An experimental and complementary FE modeling study was conducted to characterize the room and elevated temperature uniaxial compressive deformation behavior of AA7075-T6 and O-temper materials. The experiments consisted of testing cylindrical and cubic specimens prepared from a rolled and heat-treated plate stock of AA7075 alloy. The tests were conducted in the lower range of elevated temperatures up to 300 °C, at several different test speeds in rolling and transverse orientations, as well as under isothermal and non-isothermal test conditions. The test results were analyzed in terms of true stress-train responses of the two tempers under the above experimental conditions. The deformed test specimens were also observed for surface features and deformed microstructures in the interior of the specimen under the above experimental conditions. A suitable strain rate and temperature dependent constitutive hardening law, in the form of modified Voce-Kocks law, was developed and coded as a UMAT subroutine in ABAQUS FE code to simulate the uniaxial compression experiments and compare the experimental and model results. In general, good general agreement was obtained between experiments and model predictions. A suitable fracture criterion, in the form of Tresca fracture model, was also implemented as a VUMAT subroutine in ABAQUS FE code to simulate the uniaxial compression experiments and predict fracture mode and other characteristics. Once again, good general agreement was obtained between room temperature fracture shapes and model predictions. The experimental and model results collectively provide a broad-based understanding of the effect of temperature, strain rate, material anisotropy, temperature field on material flow and deformed shapes of cylinders and cubic specimens, the nature of deformation (predominantly shear along two intersecting shear directions) and fracture (predominantly shear). The constraints to deformation at the corners in the cubic specimen yielded rather complex curvature development in deformed cubes. The non-isothermal rapid heating of test specimens using electrical resistance heating and subsequent compression of the specimen provided results similar to the isothermal case. However, the electrical resistance method offers a cost-effective process to form smaller high quality components in forming modes such as hot upsetting. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

AA7075 is a precipitation hardening structural aluminum alloy, which has garnered considerable interest in automotive industry, primarily due its lightweighting capacity compared to many other aluminum alloys from 2xxx and 6xxx series. However, the damage evolution in AA7075 is quite complex due to the presence of different second phase particles in the microstructure and their contribution on damage evolution is largely unknown at large plastic strains. The common second phase particles are η precipitates, θ precipitates and Fe-rich intermetallic particles. The current work presents an extensive multiscale numerical framework, which in conjunction with complementary experiments, is applied to study strain localization, void nucleation, growth, and coalescence in a particle rich matrix. Experimentally, void nucleation is observed to be driven by particle decohesion and particle fracture. Nanoscale molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is carried out to estimate interface properties of the three distinct particle types. The extracted properties are used as input for real particle field 2D and 3D microstructure based finite element (FE) models. The stochastic nature of particle fracture is described using a Weibull distribution, while the effect of grains is incorporated in terms of their Taylor factors. Ductile matrix is described using the well known Gurson Tvergaard Needleman (GTN) void damage model. Complementary experiments included uniaxial tensile tests carried out in-situ in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT), ex-situ high resolution XCT and Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) tests. The FE models with three distinct particle stoichiometries and three competing damage mechanisms, show good agreement with experimental observations. Particle fracture marginally dominates particle decohesion. At low plastic strains, void nucleation is initiated by decohesion and fracture of larger Fe-rich particles, which facilitate formation of localized deformation bands. At large plastic strain, elevated stresses within the localized bands facilitate decohesion and fracture of more resistant η and θ precipitates. Due to their inherent larger size and more irregular morphology, θ precipitates contribute to voiding more than η precipitates. Under uniaxial tensile loads, void growth takes place in the middle of the specimen, driven by higher triaxiality stress state in the middle, relative to the surface. Void coalescence occurs along deformation bands driven by higher stresses due accumulated plastic strain within the bands, in a process known as void sheeting. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Hot stamping and die quenching (HS/DQ) process of AA7075 aluminum alloy is one of attractive forming techniques for producing high strength automotive structural components to encounter their poor formability at room temperature. In this technique, quenching rate of this alloy is very crucial as it affects precipitation kinetics after artificial ageing of part formed, which in turn determines the final in-service mechanical properties and corrosion performance of part. Thermal contact resistance (TCR) between two solid surfaces is the main parameter that controls heat transfer between hot AA7075 sheet and cold steel dies, and thus affects quenching rate of part formed. Therefore, the final properties of automotive parts produced by hot stamping is indirectly influenced by TCR. The common methods of determining TCR in HS/DQ are often impracticable as they require thermocouples to be inserted into complex-shaped stamping dies, punches and thin aluminum sheet (blank) to be formed. A potential mechanistic approach for determining TCR could be an attractive alternative due to its avoidance of embedded thermocouples into the tooling and blank. The mechanistic method emphasizes on physical mechanisms (roughness etc.) governing interfacial heat transfer between cold forming tools and hot blank. The proposed work focuses on utilizing the mechanistic method to predict TCR between multiple cylindrical asperities on a nominally flat (and heated) AA7075 blank surface and a rigid, flat, asperity-free (and cold) steel die surface. The asperities were considered to deform elastoplastically, increasing contact area. Subsequently, TCR correlation as a function of temperature, contact load, and contact area was formulated. To validate the mechanistic model, a series of surface asperity flattening experiments using thermocouple-embedded AA7075 blank and polished stainless steel planar dies were carried out. Good agreement between mechanistic model predictions and experimental results in term of contact area and TCR as a function of contact load were observed. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

O uso de revestimentos protetores consiste na alternativa mais utilizada para a eliminação ou diminuição dos processos corrosivos nos aços, bem como no alumínio e suas ligas, que apresentam uma ampla gama de aplicações, principalmente na indústria aeronáutica, devido à alta razão resistência/peso e, cujas vidas úteis podem ser comprometidas pela corrosão. Neste trabalho foram produzidos revestimentos a base de sílica e titânia obtidos pelo processo sol-gel em substratos constituídos de aço AISI 1045 e liga de alumínio AA7075, para a proteção à corrosão em ambiente salino. As amostras foram revestidas por imersão (dip-coating) utilizando-se dois tipos de soluções compostas por Tetraetil-Ortosilicato (TEOS) mais 3-Trimetoxisilil-Propil-Metacrilato (TMSPM) (S1) e por Isopropóxido de Titânio (IPT) mais 3-Trimetoxisilil-Propil-Metacrilato (TMSPM) (S2). Tais amostras foram previamente submetidas a pré-tratamentos a 50°C durante 8 horas, para a evaporação dos compostos voláteis e curadas a 60, 100 e a 130°C, por 1, 2 e 3 horas em cada temperatura. As caracterizações foram realizadas por microscopias óptica e eletrônica de varredura, riscamento e ensaios de polarização potenciodinâmicas em NaCl (3,5%). Foram obtidos revestimentos homogêneos em ambos os substratos, que resultaram em todos os casos um grande aumento na resistência à corrosão, em comparação com os respectivos substratos. Os revestimentos curados na temperatura superior (130°C) foram os mais resistentes ao riscamento e proporcionaram as melhores resistências à corrosão em ambos os substratos. / Protective coatings are the most widely used alternative to control the corrosive processes in steel and aluminum alloys. These material exhibit a wide range of applications, especially in the aircraft industry due to the high strength/weight ratio but their performance can be compromised by corrosion. In this work silica and titania based coatings were produced by a sol-gel process and applied on AISI 1045 steel and AA7075 aluminum alloy substrates, seeking for corrosion protection in a saline environment. The samples were coated by dipping using two types of solutions: a) a mix of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with 3-trimethoxysilyl-propyl methacrylate (TMSPM) (S1) and b) a mix of titanium isopropoxide (IPT) with 3 -Trimetoxisilil-Propyl methacrylate (TMSPM) (S2). The samples were then subjected to a pre-treatment at 50°C for 8 hours to evaporate the volatile compounds and then cured at 60, 100 and 130°C for 1, 2 and 3 hours at each temperature. The samples were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, scratching tests and potentiodynamic polarization tests in NaCl (3.5%). Both solutions produced homogeneous coatings on both substrates, resulting in a large increase in the corrosion resistances, when compared to the respective substrates. Coatings cured at highest temperature (130°C) were the most scratch resistance and provided the best corrosion resistance in both substrates.

O uso de revestimentos protetores consiste na alternativa mais utilizada para a eliminação ou diminuição dos processos corrosivos nos aços, bem como no alumínio e suas ligas, que apresentam uma ampla gama de aplicações, principalmente na indústria aeronáutica, devido à alta razão resistência/peso e, cujas vidas úteis podem ser comprometidas pela corrosão. Neste trabalho foram produzidos revestimentos a base de sílica e titânia obtidos pelo processo sol-gel em substratos constituídos de aço AISI 1045 e liga de alumínio AA7075, para a proteção à corrosão em ambiente salino. As amostras foram revestidas por imersão (dip-coating) utilizando-se dois tipos de soluções compostas por Tetraetil-Ortosilicato (TEOS) mais 3-Trimetoxisilil-Propil-Metacrilato (TMSPM) (S1) e por Isopropóxido de Titânio (IPT) mais 3-Trimetoxisilil-Propil-Metacrilato (TMSPM) (S2). Tais amostras foram previamente submetidas a pré-tratamentos a 50°C durante 8 horas, para a evaporação dos compostos voláteis e curadas a 60, 100 e a 130°C, por 1, 2 e 3 horas em cada temperatura. As caracterizações foram realizadas por microscopias óptica e eletrônica de varredura, riscamento e ensaios de polarização potenciodinâmicas em NaCl (3,5%). Foram obtidos revestimentos homogêneos em ambos os substratos, que resultaram em todos os casos um grande aumento na resistência à corrosão, em comparação com os respectivos substratos. Os revestimentos curados na temperatura superior (130°C) foram os mais resistentes ao riscamento e proporcionaram as melhores resistências à corrosão em ambos os substratos. / Protective coatings are the most widely used alternative to control the corrosive processes in steel and aluminum alloys. These material exhibit a wide range of applications, especially in the aircraft industry due to the high strength/weight ratio but their performance can be compromised by corrosion. In this work silica and titania based coatings were produced by a sol-gel process and applied on AISI 1045 steel and AA7075 aluminum alloy substrates, seeking for corrosion protection in a saline environment. The samples were coated by dipping using two types of solutions: a) a mix of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with 3-trimethoxysilyl-propyl methacrylate (TMSPM) (S1) and b) a mix of titanium isopropoxide (IPT) with 3 -Trimetoxisilil-Propyl methacrylate (TMSPM) (S2). The samples were then subjected to a pre-treatment at 50°C for 8 hours to evaporate the volatile compounds and then cured at 60, 100 and 130°C for 1, 2 and 3 hours at each temperature. The samples were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, scratching tests and potentiodynamic polarization tests in NaCl (3.5%). Both solutions produced homogeneous coatings on both substrates, resulting in a large increase in the corrosion resistances, when compared to the respective substrates. Coatings cured at highest temperature (130°C) were the most scratch resistance and provided the best corrosion resistance in both substrates.

No description available.

In modern society, car manufactures are actively pursuing vehicle light weighting under both stricter government regulations due to environmental concerns and consumers’ demand for better fuel economy. Under such circumstances, OEMs are using more parts using aluminum alloys to replace parts made with steel. New forming processes are being developed to produce structural components to achieve higher in-service strength using higher strength aluminum alloys. Two of the commonly used high strength aluminum alloys, AA6111 and AA7075, are being considered for elevated temperature sheet forming applications. With more aluminum applications in vehicle and good recyclability of aluminum components, there is a concern of contamination from transition metals such as Fe, Mn and Cr from vehicle end of life scraps getting into aluminum scrap stream. Such impurity elements can have profound impact on aluminum alloy’s mechanical properties, performance and formability at room and elevated temperatures. This study is focused on variants of AA6111 and AA7075 alloys with increased recycling content, and thus higher amounts of the above transition metals. The objective is to investigate the effect of impurity alloying elements on final microstructure, mechanical properties and formability of the above sheet materials. Formability is studied in terms of sheet bendability and elevated temperature forming limit diagrams (FLDs) using a hot gas bulge tester. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Weight reduction, increased fuel economy, and increased safety of structures in transportation applications has led to much interest in lightweight higher strength structural aluminum alloys. Suitable joining techniques to create such structures with aluminum sheets are required. Generally, similar and dissimilar sheet metals can be joined by adhesive bonding, welding, and mechanical fastening. Difficulty of welding and long processing times for adhesive bonding make mechanical fastening a process of much interest for joining of high strength aluminum sheets. Among the different mechanical fastening techniques available in manufacturing, clinching is a common method of joining by forming in which a punch and die are used to form a geometrical interlock. However, the process introduces surface steps on both sides of the joined sheets where one side consists of a protrusion and the other a pit. Also, clinch joining, a well-accepted and widely used process for joining ductile sheet metals, is more challenging for high strength lower ductility aluminum sheets such as AA7075. The current work aims at studying clinch-ability of high strength lower ductility AA7075 aluminum sheets of different tempers by conventional as well as a new clinching technique called "die-less" clinching. A new tooling was designed in order to conduct die-less clinches. The results showed that room temperature clinching is possible for the softer tempers namely solution treated and annealed states. However, the peak aged sheets failed to form a successful joint. A novel electrical resistance heating technique (ERH) to provide ductility to the joined sheets was used to obtain die-less clinched joints in AA7075-T6. ERH technique provides a large range of heating temperatures from room temperature to 270°C for a current duration of 3 sec. The AA7075-T6 sheets showed a superior joining by using ERH. The joint showed a metallurgical locking mechanism in addition to the commonly available form locking mechanism. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Clinching is a common method of joining sheet metals by forming. A punch and die are used to form a permanent geometrical interlock. However, the process introduces surface steps on both sides of the joined sheets where one side consists of a protrusion and the other a pit. Clinch joining is a well-accepted and widely used process for joining ductile sheet metals. Joining of high strength lower ductility aluminum sheets such as AA7075 is more challenging. The current work aims at joining AA7075 aluminum sheets of different tempers by clinching using the conventional method as well as a new clinching technique called "die-less" clinching. The study includes a new tooling design in order to conduct die-less clinches. Also, a novel electrical resistance heating technique (ERH) to provide ductility to the joined sheets was used to obtain die-less clinched joints in the peak aged AA7075-T6. ERH technique provides a large range of heating temperatures from room temperature to 270°C for a current duration of 3 sec. The AA7075-T6 sheets showed a superior joining by using ERH.

Com o objetivo de desenvolver novos revestimentos mais protetores e quantificar a resistência à corrosão resultante, estudou-se a adição de caulinita em novos revestimentos híbridos a base de silanos sobre a liga de alumínio AA7075. Os revestimentos com silanos aqui estudados diferem dos relatados anteriormente na literatura, os quais usualmente contém cargas minerais apenas para a liberação de inibidores de corrosão, enquanto que os revestimentos desenvolvidos no presente estudo contém caulinita lamelar com a finalidade de barreira de difusão para espécies corrosivas. Para tanto, estudou-se primeiramente a esfoliação da caulinita e produção de filmes finos (2-3μm) por diferentes rotas de preparação pelo processo sol-gel, obtendo-se os melhores resultados com o processo envolvendo acidificação final. Os revestimentos e as partículas de caulinita processada foram caracterizados por microscopia ótica, microscopia de varredura eletrônica e difração de raios-X. A resistência à corrosão foi estudada por voltametria cíclica e cronoamperometria, em potencial aplicado entre o potencial de pite e o de repassivação. A maior resitência à corrosão por pites foi obtida para os revestimentos contendo 3% em massa de caulinita, seguido dos com 33% em massa. Estudou-se também preliminarmente a permeação de H2O no revestimento por medidas rápidas de capacitância, após exposição cíclica em soluções contendo cloreto seguidas de secagem, sendo esta metodologia empregada até o momento apenas para tintas bem mais espessas (≈ 300μm). Observou-se que o método é aplicável para medidas no primeiro ciclo de absorção de H2O, concluindo-se que após a primeira exposição, o cloreto continua difundindo, diminuindo o tempo de resistência ao pite. / Aiming to develop more protective new coatings and to quantify the resulting corrosion resistance, new hybrid coatings based on silanes with the addition of kaolinite were produced and applied on the AA7075 aluminum alloy. The studied silane coatings differ from those reported previously in the literature that usually contain mineral fillers to release corrosion inhibitors, since we here developed silane coatings contain lamellar kaolinite as a barrier against the diffusion of corrosive species. For this, we first studied the exfoliation of kaolinite, and production of thin coating (2-3μm) by different preparation routes of the sol-gel process, obtaining the best results with the process of final acidification. Coatings and processed kaolinite particles were characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The corrosion resistance was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry at potentials between that of the repassivation and of the pitting of the substrate alloy. The greatest pitting resistance was obtained for coatings with 3% kaolinite addition, followed by the ones with 33%. The permeation of H2O into the coating was also preliminarily studied by fast capacitance measurements after cyclic exposure to solutions containing chloride followed by drying, a methodology that up to date was only used for much thicker paints (≈ 300μm). It was concluded that in chloride media this method is only applicable for measurements in the first cycle, as after the first exposure, chloride ions continuously permeate into the coating during the drying phase, greatly reducing the time to pit nucleation.

Com o objetivo de desenvolver novos revestimentos mais protetores e quantificar a resistência à corrosão resultante, estudou-se a adição de caulinita em novos revestimentos híbridos a base de silanos sobre a liga de alumínio AA7075. Os revestimentos com silanos aqui estudados diferem dos relatados anteriormente na literatura, os quais usualmente contém cargas minerais apenas para a liberação de inibidores de corrosão, enquanto que os revestimentos desenvolvidos no presente estudo contém caulinita lamelar com a finalidade de barreira de difusão para espécies corrosivas. Para tanto, estudou-se primeiramente a esfoliação da caulinita e produção de filmes finos (2-3μm) por diferentes rotas de preparação pelo processo sol-gel, obtendo-se os melhores resultados com o processo envolvendo acidificação final. Os revestimentos e as partículas de caulinita processada foram caracterizados por microscopia ótica, microscopia de varredura eletrônica e difração de raios-X. A resistência à corrosão foi estudada por voltametria cíclica e cronoamperometria, em potencial aplicado entre o potencial de pite e o de repassivação. A maior resitência à corrosão por pites foi obtida para os revestimentos contendo 3% em massa de caulinita, seguido dos com 33% em massa. Estudou-se também preliminarmente a permeação de H2O no revestimento por medidas rápidas de capacitância, após exposição cíclica em soluções contendo cloreto seguidas de secagem, sendo esta metodologia empregada até o momento apenas para tintas bem mais espessas (≈ 300μm). Observou-se que o método é aplicável para medidas no primeiro ciclo de absorção de H2O, concluindo-se que após a primeira exposição, o cloreto continua difundindo, diminuindo o tempo de resistência ao pite. / Aiming to develop more protective new coatings and to quantify the resulting corrosion resistance, new hybrid coatings based on silanes with the addition of kaolinite were produced and applied on the AA7075 aluminum alloy. The studied silane coatings differ from those reported previously in the literature that usually contain mineral fillers to release corrosion inhibitors, since we here developed silane coatings contain lamellar kaolinite as a barrier against the diffusion of corrosive species. For this, we first studied the exfoliation of kaolinite, and production of thin coating (2-3μm) by different preparation routes of the sol-gel process, obtaining the best results with the process of final acidification. Coatings and processed kaolinite particles were characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The corrosion resistance was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry at potentials between that of the repassivation and of the pitting of the substrate alloy. The greatest pitting resistance was obtained for coatings with 3% kaolinite addition, followed by the ones with 33%. The permeation of H2O into the coating was also preliminarily studied by fast capacitance measurements after cyclic exposure to solutions containing chloride followed by drying, a methodology that up to date was only used for much thicker paints (≈ 300μm). It was concluded that in chloride media this method is only applicable for measurements in the first cycle, as after the first exposure, chloride ions continuously permeate into the coating during the drying phase, greatly reducing the time to pit nucleation.