Surface roughening behavior of Al-Mg alloys during deformation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Since the 1970's when the energy crisis became apparent, automobile manufacturers have been trying to reduce the fuel consumption of automobiles using various ways such as increasing the efficiency of engines and other components.  The recent worldwide effort to reduce environmental emissions, as prescribed in the Kyoto Accord, has made this effort more intense.  In addition, technological developments in the area of materials, have enabled automobile designers and producers to incorporate light-weight materials such as plastics and metals other than steel in several automobile components.  Recently, the possibility of employing aluminum alloys in automobile bodies widely has been introduced and aluminum producers and researchers are making efforts to develop new technologies which would make this major material substitution possible.  The present proposed research project deals with examining the variables involved with forming and heat treating a paintable aluminum automobile panel.  The aluminum alloys under consideration obtain their strength through a combination of chemical composition and heat treatment.  However, the forming processes associated with the manufacturing of these panels affect the strength of the material as does the paint-baking process.  Since appearance is also very important in this application, the corrosion behaviour characteristics and the resulting surface finish of these aluminum alloys must be established.  The proposed project will examine the corrosion behaviour of the aluminum alloys and the surface finish resulting from the manufacturing process used under consideration in detail.  More specifically, the effect of chemical composition on the corrosion resistance and the effect of surface preparation on the final finish will be established.  The results of this investigation are of interest to Alcan, a major Canadian producer of aluminum alloys, and should increase Canada's competitiveness in the global market.