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Information is presented on the conceptualization, experimental study, and numerical process simulation of tailor heat treated aluminum alloy blanks. This concept is intended to improve the forming behavior of aluminum parts in challenging conditions. The implementation requires precise control of laser heat treatment parameters within a suitable industrial framework. The study details material properties, heat treatment parameters, and experimental results for the strength and elongation properties of an AA6063-T6 aluminum alloy. Constitutive modeling is applied using the Hocket–Sherby equation, which allowed us to establish a correlation between laser heat treatment maximum temperature and the corresponding material softening degree. Based on the generated flow stress–strain curves, a numerical simulation of a representative case study was performed with Abaqus finite element software highlighting potential improvements of tailor heat treated blanks (THTB). The influence and effectiveness of heat-affected zone (HAZ) dimensions and material softening were analyzed. Full article

The automotive industry is interested in manufacturing components with tailored mechanical properties. To this end, advanced heating treatments can be exploited to obtain the so-called Tailored Heat-Treated Blanks (THTB). However, mechanical properties are strongly affected by the process parameters of heating treatments, which require a preliminary design. Physical simulation can be a decisive tool in this phase to obtain useful information at the laboratory scale, even when heat treatments such as those carried out with laser technologies impose high heating and cooling rates on the material. This work uses physical simulation to investigate the changes in strength and ductility caused by laser heat treatment (LHT) on aluminum alloys hardened by aging; the methodology was implemented on the EN AW 6082 T6 alloy. First, a finite-element (FE) transient thermal model was developed to simulate LHT by varying the process parameters (laser power/peak temperature and treatment speed). Second, the resulting thermal cycles were physically simulated by means of the Gleeble 3180 system. Third, the strength and the ductility of physically simulated specimens were evaluated through micro-hardness and tensile tests; to study aging effects, investigations were performed both (i) right after Gleeble tests (samples in the supersaturated solid state, i.e., as-physically simulated (APS) state) and (ii) after one week from Gleeble tests (aged specimens—T4 state). The obtained results show that there are peak temperatures that guarantee maximum softening levels for each investigated state (T4 and APS). The optimal peak temperature ranges are in agreement with the data in the literature, demonstrating that the proposed methodology is suitable for the study of softening phenomena on aging-hardened aluminum alloys. Full article

In many industrials field, especially in the automotive sector, there is a trend toward lightweight constructions in order to reduce the weight and thereby the CO₂ and NO_x emissions of the products. An auspicious approach within this context is the substitution of conventional deep drawing steel by precipitation hardenable aluminum alloys. However, based on the low formability, the application for complex stamping parts is challenging. Therefore, at the Institute of Manufacturing Technology, an innovative technology to enhance the forming limit of these lightweight materials was invented. The key idea of the so-called Tailor Heat Treated Blanks (THTB) is optimization of the mechanical properties by local heat treatment before the forming operation. An accurate description of material properties is crucial to predict the forming behavior of tailor heat treated blanks by simulation. Therefore, within in this research project, a holistic approach for the design of the THTB process in dependency of the main influencing parameters is presented and discussed in detail. The capability of the approach for the process development of complex forming operations is demonstrated by a comparison of local blank thickness of a tailgate with the corresponding results from simulation. Full article