Method for producing a motor vehicle component from a 6000-series aluminum alloy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11773476-B2
Application number	US-202016776884-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2020
Priority date	Jan 31, 2019
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for producing a motor vehicle component from a 6000-series aluminum alloy having the following method steps: providing a blank made of a 6000-series aluminum alloy, rapid heating of the blank by means of contact plates to a temperature between 450° C. and 600° C. in a time less than 20 seconds, ending of the heating procedure and optional homogenizing when a grain size between 20 and 50 μm has resulted, quenching the blank thus tempered to a temperature less than or equal to 100° C., in a time less than 20 seconds, wherein the rapid heating and quenching of the blank is carried out in a total time of less than 50 seconds, applying a lubricant, at 20° C. to 100° C., forming the cooled blank in a forming tool, wherein the time between beginning the rapid heating and beginning the forming is less than 45 seconds, aging.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of producing a motor vehicle component from a 6000-series aluminum alloy, the method comprising:
rapid heating of a blank comprising 6000-series aluminum alloy, using contact plates, to a temperature between 450° C. and 600° C. in a time of less than 20 seconds,
ending the rapid heating in response to obtaining a grain size between 20 and 50 μm,
quenching the blank to a temperature of less than or equal to 100° C., in a time of less than 20 seconds to form a tempered blank, the rapid heating and the quenching of the blank is performed in a total time of less than 50 seconds,
applying a lubricant at 20° C. to 100° C. to the tempered blank,
forming the tempered blank in a forming tool, the time between beginning of the rapid heating and beginning of the forming is less than 50 seconds, and
stabilizing or aging the tempered blank, wherein the 6000-series aluminum alloy comprises the following alloy elements, expressed in weight-percent:

silicon (Si)
0.60 to 1.00

magnesium (Mg)
0.65 to 0.95

copper (Cu)
0.25 to 0.90

remainder aluminum and smelting-related contaminants.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy comprises copper at 0.25-0.65.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy comprises copper at 0.65-0.90 weight-percent.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy further comprises at least one of the following alloy elements, expressed in weight-percent:

manganese (Mn)
0.10 to 0.20

chromium (Cr)
up to 0.10

titanium (Ti)
0.01 to 0.10

iron (Fe)
0.10 to 0.30.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a yield strength Rp0.2 of the 6000-series aluminum alloy tempered blank greater than 260 MPa is set from the stabilizing or the aging.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a yield strength Rp0.2 of the 6000-series aluminum alloy tempered blank greater than 320 MPa is set from the stabilizing or the aging.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a ratio of yield strength to tensile strength of the 6000-series aluminum alloy tempered blank less than or equal to 0.95 is set from the stabilizing or the aging.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the blank is in the roll-hardened state before the heating.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the heating or the quenching of the 6000-series aluminum alloy is performed locally.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the heating or the quenching of the blank is with different contact pressure, or using the contact plates having different temperatures in the heating or the quenching to obtain different regions of the blank based on the different temperatures.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the heating is performed by contact heating at a heating rate greater than 20 K/s.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the contact plates comprise a coating.

13. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising cooling, wherein the heating, the cooling, and/or the forming is performed in multiple stages.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy comprises the following alloy components, expressed in weight-percent:

silicon (Si)
0.60 to 1.00, preferably 0.60 to 0.90

magnesium (Mg)
0.65 to 0.95

copper (Cu)
0.25 to 0.90

manganese (Mn)
0.10 to 0.20

chromium (Cr)
up to 0.10

titanium (Ti)
0.01 to 0.10

iron (Fe)
0.10 to 0.30

remainder aluminum and smelting-related contaminants,
wherein the heating of the blank is a heating rate of greater than 4 K/s,

the quenching of the blank is at a cooling rate of greater than 10 K/s, and
cold forming of the motor vehicle component is performed within less than 50 seconds after the heating.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the motor vehicle component comprises a yield strength Rp0.2 of greater than 260 MPa and a ratio of yield strength to tensile strength of less than or equal to 0.95 and is selected from the group consisting of:
a motor vehicle column,
a tunnel, longitudinal beam or crossbeam,
a rocker panel,
a door frame, reinforcements and stiffening elements, and
a battery mount, frame, reinforcements and/or stiffening elements.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a yield strength Rp0.2 of the 6000-series aluminum alloy tempered blank greater than 280 MPa and less than 340 MPa is set.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a yield strength Rp0.2 of the 6000-series aluminum alloy tempered blank greater than 280 MPa and less than 320 MPa is set.

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the heating of the blank is at a heating rate greater than 15 K/s.

19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the quenching of the blank is at a cooling rate greater than 15 K/s.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy comprises the following alloy elements, expressed in weight-percent:

silicon (Si)
0.60 to 0.90

magnesium (Mg)
0.65 t

Assignees

• Benteler Automobiltechnik Gmbh

Inventors

• Grewe Jochem
• Jiao Feng

Classifications

• C22F1/05 Primary

  of alloys of the Al-Si-Mg type, i.e. containing silicon and magnesium in approximately equal proportions · CPC title

• B21D22/02

  Stamping using rigid devices or tools · CPC title

• C21D9/46 Primary

  for sheet metals · CPC title

• C22C21/02

  with silicon as the next major constituent · CPC title

• C22C21/08

  with silicon · CPC title