Abstract
In this work, the effect of the laser-material interaction on the formability of a superplastic aluminum alloy was investigated. In applications such as Tailor-Welded Blanks and in the manufacturing of very large components with a complex shape, laser welding combined with superplastic forming may be a very fitting industrial tool. Bead on plate tests were carried out in order to simulate the laser-welding process and then, free inflation tests were performed to evaluate the compatibility of these two processing techniques. The Al-Mg alloy used in this work has a very small grain size which ensures the superplastic behavior. With the aim of preserving this peculiarity, the following aspects on the formability were investigated: (i) the surface condition of the bead before the forming test (with and without the removal of the excess of metal); (ii) the effect of the travel speed of the laser source on the mean grain size; (iii) the introduction of a refiner, commonly used in aluminum casts, in the molten pool in order to further reduce the mean grain size.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Italian Institutions Region APULIA and MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and Research) for financing the present research activity (TRASFORMA and SMATI projects). The authors gratefully acknowledge the company FoundryService S.p.a. for providing the refiner and CALEF Consortium for making available the laser source. The authors wish to thank the technicians R. De Bonis (CALEF Consortium) and E. Putignano (CALEF Consortium) for their contribution.
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Sorgente, D., Corizzo, O., Brandizzi, M. et al. Preliminary Study on the Formability of a Laser-Welded Superplastic Aluminum Alloy. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 23, 4154–4162 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-1206-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-1206-2