Grant: Alliance Grants

The electrification of the automotive industry towards battery and fuel-efficient gasoline/hybrid vehicles represents a paradigm shift in manufacturing and vehicle design. The transition to lightweight architectures must be accelerated to compensate for the added mass of the battery while also protecting it during a vehicle collision without compromising occupant safety. Currently, 6xxx-series aluminum alloys are being incorporated into body panels but the higher strength 7xxx-series are needed to significantly lightweight the vehicle frame. There is tremendous potential for 7xxx series alloys to be used in structural components such as the A-pillar, B-pillar, roof beams and battery cases. To leverage 7xxx-series aluminum, which has traditionally been reserved for aerospace, automotive grades designed for hot forming are required to meet the demands for low cycle times, reduced quench sensitivity and high corrosion resistance. The proposed research will develop the industrial hot forming process parameters along with the experimental and numerical modelling strategies required to design the forming process and predict the crash performance of a novel 7xxx series alloy, denoted C7M7. The principal outcomes of the research are: (i) optimization of the thermo-mechanical processing routes with an emphasis upon heating rate, solutionization time, quench sensitivity and stabilization after forming; (ii) development of accurate characterization methodologies for anisotropic plasticity and hot formability (iii) practical application and critical assessment of die coatings and runnability of the C7M7 in industrial process conditions and run rates and (iv) full-scale evaluation from forming-to-crash using a structural channnel technology demonstrator to evaluate side-impact crash scenarios. Advanced finite-element models will be developed in each phase of the project to showcase the potential of the C7M7 alloy for commercialization and application by the industry partners, Honda, Arconic and Magna.