
discusses the forming of aluminum sheet for auto-
motive products. Part II, to appear in the March/
April 2013 issue of STAMPING Journal

, will
discuss the lubricants used in aluminum forming.
A
luminum is used extensively
for such automotive parts as
hoods, trunk lids, and doors
because of its light weight, workabil-
ity, and recyclability. and its market
share continues to increase.
Commonly Used Alloys
The 5xxx and 6xxx aluminum alloys
are used most commonly for auto-
motive applications. Their mechani-
cal properties for automotive body
sheets are listed in Figure 1, and
their specic properties and main dif-
ferences are shown in Figure 2.
The 5xxx alloys have ultimate ten-
sile strength of 125 to 350 MPa and
cannot be heat-treated. They have
relatively good formability and are
highly resistant to corrosion. How-
ever, 5xxx alloys are prone to the
formation of Lders bands during
forming, so they are used mostly for
inner-panel applications. 5182 and
5754 are the principal 5xxx series
alloys used in autobody panels. 5754
also is recommended for elevated-
temperature applications.
The 6xxx series alloys are heat-
treatable to reach ultimate tensile
strength of 125 to 400 MPa. The
alloys, especially 6022 and 6111,
often are used for outer panels since
they are precipitation-hardened and
free of Lders bands.
Design Guidelines and
Requirements
The key requirements for automotive
closures are panel bending stiffness
and dent resistance. The elastic mod-
ulus of aluminum (70 GPa) is about
one-third that of steel (210 GPa). As
a result, parts previously designed for
steel need to be redesigned to achieve
the same stiffness.
One way to improve stiffness in
aluminum is to increase the ribbing
used in the product or increase the
part thickness. For closures and
body-structure sheets, the thickness
should be increased by a factor of
about 1.45:
1

where: t = thickness
E = Youngs modulus
The resulting weight saving is
about 50%:
Another important design criterion
for aluminum alloys is dent resistance
for static and dynamic conditions. To
reach a static dent resistance com-
parable to steels, aluminum sheet
should meet the following thickness
requirement:
Where: t = thickness
YS = yield strength
Figure 3 shows the aluminum
sheet properties compared to those
of steel, based on dynamic dent resis-
tance studies.
Figure 4 shows the weights
of three different hoods made of
mild steel, high-strength steel, and
Al6016, respectively. For mild steel,
the reduction in weight is limited by
the dent resistance; for high-strength
steel, it is limited by local stiffness.
When the hood is made of Al6016,
its weight can be reduced by 50 per-
cent.
Critical Material
Parameters
Some critical parameters are different
for aluminum than steel, and they
affect formability:
Aluminum sheet forming
for automotive applications,
Part I
Material properties and design guidelines
BY TINGTING MAO AND TAYLAN ALTAN
Alloy
Mechanical Properties
Ultimate Tensile
Strength (MPa)
Yield Strength
(MPa)
Elongation
(%) n-value r-value
5000
Series
AA5022 275 135 30 0.3 0.67
AA5023 285 135 33 - -
AA5182 265 125 28 0.33 0.8
AA5052 190 90 26 0.26 0.66
AA5754 212 90 22 0.34 -
6000
Series
AA6022 275 155 31 0.25 0.6
AA6016 235 130 28 0.23 0.7
AA6111 290 160 28 0.26 0.6
Figure 1
The mechanical properties of several aluminum sheet alloys for automotive applica-
tions are shown here. Source: T. Sakurai, The latest trends in aluminum alloy sheets
for automotive body panels, Kobelco Technology Review, No. 28 (Oct. 2008).
t
aluminum
t
steel
= =
E
steel
E
aluminum
3
1.44
mass
aluminum
mass
steel
density
alu
density
steel
=
1.44
=
1.44
=
0.5
2.7
7.8
t
aluminum
t
steel
YS
steel
YS
aluminum
13 an fma publication STAMPING JOURNAL WWW.STAMPINGJOURNAL.COM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013
R&D UPDATE
Elastic ModulusWith an elas-
tic modulus one-third that of steel,
aluminum parts experience more
springback. This can be reduced by
increasing the blank holder force,
the amount of stretching, and sheet
thickness. The forming operation
must be optimized to ensure at least
2 percent stretch throughout the part
(see Figure 5).
FrictionFriction between the
tool and the aluminum sheet is
expected to be higher compared to
steel sheet because aluminum has a
surface roughness (Ra) from 0.25 to
0.38 micron. In comparison, the Ra
of steel sheet is about 0.63 to 0.88
micron. The smoother texture of alu-
minum requires dry, waxlike lubri-
cants.
FormabilityFor the stamping
of autobody parts, the lower form-
ability of aluminum compared to steel
can be offset to some extent by using
technology such as advanced adden-
dum design, local blank holder force
control with multiple-point hydrau-
lic cushions, or warm forming. Warm
forming using heated dies and heated
blanks has been investigated exten-
sively, and recent studies have shown
that the use of heated dies compli-
cates the process and increases costs.
Present R&D efforts are focused on
heating the sheet to warm forming
temperature while keeping the dies
at room temperature.
Researchers hope to establish a
practical and robust process that
increases the formability of alumi-
num sheet for forming more complex
parts with difcult geometries.S
Tingting Mao is a graduate research associate and
Taylan Altan is professor and director of the Cen-
ter for Precision Forming (CPF) at The Ohio State
University, 339 Baker Systems, 1971 Neil Ave.,
Columbus, OH 43210, 614-292-5063, www.
cpforming.org and www.ercnsm.org.
Notes:
1. The Aluminum Automotive Manual, version
2011, European Aluminum Association.
Figure 2
Properties and forming characteristics vary among the 5xxx and 6xxx alloys used for
manufacturing car body components. Source: I.J. Hirsch, Automotive trends in alu-
minum The European Perspective, Aluminum Alloys: Their Physical and Mechani-
cal Properties: proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Aluminum Alloys
(ICAA9), eds. B. Muddle, A. Morton, and J. Nie (Institute of Materials Engineering
Australasia, 2004).
Figure 5
Strains of at least 2 percent are neces-
sary when stamping aluminum to
reduce springback. Source: W. Thomas
and T. Altan, Saving weight with alumi-
num stampings Part II, STAMPING
Journal, July/August 1999, p. 84.
Figure 4
Automobile hood weight decreases substantially when Al6010 is used rather than
steel. Source: Design with Aluminum (European Aluminum Association, 2011).
Figure 3
This graph compares yield strength of
aluminum and steel based on dynamic
dent resistance studies. Source: Design
with Aluminum (European Aluminum
Association, 2011).

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Process Chain
AA6016
AA6111
AA5182
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Reference Steel Panel YS (MPa)
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Design Criteria Specication
Mild Steel
(YS = 200 MPa)
High-strength Steel
(YS = 300 MPa)
AI 6016
(YS = 150 MPa)*
Dent Resistance YS t
2
Cte t 0.8 t 0.65 t 0.92
Local Stiffness E t
2
Cte t 0.7 t 0.7 t 1
Weight (kg) 14 12.4 6.1
* After Deformation and Paint Baking