Resumo: Este trabalho está basicamente dividido em duas partes. A primeira está relacionada à limpeza da superfície da liga de alumínio AA6063T5 e sua influência na proteção contra a corrosão. A segunda parte se refere à preparação de revestimentos híbridos orgânicoinorgânico pelo processo sol-gel e deposição sobre a superfície da liga de alumínio por dipcoating. Três amostras de liga AA6063T5 foram investigadas: como recebida, debastada e polida mecanicamente e tratada quimicamente. O tratamento mecânico foi realizado utilizando lixas SiC de granulometria 320 a 4000 e o químico foi realizado utilizando uma solução aquosa contendo uma mistura de hidróxido, sulfato e cloreto de sódio. Todas as amostras foram caracterizadas fisicamente por difratometria de raios X (XRD), medidas de dureza, microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) e microscopia óptica (MO), e por medidas de potencial de circuito aberto (OCP) e espectroscopia de impedância eletroquímica (EIS) em solução 3,5% NaCl. As imagens SEM mostraram que a presença de partícula intermetálicas na superfície da liga diminui após o tratamento químico comparado ao tratamento mecânico. Os resultados de EIS mostraram que o tratamento químico oferece maior resistência à corrosão do que as submetidas aos outros tratamentos, porque o ataque alcalino utilizado dissolveu a maioria dos precipitados contendo Fe ou Cu, elementos responsáveis por sítios catódicos. A lavagem com HNO3 pela qual passou a amostra tratada quimicamente provavelmente reforçou a camada de óxido, tornando a superfície da liga mais resistente ao ataque por cloreto. Os revestimentos híbridos foram somente depositados na liga que recebeu tratamento químico. Esses filmes híbridos foram preparados com tetraetoxi-silano (TEOS) e 3-metacriloxipropril trimetoxi silano (MPTS), pela hidrólise e policondensação em meio ácido seguido por... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This work is basically divided in two parts: the first one is related to the surface treatment of AA6063T5 aluminum alloy and its influence on the protection against corrosion. The second concerns to the preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid coatings by the sol-gel process that were deposited on the aluminum alloys by dip-coating. Three samples of AA6063T5 aluminum alloys were investigated, the as-received one, after mechanical and chemical treatment, respectively. The mechanical treatment was realized using SiC paper grades 320 to 4000 and the chemical one was done by an aqueous solution containing a mixture of sodium hydroxide, chloride and sulfate. All samples were physically characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), hardness measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM), and electrochemically by open circuit measurements (OCP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5% NaCl solution. The SEM images depicted that the presence of intermetallic particles on the alloy surface decreased after the chemical treatment compared to the mechanical one. The EIS results showed that the sample chemically treated possesses a higher corrosion resistance than those obtained using other procedures. EIS results showed that the chemically treated sample presented higher corrosion resistance than the ones submitted to other procedures. The alkaline treatment dissolves the great part of precipitates containing iron or copper, which are responsible by the cathodic sites formation. The washing of the sample with nitric acid solution after the alkaline treatment removes impurities from the surface and can give to the oxide layer higher resistance against the action of the chloride ion. The hybrid coatings were only deposited on the alloy that received the chemical treatment. Hybrid films containing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-methacryloxypropyltrimetho... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Assis Vicente Benedetti / Coorientador: Cecílio Sadao Fugivara / Banca: Celso Valentim Santilli / Banca: Patrícia Hatsue Suegama / Banca: Roberto Garcia / Banca: Adalgisa Rodrigues de Andrade / Doutor

Através de microscopia ótica utilizando luz polarizada e de metalografia quantitativa, determinou-se a cinética de recristalização a 400 ºC de uma liga de alumínio da série 3000 contendo dispersão de precipitados, para diferentes graus de deformação produzidos por laminação. Mediram-se parâmetros, para vários tempos de recozimento, que permitiram determinar: fração volumétrica recristalizada, quantidade de interfaces por unidade de volume entre regiões recristalizadas e não recristalizadas e, entre regiões recristalizadas, assim como velocidade média de migração de interfaces. Fizeram-se também medidas de microdureza em todas as amostras. Os resultados experimentais mostraram que à medida que se diminui o grau de deformação, a quantidade de interfaces por unidade de volume responsáveis pela recristalização diminui exigindo portanto um crescimento através de distâncias maiores para a recristalização se completar, tornando a cinética de recristalização mais dependente do crescimento. Constatou-se a ocorrência de recuperação, durante a recristalização, das regiões não recristalizadas e consequente diminuição da velocidade média de migração de interfaces com o tempo de recozimento. Com a diminuição da deformação, ocorreram frações não recristalizadas residuais, as quais eram maiores para graus de deformação menores, chegando a atingir mais de 80% para 34,4% de redução em espessura. Os resultados sugerem que, para baixas deformações, a velocidade de crescimento tem um papel importante na cinética de recristalização de ligas com dispersão de precipitados. A comparação entre os resultados de metalografia quantitativa e medidas de microdureza evidenciou algumas limitações desta última técnica para estudo de recristalização. / Using polarized light optical micrsocopy and quantitative metalography, kinetics of recrystallization at 400 ºC of an aluminum alloy of 300 series were determined, for different rolling deformation. Recrystallized volume fraction, amount of interfaces per unit volume, between recrystrallized and unrecrystallized regions and between recrystallized grains, and also mean velocity of interface migration were determined. Microhardness measurements were made in all specimens. The results have shown that with decreading deformation, the amount of interfaces responsible for recrystallization, per unit volume, decreases and so the interfaces must sweep larger distances for complete recrystallization, making kinetics more dependent on growth. Recovery of the unrecrystallized regions was observed, during recrystallization, causing decrease in the average velocity of interface migration with annealing time. With decreasing deformation residual unrecrystallized volumes have been observed, after long time anneals. The fraction of residual unrecrystallized region were large than 80-% for 34,4% thickness reduction. The results suggest that, in alloys with precipitates, the growth velocity has an important role in recrystallization kinetics. Some shortcomings of hardness measurements, as a tool to study recrystallization, were shown by comparison between the quantitative metallography and hardness measurements.

Dans le cadre de la démonstration de l’intégrité des composants nucléaires les plus sensibles, une analyse de la présence d’un défaut potentiel de type fissure peut être requise par la sureté nucléaire. Ceci est particulièrement le cas en présence de jonctions soudées. Pour assurer un conservatisme de cette analyse, la position du défaut postulé doit être la plus pénalisante possible. Les analyses réalisées pour des démonstrations similaires sur des structures en acier reposent sur une approche de type mono matériau utilisant le comportement du métal de base. Cette approche est la plus pénalisante dans le cas d’une soudure en overmatch mais doit être remise en cause dans le cas d’une soudure en undermatch. Dans ce cadre, cette thèse propose une méthodologie expérimentale et numérique permettant l’identification de la configuration la plus pénalisante vis-à-vis de la mécanique de la rupture d’une soudure en undermatch. L’application de cette méthode a été réalisée sur une soudure en faisceau d’électrons en Al6061-T6. Un gradient de propriétés mécaniques le long de la jonction soudée a été dans un premier temps identifié permettant la conduite d’une analyse fine basée sur une approche multimatériau. Dans un second temps, le comportement en ténacité de la jonction soudée a été étudié sur éprouvettes CT. La transférabilité du paramètre J à l’amorçage à une autre géométrie d’éprouvette a été démontrée ce qui constitue une base importante pour l’hypothèse de transférabilité vers des structures. Pour finir, une étude numérique sur un tube de grandes dimensions avec un défaut semi-elliptique a été développée en prenant en compte les contraintes résiduelles de soudage. Les résultats montrent que la zone affectée thermiquement à 13 mm du centre de la soudure considérée est la plus sensible en mécanique de la rupture, ceci remet par conséquent en question les méthodes traditionnelles menées dans des analyses à la rupture brutale qui consistent à considérer un défaut dans la zone fondue. / For the demonstration of the integrity of the most sensitive nuclear components, conventional defects, as cracks for example, must be considered within the design step as required by the nuclear safety authority. This phase is particularly crucial for dimensioning of welded structures. To ensure a conservative prediction, the position of the initial crack within the welded joint must be the most detrimental in fracture behavior. Commonly used analyzes consider homogeneous structure with the behavior of the base metal of the welded joint, considered as the weakest metallurgical zone in the case of an overmatched weld. In contrast, similar analysis is not conservative in case of undermatched weld. The thesis contributes by the development of an experimental and numerical methodology allowing the identification of the detrimental metallurgical zone in fracture behavior of an undermatched welded joint. The methodology proposed is applied to an electron beam welded joint on Al 6061-T6. To reach this goal, the gradient of the mechanical behavior along the welded joint was first identified. This is particularly interesting to conduct an advanced analysis based on a multimaterial approach. In a second step, the fracture behavior of the welded joint was studied on CT specimen. The transferability of the J integral at initiation was approved on another geometry: this represents an important foundation for the transferability assumption to structure. Finally, a numerical analysis on full scale tube was developed. Residual welding stresses and structural effects were considered. The results demonstrate that the heat affected zone located at 13 mm from the middle of the welded joint is the most detrimental zone for fracture analysis. This contradicts the conventional methods conducted on fracture analysis which consider a conventional defect within the fusion zone.

The present work studies the microstructure and corrosion behaviour of 25 vol.% SiCp/AA2124-T4 metal matrix composites (MMCs) and AA2124-T4 aluminium alloy; and also the capability of excimer laser surface melting (LSM) to improve the corrosion resistance of the SiCp/AA2124 MMC and the monolithic alloy (MA). Microstructural characterization has shown significant influence of the presence and size of SiC particles on the fine Al2Cu precipitate and Mg segregation at SiC/Al interfacial regions. Such precipitates are revealed to be active sites for corrosion initiation in the MMCs, while the preferential sites for corrosion initiation in the MA are the coarse intermetallics. Corrosion evaluation performed in a 0.6 M NaCl solution suggests that the corrosion resistance of the MMC reinforced with micrometre-sized SiC particles is inferior to that of the MA and the MMC reinforced with submicrometre-sized SiC particles. The submicrometre-sized SiC particles have little adverse effect on the corrosion resistance of the MMC due to the reduced interfacial precipitates. Thin films of up to several micrometres have been achieved by excimer LSM on both the MMC and the MA. The surface roughness and the thickness of the melted layer increase with increasing laser fluence. High number of pulses (40 P) results in significant porosity in the MA and networks of cracking in the MMC. A homogeneous layer without chemical segregation except the Cu-rich segregation bands has been obtained on the MA; while complex microstructures are observed for the MMC, including the Cu-rich segregation bands, Al-Si eutectic structure and microsegregation-free structure laid in sequence from the bottom of the melted layer to the top surface. The modelling work suggest that the presence of SiC particles gives rise in high temperatures in the melt pool, which is useful to explain the materials responses upon laser irradiation, such as decomposition of SiC, evaporation of matrix alloy, and oxides formation. The fast cooling rate up to 1011 K/s is responsible for the formation of microsegregation-free structure. Corrosion evaluation has indicated improvement of corrosion resistance of the MMC and the MA after excimer LSM due to the reduction of the intermetallics. For the laser-melted MA, the corrosion behaviour is governed by the surface morphology and the porosity. The significant rippled structure obtained under high laser fluence could lead to crevice corrosion in the valley between the ripples whilst the pores could provide penetrating routes for the chloride solution to reach the Cu-rich segregation bands, leading to the delamination of the melted layer. For the laser-melted MMC, corrosion mainly initiated at the SiC remnants, which are rich in Si. The corrosion sites of the laser-melted MMC are in the form of small cracked blisters.

The diploma thesis is focused on draft of footrests for endure Honda Transalp XL700V of 2008. Attention is paid to the draft of the design of the footrest which is, which is designed for driving in light off-road. There is also described the issue if the choice of the material from aluminium alloy and the verification of the methods of the designed geometry using FEM and Rapid Prototyping. The experimental part deals with the design of appropriate tools and cutting conditions and with the creation of the NC program in ShopMill. There is enclosed the technical documentation and the NC program in the final part.

Materials research in the aerospace industry is, among other things, focused on reducing the weight and increasing the life of components. Materials with high strength and long lifespan are therefore examined. A205 is an aluminium alloy with promising properties and the work in this thesis aims to gain an increased understanding of fatigue properties for the material in question. This has been done by studying how fatigue cracks are initiated and grow relative to the current microstructure. Four specimens of A205 have been tomographed before and after the initiation of a fatigue crack. The tomography imaging is performed with high resolution so that the microstructure can be studied. Using the tomography images, the crack has been characterised in three dimensions regarding initiation and propagation and its relation to the microstructure. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) have been used to study the fracture surfaces of the specimens and to determine the chemical composition of different precipitates and phases to further deepen the understanding of fatigue properties for the alloy. Correlation technique based on tomography images, so-called digital volume correlation (DVC), enables examination of small displacements and strains in the structure of the specimens, which provides an understanding of the plastic zone size at the tip of the fatigue crack. The thesis discusses how the experimental methods can be combined and provide an increased understanding of the initiation and propagation of the fatigue crack in A205. Results is related to previous research and in combination with experimental study this can develop the general understanding of the aluminium alloy A205. Fractography analysis shows that the crack is initiated by TiAl3 in two out of four specimens. To summarize, the results of the study indicate that defects highly influence the initiation of the cracks compared to propagation that are less sensitive. Crack propagation are controlled by stress intensity, low stress intensity promotes transgranular propagation and high stress intensity promotes intergranular propagation. / Materialforskning inom flygindustrin är bland annat inriktad på att minska vikten och öka livslängden på komponenter. Till följd av detta undersöks material med hög hållfasthet och lång livslängd. A205 är en aluminiumlegering med lovande egenskaper och arbetet i detta examensarbete syftar till att få en ökad förståelse för det aktuella materialets utmattningsegenskaper. Detta har gjorts genom att studera hur utmattningssprickor initieras och tillväxer relativt den aktuella mikrostrukturen.    Fyra prover av A205 har tomograferats innan och efter initiering av en utmattningsspricka. Tomografiavbildningen görs med hög upplösning så att mikrostrukturen kan studeras. Med hjälp av tomografibilderna har sprickan karakteriserats i tre dimensioner avseende initiering och propagering och dess relation till mikrostrukturen. Vidare har svepelektronmikroskopi (SEM) och energidispersiv röntgenspektroskopi (EDS) använts för att studera provernas brottytor samt för bestämning av den kemiska sammansättningen hos olika utskiljningar och faser för att ytterligare fördjupa förståelsen för legeringens egenskaper. Korrelationsteknik baserad på tomografiavbildningar, s.k. digital volume correlation (DVC), möjliggör undersökning av små förskjutningar och töjningar i provstavarnas struktur, vilket ger förståelse för den plastiska zonstorleken vid utmattningssprickans spets. Examensarbetet diskuterar hur de experimentella metoderna kan kombineras och ge en ökad förståelse för utmattningssprickans initiering och propagering i A205.    Resultaten har tagits fram och relaterats till tidigare forskning och den experimentella studien kan utveckla den allmänna förståelsen för aluminiumlegeringen A205. Fraktografi analys visar att titanaluminid (TiAl3) initierar sprickan i två utav fyra undersökta prover. Sammanfattningsvis indikerar resultaten från studien att propageringen utav sprickan inte är påverkad utav defekter på sättet initiering är, utan är kontrollerad av spänningsintensitet. Låg spänningsintensitet främjar transgranulär propagering och hög spänningsintensitet främjar intergranulär propagering.

The overall aim of the project is to examine the rivetability of new steels and to investigate the mechanical behaviour of self-piercing riveted (SPR) aluminium-steel hybrid structures for automotive applications. Interstitial Free Steel (I.F.) of 1.2 mm thickness was joined to Aluminium 5754 of 2 mm thickness and Aluminium 5182 (coated and uncoated) of 1.5 mm thickness. The work began by initially conducting a quality assessment of the various joints that were produced in order to establish the optimum conditions for joining the various sample combinations to be investigated. A relationship was established between the head height and the interlock distance on the one hand and between the interlock distance and the lap shear strength of samples. It was also established that for higher lap shear strength, it is preferable to use the stronger material (I.F. steel) as the pierced sheet and the weaker material (5182) as the locked sheet. However, the results showed that this rule could not be applied for predicting the fatigue behaviour of SPR joints between I.F. steel and 5182. An investigation of the fatigue failure mechanisms was undertaken and possible reasons for this behaviour are discussed. The influence of fretting was also investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and reported. The fatigue behaviour of Dual Phase (DP600 + 5182) SPR joints was investigated. It was observed that the position of fatigue crack initiation differed with the maximum applied load. An explanation for this observation was provided by considering the failure mechanism of the samples under different load levels. The study also showed how fretting led to the initiation of fatigue cracks. The corrosion behaviour of (I.F. steel + 5182) samples was investigated by conducting tests in a salt spray according to the ASTM B117-97 standard. Three types of corrosion were observed; galvanic corrosion, differential aeration corrosion, uniform corrosion and are discussed. The weight change with time was monitored and was used to describe the corrosion behaviour. The lap shear strength was measured as a function of corrosion time. The presence of the corrosion product within the overlap was observed to greatly influence the lap shear strength behaviour. A further study was carried out in order to examine the influence of the individual alloys on the corrosion of the SPR samples. In this part the potential influence of pulse current treatment on corrosion was also investigated and was observed to increase greatly the corrosion resistance of the I.F. steel. Principal findings for this observation are also provided.

Semi-Solid Metal (SSM) casting is a promising technology offering an opportunity to manufacture net-shape, complex geometry metal components in a single operation. However, the absence of foundry guidelines and limited design data for SSM casting makes it challenging to predict the performance of both process and components. The objective of this research was to develop and offer new solutions to material processing-related issues in the electronics industry. By investigating the opportunities afforded by the recently developed RheoMetalTM rheocasting process, a better understanding of the critical factors needed for an effective manufacturing process and optimised component characteristics was achieved. A study of the evolution of microstructure at different stages of the RheoMetalTM process demonstrated the influence of multistage solidification on the microstructural characteristics of the rheocast components. The microstructure of a slurry consists of the solute-lean and coarse globular α-Al particles with a uniform distribution of alloying elements, suspended in the liquid matrix. Additional solute-rich α-Al particles were identified as being a consequence of discrete nucleation events taking place after the initial slurry production. In the final components, macrosegregation was observed in the form of variations in the ratio of solute-lean coarse globular α-Al particles and solute-rich fine α-Al particles in both longitudinal and transverse directions. The relation between microstructural characteristics and material properties was established by determination of the local properties of a rheocast component. The fracture of a rheocast telecom component was strongly affected by microstructural inhomogeneity. In particular, macrosegregation in the form of liquid surface segregation bands and sub-surface pore bands strongly affected the fracture behaviour. Thermal conductivity measurements revealed that regions of the component with a high amount of solute-lean globular α-Al particles showed higher thermal conductivity. The effect of the local variation in thermal conductivity on the thermal performance of a large rheocast heatsink was evaluated by simulation. The results clearly show the importance of considering material inhomogeneity when creating a robust component design.

L'utilisation de revêtements sol-gel pour la protection contre la corrosion des métaux est une alternative aux traitements à base de chromates, proscrits du fait de leur forte toxicité. Ces travaux de thèse ont porté sur la caractérisation de revêtements sol-gel hybrides organique-inorganique contenant des pigments inhibiteurs de corrosion non toxiques, pour la protection contre la corrosion de l'alliage d'aluminium 2024. Tout d'abord, la caractérisation par spectroscopie d'impédance électrochimique de différents revêtements relativement poreux a permis d'analyser l'influence de l'épaisseur, de la température de séchage, de l'hydrolyse de la partie silane et du ratio silane/amine sur les performances du revêtement, en particulier des propriétés barrière. Puis, l'ajout d'un époxy dans la formulation a permis d'augmenter de façon significative les propriétés barrière du film. Les diagrammes d'impédance présentent une dispersion en fréquence, exprimée en termes de « constant phase element (CPE) », en haute et basse fréquence. En haute fréquence, ce comportement a été analysé à l'aide d'un modèle qui permet d'obtenir des profils de résistivité dans l'épaisseur du revêtement et au cours du temps d'immersion. Ce modèle est appliqué pour la première fois à l'étude de revêtements. Différents pigments inhibiteurs de corrosion ont ensuite été incorporés dans des revêtements de porosité différente. L'action des inhibiteurs est exacerbée lorsqu'ils sont incorporés dans un revêtement poreux. Néanmoins, lorsqu'ils sont incorporés dans un film dense, les performances vis-à-vis de la résistance à la corrosion sont élevées. / The use of sol-gel coatings for the protection against the corrosion of metals is an alternative to chrome-based treatments, banned for the industry for their high toxicity. This work is based on the characterisation of hybrid organic-inorganic coatings, filled with non-toxic corrosion inhibitors, for the protection against the corrosion of aluminium alloy 2024. First, the characterisation by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of different, relatively porous coatings, allowed the investigation of the influence of thickness, drying temperature, silane hydrolysis, and the silane/amine ratio on the coating performances, in particular the barrier properties. Then, the addition of an epoxy compound in the formulation allowed a significant increase in the film barrier properties. The impedance diagrams show a frequency dispersion, expressed in terms of a constant phase element (CPE), both in the high and low frequency range. In the high frequency range, this behaviour was analyzed using a model that allows obtaining resistivity profiles in the thickness of the coating and with immersion time. This model is applied for the first time to study coatings. Different corrosion inhibitors were then incorporated in coatings of different porosity. The action of the inhibitors was heightened when they are incorporated in a porous coating. Nevertheless, in a dense coating, the performances towards corrosion are high.

Les procédés de mise en forme de tôles minces sont très largement répandus dans l’industrie. Néanmoins, l’utilisation de ces procédés est limitée par le niveau de formabilité du matériau formé, notamment dans le cas des alliages d’aluminium. Afin d’améliorer ces limites de formabilité, des procédés de mise en forme à chaud peuvent être envisagés. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier à l’aide d’approches expérimentale et numérique l’effet de la température et de la vitesse de déformation sur la formabilité des tôles en alliage d’aluminium AA5086 et de proposer une modélisation capable de prédire ces effets. Une campagne d’essais a été réalisée sur ce matériau à partir d’un essai d’emboutissage de type Marciniak. Des courbes limites de formage (CLF) ont été établies sur une plage de température allant de l’ambiant jusqu’à 200°C et pour des vitesses de déformation allant du quasi-statique à 2s-1. Des effets, positif de la température et négatif de la vitesse de déformation sur la formabilité ont été mis en évidence. La prise en compte des effets de la température et de la vitesse de déformation dans les modèles prédictifs des CLF, qu’ils soient analytiques ou numériques, est à ce jour très limitée. Dans ce travail, un modèle numérique prédictif basé sur la simulation par éléments finis du modèle géométrique de Marciniak et Kuczynski (M-K) est proposé. Les déformations limites obtenues avec de ce modèle sont très sensibles à la description du comportement thermo-viscoplastique du matériau et à la calibration du défaut géométrique pilotant l’apparition de la striction dans le modèle M-K. Des essais de traction uniaxiale réalisés dans les mêmes conditions opératoires que les essais de mise en forme de Marciniak ont permis d’identifier des lois d’écrouissage de nature très différentes (rigidifiante, saturante ou mixte). Ces lois conduisent à des prédictions très différentes de la formabilité du matériau pour une valeur donnée du défaut géométrique du modèle EF M-K. Différentes stratégies de calibration de la taille de ce défaut initial ont été envisagées. L’utilisation du point expérimental de la CLF correspondant à des conditions de déformation plane permet de calibrer de manière satisfaisante la valeur de ce défaut. Cette procédure de calibration a été appliquée pour l’ensemble des lois identifiées. Les lois de nature rigidifiante de type Ludwick se sont montrées les plus effficaces alors que les lois saturante de type Voce se sont avérées incapables de prédire la formabilité du matériau pour certaines conditions opératoires. Finalement, il est démontré qu’une valeur constante du défaut géométrique ne peut être retenue pour l’ensemble des conditions opératoires étudiées même si le modèle M-K s’est avéré assez efficace pour représenter l’effet de la température plutôt que celui de la vitesse de déformation. / Sheet metal forming processes are widely used in industry. Nevertheless, the use of these processes is limited by the formability of the considered material, in particular in the case of the aluminium alloys. To improve the formability, warm forming processes can be considered. The objective of this work is to study by means of both experimental and numerical approaches, the effects of temperature and strain rate on the formability of AA5086 aluminium alloy sheets and to propose a modeling suitable to predict these effects. Experimental tests have been carried out on this material by means of the Marciniak stamping experimental device. Forming limit curves (FLCs) have been established on a temperature range going from ambient temperature to 200°C and on a strain rate range going from quasi-static up to 2s-1. A positive effect of the temperature and a negative effect of the strain rate on the formability limits were highlighted. To date, very few predictive models of the FLCs taking into account temperature and strain rate effects are proposed in the literature. In this work, in order to predict the experimental temperature and strain rate sensitivities, a predictive model based on the finite element simulation of the Marciniak and Kuczynski (M-K) geometrical model is proposed. The limit strains obtained with this model are very sensitive to the description of the thermo-viscoplastic behaviour modeling and to the calibration of the initial geometrical imperfection controlling the onset of the necking. Thanks to tensile tests carried out for the same operating conditions that those of Marciniak forming tests, several types (power law, saturation and mixed) of hardening laws have been identified. These hardening laws have been implemented in theFE M-K model to obtain numerical limit strains. Very different formability limits have been observed for a given value of the geometrical defect. Several strategies for the calibration of this initial imperfection size have been tested. The use of the experimental point of the FLC0 corresponding to plane strain condition allows a good calibration of the initial imperfection value. This calibration procedure was carried out for all hardening laws. It is shown that the power law type models such as Ludwick law are more efficient while saturation laws such as Voce law are unable to predict the material formability for some conditions. Finally, it is shown that a constant value of the geometrical defect cannot be used to the whole operating conditions studied even if FE M-K model is shown to be efficient to represent the temperature effect rather than strain rate one.