Tensile Behaviour of 6082 Aluminium Alloy Sheet under Different Conditions of Heat Treatment, Temperature and Strain Rate

Abstract

Aluminium alloys are more and more important for the automotive industry due to their high strength to weight ratio and their elevated ductility; they are used for many different parts in automobiles as exterior panels, structural parts, brake housings and others. However, their formability at room temperature is limited. This inconvenient can be improved by increasing the forming temperature of the part. That lack of formability has lead to this research project dealing with the tensile behaviour of aluminium alloys sheets, at different conditions of temperature and strain rate. The analyzed material has been 6082 aluminium alloy, under two different heat treatment conditions (O and T6). Material testing has been carried out in a temperature range between room temperature and 250°C, and a strain rate range between 0.001s-1 and 0.1s-1. Testing samples have been obtained from laminated sheet of 1.5mm thickness. This article shows that the alloy under T6 condition has a reduced formability, even in warm conditions. In order to get higher deformation values an annealed condition is proposed to form the material. The effect of T6 heat treatment and O annealing treatment in the uniaxial warm formability is discussed and a microstructural analysis is also presented in order to understand the differences on the alloy behaviour.