Numerical and Experimental Investigations of the Production Processes of Coextruded Al/Mg-Compounds and the Strength of the Interface

Abstract

Due to a changing environmental awareness and the improved use of resources, the application of light-weight materials, such as aluminium and magnesium, becomes increasingly important and partially substitutes the utilisation of conventional materials such as steel. However, a widespread application demands a better understanding of these materials. This concerns production processes of semi-finished products and the products itself. Coextruded aluminium-magnesium compounds are investigated in the subproject B3 (“Experimental and numerical investigations of the interface behavior of Al-Mg compounds”) which is part of the special research area 692 – HALS at the Chemnitz University of Technology. These compounds are characterized by a very good weight-strength-ratio and allow a wide field of application, for example in automotive industry. The compounds are manufactured in extrusion processes. The interface which is developed during the production is of special interest and the investigation of it is a shared aim of the Department of Experimental Mechanics and the Department of Virtual Production Processes. The two main tasks are the extrusion process optimisation and the microstructural, mechanical and thermal examination of the semi-finished product. The following paper gives an overview of the performed investigations in this subproject.