The existing variety of aluminium car body sheet alloys covers a wide range of property requirements. New developments concentrate therefore on the application-oriented design of aluminium sheet materials with bulk and surface characteristics which exactly fit the specific requirements of the envisaged component. The goal is an improvement of the functionality or weight reduction of the respective components and/or a simplification of the component manufacturing, assembly and/or surface finishing processes within the automotive industry with the objective to improve the cost-efficiency of aluminium applications in the automobile. The current aluminium alloy development activities are mainly based on the age hardening AlMgSi alloy system. An optical surface quality control system ensures that only top quality material is processed. For hood panels, shaped blanks of trapezoidal form or chevrons are used for improved material utilization. In addition, Novelis offers laser cut blanks of arbitrary shape with good edge quality which can be immediately fed into the stamping press. These blanks are produced on automatic laser cutting lines in the rolling mill and offer, in particular for small production volumes, significant cost savings since there is no need for the initial blanking step. Also, recovery of the process scrap is facilitated because the cut-offs can be easily recycled back into new sheets of the same quality and transportation costs are avoided. Just-in-time supply of the aluminium material is today an absolute necessity. Another important economical factor is scrap minimisation and optimum value conservation for the unavoidable process scrap (engineered scrap) produced in the press shop. Mixing of AlMg and AlMgSi alloy scrap should be avoided. Therefore it is essential to separate the scrap according to the alloy family for best value recovery. The better option is the adaptation of a 'uni-alloy' AlMgSi solution.
New aluminium sheet materials for lightweight car body design
Neue Aluminiumblechwerkstoffe für den Bau von Fahrzeugkarosserien in Leichtbauweise
2006
10 Seiten
Conference paper
English
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