Search Results

The uniaxial compression test was used to assess the influence of strain amount on the behavior of precipitates and texture of the Al-7%Si-1%Cu-0.5%Mg alloy, modified with micro-additions of V, Zr and Ti. As revealed through metallographic examinations, fracturing and re-orientation of the second-phase particles increased with increasing compression strain. However, the intermetallic particles experienced substantially more frequent cracking than the eutectic silicon. The crystallographic texture was measured and correlated with deformation behavior of the alloy. The weak texture of 11<211> and 111<110> components, detected after casting transformed to a mixture of 1<110>, 112<110> and 111<110> components after room-temperature compression deformation. The intensity of the texture components depended on the strain amount. It is concluded that the texture formation in the studied alloy is controlled by the precipitates formed during solidification of the alloy.

Advanced high strength steels (AHSS) such as dual phase (DP) steels are now being extensively used to achieve light weighting goals of vehicles because of their attractive combination of formability and high strength. High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels are also used in lightweight bodies-in-white; DP and HSLA steels are therefore often laser butt-welded together into tailor welded blanks and to create other joints. Among the laser welding processes, fiber laser welding (FLW) has been shown to provide excellent quality welds, including superior weld mechanical properties, at higher speeds than those possible with other laser welding processes. Using dissimilarly welded DP980-HSLA blanks made with different welding parameters, the tensile properties were found to not change in spite of the HSLA being weaker than the soft zone on the DP980 side of the weld.

Magnesium alloys are the lightest structural metal and recently attention has been focused on using them for structural automotive components. Fatigue and durability studies are essential in the design of these load-bearing components. In 2006, a large multinational research effort, Magnesium Front End Research & Development (MFERD), was launched involving researchers from Canada, China and the US. The MFERD project is intended to investigate the applicability of Mg alloys as lightweight materials for automotive body structures. The participating institutions in fatigue and durability studies were the University of Waterloo and Ryerson University from Canada, Institute of Metal Research (IMR) from China, and Mississippi State University, Westmorland, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Group LLC from the United States.