Method of producing a high-energy hydroformed structure from a 7xxx-series alloy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12319994-B2
Application number	US-201917273067-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2019
Priority date	Sep 5, 2018
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

A method of producing an integrated monolithic aluminum structure, the method includes the steps of: (a) providing an aluminum alloy plate with a predetermined thickness of at least 38.1 mm, wherein the aluminum alloy plate is a 7xxx-series alloy provided in an F-temper or an O-temper; (b) optionally pre-machining of the aluminum alloy plate to an intermediate machined structure; (c) high-energy hydroforming of the plate or optional intermediate machined structure against a forming surface of a rigid die having a contour in accordance with a desired curvature of the integrated monolithic aluminum structure, the high-energy hydroforming causing the plate or the intermediate machined structure to conform to the contour of the forming surface to at least one of a uniaxial curvature and a biaxial curvature; (d) solution heat-treating and cooling of the high-energy hydroformed structure; (e) machining and (f) ageing of the final integrated monolithic aluminum structure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of producing an integrated monolithic aluminum structure, the method comprising the steps of:
providing an aluminum alloy plate with a predetermined thickness of at least 38.1 mm, wherein the aluminum alloy plate is a 7xxx-series alloy provided in an F-temper or an O-temper;
optionally pre-machining of the aluminum alloy plate to an intermediate machined structure;
high-energy hydroforming of the plate or optional intermediate machined structure into a high-energy hydroformed structure against a forming surface of a rigid die having a contour in accordance with a desired curvature of the integrated monolithic aluminum structure, the high-energy hydroforming causing the plate or the intermediate machined structure to conform to the contour of the forming surface to at least one of a uniaxial curvature and a biaxial curvature;
solution heat-treating and cooling of the high-energy hydroformed structure;
machining of the solution heat-treated high-energy formed structure to a final machined integrated monolithic aluminum structure; and
ageing of the final integrated monolithic aluminum structure to a desired temper,
wherein said solution heat-treated structure is stress-relieved by compressive forming in a next high-energy hydroforming step.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein following solution heat-treating and cooling of the high-energy hydroformed structure, in that order, the solution heat-treated high-energy formed structure is machined to a final machined integrated monolithic aluminum structure and then aged to a desired temper.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein following solution heat-treating and cooling of the high-energy hydroformed structure, in that order, the solution heat-treated high-energy formed structure is aged to a desired temper and then machined to a final machined integrated monolithic aluminum structure.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein following solution heat-treating and cooling of the high-energy hydroformed structure, said solution heat-treated structure is stress-relieved, by compressive forming, followed by machining and ageing to a desired temper of the integrated monolithic aluminum structure.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein following solution heat-treating and cooling of the high-energy hydroformed structure, said solution heat-treated structure is stress-relieved, followed by machining and ageing to a desired temper of the integrated monolithic aluminum structure.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined thickness of the aluminum alloy plate is at least 50.8 mm.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined thickness of the aluminum alloy plate is between 38.1 mm and at most 127 mm.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the ageing of the integrated monolithic aluminum structure is to a desired temper selected from the group of: T4, T5, T6, and T7.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the ageing of the integrated monolithic aluminum structure is to a T7 temper.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the 7xxx-series aluminum alloy has a composition comprising, in wt. %:

Zn
5.0% to 9.8%,

Mg
1.0% to 3.0%,

Cu
up to 2.5%.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the 7xxx-series aluminum alloy has a composition comprising, in wt. %:

Zn
5.0% to 9.8%,

Mg
1.0% to 3.0%,

Cu
up to 2.5%

and optionally one or more elements selected from the group consisting of:

Zr
up to 0.3%,

Cr
up to 0.3%,

Mn
up to 0.45%,

Ti
up to 0.1%,

Sc
up to 0.5%,

Ag
up to 0.5%,

Fe
up to 0.25%,

Si
up to 0.25%,

impurities and balance aluminum.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the 7xxx-series aluminum alloy has a Cu-content of 1.0% to 2.5%.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the 7xxx-series aluminum alloy has a Cu-content of up to 0.3%.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the solution heat-treatment is at a temperature in a range of 400° C. to 560° C.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pre-machining and final machining comprises high-speed machining.

16. A method of producing an aircraft structural part by producing an integrated monolithic aluminum structure according to the method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Airbus Sas

Inventors

• Meyer Philippe
• Khosla Sunil
• BüRGER ACHIM
• Spangel Sabine Maria
• Bach Andreas Harald

Classifications

• C22C21/10

  with zinc as the next major constituent · CPC title

• B21D26/027

  Means for controlling fluid parameters, e.g. pressure or temperature · CPC title

• B21D26/053

  characterised by the material of the blanks · CPC title

• B21D26/02

  by applying fluid pressure · CPC title

• C22F1/053 Primary

  of alloys with zinc as the next major constituent · CPC title