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Effect of stamping deformation on microstructure and properties evolution of an Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloy for automotive panels

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Abstract

The effect of 5 % tensile deformation, which simulates the stamping process of Al–Mg–Si–Cu automotive outer panels, on the microstructural evolution during age strengthening, has been investigated. In addition, its benefit on key mechanical properties including hardness, yield strength, ductility, and corrosion resistance has been linked to the microstructural features. It was found that the aging precipitation sequence, SSSS → clusters and G.P. zones → β″ → β′ + Q′ → Q, was not influenced by the dislocations introduced through the stamping deformation prior to aging. On the other hand, stamping deformation could promote the formation of precipitates and refine the precipitates because of the enhanced heterogeneous nucleation and the accelerated precipitation kinetics, leading to superior strength of the alloy at the early stage. Meanwhile, the larger amount of Cu incorporated into nanoprecipitates leads to better intergranular corrosion resistance of the stamped alloy compared with the unstamped one. Due to the reduction in free Si amount at grain boundaries, the formation of fine subgrain structures and the increase of dislocation accumulation, the ductility of the stamped alloy was increased.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51501230 and 51531009), Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Central South University of China (502042057), Innovation-driven Project of Central South University (2015CX004) and Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (2016M600634).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Mingjun Yang, Siliang Liu, Xuwen He, Jiong Wang, Yi Kong, Kai Li & Yong Du

  2. Department of Fabrication Process and Technology for Aluminum Alloys, Suzhou Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Suzhou, 215026, China

    Pizhi Zhao

  3. Department of Fabrication Process and Technology for Aluminum Alloys, CHINALCO Research Institute of Science and Technology, Beijing, 100082, China

    Pizhi Zhao

  4. Institute for Materials Microstructure, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Kai Li & Yong Du

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  1. Mingjun Yang
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Correspondence to Kai Li.

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Yang, M., Liu, S., He, X. et al. Effect of stamping deformation on microstructure and properties evolution of an Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloy for automotive panels. J Mater Sci 52, 5569–5581 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0278-9

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