Digital Image Correlation Characterization and Formability Analysis of Aluminum Alloy TWB during Forming

Materials (Basel). 2022 Jul 31;15(15):5291. doi: 10.3390/ma15155291.

Abstract

The formability of aluminum alloy 5754-O tailor-welded blanks prepared by friction stir welding was studied experimentally. The strain evolution and deformation during limiting dome height experiments were studied using digital image correlation and the ARAMIS software. The influence of the sheet thickness of the base materials on the punch loading, fracture strain and formability were investigated experimentally. It was found that the punch loading, fracture strain and limiting dome height values increase with the increasing sheet thickness of the base materials. A linear relationship between the limiting dome height value and the sheet thickness was demonstrated. An increase of 16.8% in the fracture strain of aluminum tailor-welded blanks was observed for an increase of 36% in sheet thickness. This paper provides a methodology for experimentally determining the forming limits of aluminum alloy tailor-welded blanks accurately.

Keywords: digital image correlation; formability; limiting dome height.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, grant numbers 2021JJ30205 and 2021RC1008; the Hunan Provincial Education Department, grant number 19A122; and the Hunan Institute of Technology, grant numbers JY201935 and 2019HY025.