Modeling Processing-Property Relationships to Predict Final Aluminum Coil Quality

Abstract

In the definition of the term ICME the integration of multiple length-scale models is the key requisite to obtain information required to design products. While product properties are a measure on a macroscopic length scale, they are controlled by the microstructure on a microscopic or even atomistic length-scale. They are generated on production facilities on a very large scale.

In translation of the definition of ICME to the production of rolled Aluminum semi-fabricated products alloys and processing routes must be combined to deliver improved final customer properties to enable the development of new designs and products. Since the relationships between processing conditions, microstructural evolution and derived properties are highly nonlinear, this task can only be achieved by computer aided methods.

Critical properties of Aluminum coils and sheet are on the one hand the physical and chemical properties of the metal, such as strength, elongation, anisotropy, formability, corrosion resistance etc.. But on the other hand, geometrical tolerances and surface quality are equally important and often result from metallurgical events during processing. In some cases they can be derived from integrated process and microstructure simulation methods as well.

This paper describes the state of the art in through process modeling of Aluminum coils and strip with a view of tracing the microstructural development and deriving property information. Especially new approaches to critical parameters such as coil stability and sheet flatness, resulting from microstructural mechanisms are treated by sample computations of industrial processing chains.