A Through Process Model for High Strength Al-Mg-Si-Cu extrusion alloys

汽车行业的全球化给加拿大金属行业带来了极大的竞争压力。因此，人们越来越意识到，加拿大的公司，如里约热内卢Tinto铝业，他们必须专注于高附加值的产品，以减轻车辆的重量。目前的提案是里约热内卢Tinto铝业、滑铁卢大学和不列颠哥伦比亚大学之间的合作，以解决对高性能铝合金的需求。本项目研究含铜的高强度6xxx铝挤压合金，该合金可用于汽车和轻型卡车的各种部件。这项工作的主要目标是开发基于知识的模型，涵盖从铸造到最终热处理的整个过程。这将有助于该行业提高6xxx产品的性能和质量。所采取的方法将集中实验和最先进的建模技术相结合。这项工作的范围将从工业生产的铸态合金开始，然后包括以下几个方面的工艺：均质挤压、淬火和随后用于提高强度的热处理。对加拿大的好处包括：1)开发和向工业合作伙伴里约热内卢Tinto铝业转让特定知识；2)研究生和博士后的教育（行业已经确定需要高素质的人才）；3)UBC和滑铁卢大学在铝合金物理冶金方面扩大了国际领先的专业知识。

The globalization of the automotive sector is resulting in extreme competitive pressures on the Canadian metals sector. As a result, there is increased awareness that Canadian based companies such as Rio Tinto Aluminium that they must focus on high value added products which reduce the weight of vehicles. The current proposal is a collaboration between Rio Tinto Aluminium, the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia to address the need for higher performance aluminum alloys. This project examines high strength 6xxx aluminum extrusion alloys containing copper which can be used for a variety of parts in automobiles and light trucks. The primary objective of this work is to develop knowledge based models which span the entire process from casting to the final heat treatment. This will aid the industry to improve the properties and quality of 6xxx products. The approach taken will be a combination of focused experiments and state of the art modelling techniques. The scope of the work will start with industrially produced as-cast alloys and then encompass the following aspects of the process: homogenization extrusion, quenching and the subsequent heat treatment which is used to increase strength. The benefits to Canada include i) the development and transfer of specific knowledge to the industrial partner, Rio Tinto Aluminum, ii) the education of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (the need for highly qualified personnel has been identified by the industry) and iii) the expansion of internationally leading expertise on the physical metallurgy of aluminum alloys at UBC and Waterloo.