Aluminum alloy products exhibiting improved bond durability and methods of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11649529-B2
Application number	US-201816168016-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 23, 2018
Priority date	Dec 21, 2017
Publication date	May 16, 2023
Grant date	May 16, 2023

Abstract

Disclosed are aluminum alloy products and methods of making and processing such products. Thus, disclosed are aluminum alloy products exhibiting controllable surface properties, including excellent bond durability, low contact resistance, and corrosion resistance. Aluminum alloy products described herein include a migrant element, a subsurface portion having a concentration of the migrant element, and a bulk portion having a concentration of the migrant element. The aluminum alloy product comprises an enrichment ratio of 4.0 or less, wherein the enrichment ratio is a ratio of the migrant element concentration in the subsurface portion to the concentration in the bulk portion. Additionally, the aluminum alloy products surface and/or subsurface can contain phosphorus (e.g., elemental phosphorus or oxidized phosphorus). The phosphorus containing surface provides reduced electronic stress on an electrode tip of a resistance spot welding apparatus, and an extended service lifetime (e.g., weld cycles to failure) of the electrode tip.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aluminum alloy product, comprising:
one or more migrant elements, the one or more migrant elements comprising at least Mg as a first migrant element and Si as a second migrant element;
a subsurface portion having a first peak concentration of the first migrant element and a second peak concentration of the second migrant element, wherein the subsurface portion comprises a thickness from a surface of the aluminum alloy product to a depth of about 5 μm or less within an interior of the aluminum alloy product; and
a bulk portion having a first bulk concentration of the first migrant element and a second bulk concentration of the second migrant element, wherein the first peak concentration of the first migrant element in the subsurface portion is higher than the first bulk concentration of the first migrant element in the bulk portion and wherein the second peak concentration of the second migrant element in the subsurface portion is higher than the second bulk concentration of the second migrant element in the bulk portion, and
wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a first enrichment ratio of the first migrant element and a second enrichment ratio of the second migrant element, wherein the first enrichment ratio is from about 1.5 to about 4.0 and wherein the second enrichment ratio is from about 1.5 to about 4.0, wherein an enrichment ratio is defined as a ratio of a peak concentration of a migrant element in the subsurface portion to a bulk concentration of the migrant element in the bulk portion.

2. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise an additional migrant element, wherein the additional migrant element is at least one of Zn or Cu, and wherein the additional migrant element has an additional enrichment ratio of from about 1.0 to about 4.0.

3. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the subsurface portion comprises a thickness from the surface of the aluminum alloy product to a depth of about 2 μm or less within the interior of the aluminum alloy product.

4. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the subsurface portion comprises a thickness from the surface of the aluminum alloy product to a depth of about 0.5 μm or less within the interior of the aluminum alloy product.

5. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the first enrichment ratio is 2.0 or less.

6. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 7xxx series aluminum alloy, a 6xxx series aluminum alloy, a 5xxx series aluminum alloy, or a 2xxx series aluminum alloy.

7. The aluminum alloy product of claim 6 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 6xxx series aluminum alloy.

8. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Zn as a third migrant element and Cu as a fourth migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 1.0 to about 4.0 and wherein the fourth migrant element has a fourth enrichment ratio of from about 1.0 to about 4.0.

9. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Cr as a third migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

10. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Fe as a third migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

11. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Zn as a third migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

12. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Mn as a third migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

13. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Cr as a third migrant element and Fe as a fourth migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0 and wherein the fourth migrant element has a fourth enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

14. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Cr as a third migrant element and Zn as a fourth migrant element, wherein the third migrant element has a third enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0 and wherein the fourth migrant element has a fourth enrichment ratio of from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

15. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 7xxx series aluminum alloy.

16. The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the subsurface portion includes Cu dispersoids or particles less than about 10 nm in diameter.

17. An aluminum alloy product, comprising:
one or more migrant elements, the one or more migrant elements comprising at least Cr as a first migrant element and Mg as a second migrant element;
a subsurface portion having a first peak concentration of the first migrant element and a second peak concentration of the second migrant element, wherein the subsurface portion comprises a thickness from an exterior surface of the aluminum alloy product to a depth of from 0.01 μm to 5 μm within an interior of the aluminum alloy product; and
a bulk portion having a first bulk concentration of the first migrant element and a second bulk concentration of the second migrant element,
wherein the first peak concentration of the first migrant element in the subsurface portion is higher than the first bulk concentration of the first migrant element in the bulk portion, wherein the second peak concentration of the second migrant element in the subsurface portion is higher than the second bulk concentration of the second migrant element in the bulk portion, and wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a first enrichment ratio of the first migrant element from about 4.1 to about 8.0 and a second enrichment ratio of the second migrant element from about 1.5 to about 4.0, wherein an enrichment ratio is defined as a ratio of a peak concentration of a migrant element in the subsurface portion to a bulk concentration of the migrant element in the bulk portion.

18. The aluminum alloy product of claim 17 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise an additional migrant element, wherein the additional migrant element is at least one of Cu, Mn, or Fe, wherein the additional migrant element has an additional peak concentration in the subsurface portion and an additional bulk concentration in the bulk portion, wherein the additional peak concentration is higher than the additional bulk concentration, wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises an additional enrichment ratio of the additional migrant element, and wherein the additional enrichment ratio is from about 4.1 to about 8.0.

19. The aluminum alloy product of claim 17 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 6xxx series aluminum alloy or a 5xxx series aluminum alloy.

20. The aluminum alloy product of claim 19 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 6xxx series aluminum alloy.

21. The aluminum alloy product of claim 17 , wherein the one or more migrant elements further comprise Fe as a third migrant element, wherein the aluminum alloy

Assignees

• Novelis Inc

Inventors

• Li Liangliang
• MacFarlane Theresa Elizabeth
• Das Sazol Kumar
• Redmond Peter Lloyd
• Son Changook
• Zhu Dewei
• Yuan Yudie
• Vega Luis Fanor
• Felberbaum Milan
• Malpica Julio
• Paradis Brian
• Manavbasi Alp
• Lin Dechao

Classifications

• C23G1/125

  aluminium · CPC title

• C23G1/22

  Light metals · CPC title

• C23F1/36

  for etching aluminium or alloys thereof · CPC title

• C23F1/20

  for etching aluminium or alloys thereof · CPC title

• C22C21/02

  with silicon as the next major constituent · CPC title