Fatigue strength of a tensile-shear loaded clinched joint made from an al-5052 alloy sheet

The clinching process has been shown to be able to join dissimilar material sheets as an alternative to spot welding. In this study, monotonic and fatigue tests were conducted using tensile-shear specimens for an evaluation of the strengths of a joint. In the fatigue tests, an interface failure occurred. The fatigue ratio of the joint is 0.29, assuming a fatigue endurance limit at 2 x106 cycles. The maximum von-Mises stress of the joint at the load amplitude corresponding to the fatigue endurance limit is slightly higher than the yield strength of Al-5052 alloy. This indicates that the strength of the neck region is increased partially due to work hardening.

Arc Fusion Welding of Mg-Al2Ca-Added Al 5xxx Alloys

When casting ECO Al alloys, Mg-Al2Ca is used as a substitute for elemental Mg during the alloying process. Several previous studies have determined the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the ECO Al 5052 alloy. In this study, the weldability of the ECO Al 5052 alloy was determined. Gas metal arc welding was performed, and the resultant mechanical and metallurgical aspects of the welds in ECO Al 5052 alloy and commercial Al 5052 alloy were examined. In comparison to the commercial Al 5052 alloy specimen, the welds produced in the ECO Al 5052 alloy exhibited a very narrow heat-affected zone and were not softened through grain coarsening. Consequently, almost 100% joint efficiencies were observed in ECO Al alloy welds, in comparison to joint efficiencies of only 82% in conventional Al 5052 alloy welds.

Formability Enhancement of Al-Mg Sheet by Using Hydro-Mechanical Forming

Hydro-mechanical forming of Al sheet was investigated in the present study in order to fabricate automotive part having a complicated shape using Al 5052 alloy with a conventional formability which has been known to be quite lower compared to deep drawing steels. We have designed the hydro-mechanical forming in which Al sheet was drawn to a kind of preform step following gas blow forming for final accurate geometry. In order to judge a formability enhancement of Al sheet in terms of forming process, model geometry came from a practical automotive part which had quite depth with complicated curvatures, which was proven that a single sheet forming could not gave a successful part. Experimentally, we succeeded to make the model part with accurate dimension. The optimum forming conditions for respective forming steps were considered most important technical features of this hydro-mechanical. Also, the effort to avoid detrimental microstructure evolutions was given and discussed for a practical application.