Search Results

Abstract This article presents a strategy for the virtual calibration of a large-scale model representing a self-piercing rivet (SPR) connection. The connection is formed between a stack of three AA6016-T4 aluminum sheets and one SPR. The calibration process involves material characterization, a detailed riveting process simulation, virtual joint unit tests, and the final large-scale model calibration. The virtual tests were simulated by detailed solid element FE models of the joint unit. These detailed models were validated using experimental tests, namely peeling, single-lap joint, and cross-tests. The virtual parameter calibration was compared to the experimental calibration and finally applied to component test simulations. The article contains both experiments and numerical models to characterize the mechanical behavior of the SPR connection under large deformation and failure.

Multiple experimental studies were performed on galling intiation for variety of tooling materials, coatings and surface treatments, sheet materials with various surface textures and lubrication. Majority of studies were performed for small number of samples in laboratory conditions. In this paper, the methodology of screening experiment using different combinations of tooling configurations and sheet material in the lab followed by the high volume small scale U-bend performed in the progressive die on the mechanical press is discussed. The experimental study was performed to understand the effect of the interface between the sheet metal and the die surface on sheet metal flow during stamping operations. Aluminum sheet AA5754 2.5mm thick was used in this experimentation. The sheet was tested in laboratory conditions by pulling between two flat insert with controllable clamping force and through the drawbead system with variable radii of the female bead.

Electrification is the future of the automotive industry and with the rapid growth of Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) market, battery protection becomes more and more crucial. Side pole impact is one of the most challenging safety load cases. Rocker assembly, as the first line of defense, plays a significant role during the event. This paper proposes Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Tube as Reinforcement (C-STARTM) protection as an application for rocker reinforcement. For a component level assessment, three-point bending is used as a testing method to replicate pole impact. The performance is compared with aluminum baseline with respect to peak force and energy absorption. Test and CAE simulations have been performed and a well calibrated CAE model is utilized to predict the robustness of various steel designs using different grades, gauges and geometries.

The design of lightweight vehicle structures has become a common method for automotive manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency and decrease carbon emission of their products. By using aluminum instead of steel, manufacturers can reduce the weight of a vehicle while still maintaining the required strength and stiffness. Currently, Resistance Spot Welding (RSW) is used extensively to join steel body panels but presents challenges when applied to aluminum. When compared to steel, RSW of aluminum requires frequent electrode cleaning, higher energy usage, and more controlled welding parameters, which has driven up the cost of manufacturing. Due to the increased cost associated with RSW of aluminum, Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding (RFSSW) is being considered as an alternative to RSW for joining aluminum body panels. RFSSW consumes less energy, requires less maintenance, and produces more consistent welding in aluminum as compared to RSW.

The phenomenon of drop-wall interaction plays a crucial role in a wide range of industrial applications. When liquid droplets come into contact with a high-temperature surface, it can lead to thermal shock due to rapid temperature fluctuations. This abrupt temperature change can generate thermal stress within the solid wall material. If the thermal stress exceeds the material's strength in that specific stress mode, it can result in material failure. Therefore, it is imperative to delve into the evolving temperature patterns on high-temperature surfaces to optimize material durability. This study focuses on investigating drop-wall interactions within the context of engine environments. To achieve this, the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is employed to simulate the impact of fuel droplets on a silicon nitride wall. The goal is to understand the heat transfer mechanisms, thermal penetration depths, and temperature distributions within the heated wall.

Battery packs of electric vehicles are typically composed of lithium-ion batteries with aluminum and copper acting as cell terminals. These terminals are joined together in series by means of connector tabs to produce sufficient power and energy output. Such critical electrical and structural cell terminal connections involve several challenges when joining thin, highly reflective and dissimilar materials with widely differing thermo-mechanical properties. This may involve potential deformation during the joining process and the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds that reduce conductivity and deteriorate mechanical properties. Among various joining techniques, laser welding has demonstrated significant advantages, including the capability to produce joints with low electrical contact resistance and high mechanical strength, along with high precision required for delicate materials like aluminum and copper.

FMVSS No. 205, “Glazing Materials,” uses impact test methods specified in ANSI/SAE Z26.1-1996. NHTSA’s Vehicle Research and Test Center initiated research to evaluate a subset of test methods from ANSI Z26.1-1996 including the 227 gram ball and shot bag impact tests, and the fracture test. Additional research was completed to learn about potential changes to tempered glass strength due to the ceramic paint area (CPA), and to compare the performance of twelve by twelve inch flat samples and full-size production parts. Glass evaluated included tempered rear quarter, sunroof, and backlight glazing. Samples with a paint edge were compared to samples without paint, and to production parts with and without paint in equivalent impact tests. A modified shot bag with stiffened sidewalls was compared to the ANSI standard shot bag. The fracture test comparison included evaluating the ANSI Z26.1 impact location and ECE R43 impact location.

As data science technologies are being widely applied on various industries, the importance of data itself increased. A typical manufacturer company has a vast data set of products as 2D&3D drawing formats, but a common problem was that building a database from the 2D&3D drawings costs much, and it is hard to update the database after it once built. Also, it is high-cost job when the new factor researched and necessary to investigate the new factors on previously fixed or uploaded drawings. As new products are developed with time, these problems are getting more difficult. In this paper, an automated database building method using CATIA introduced and future probabilities are suggested. An aluminum wheel part was used as an example. An automated logic used CATIA V5’s VBA functions and was handled by python programming language.

The Electroimpact Automatic Fan Cowl Riveter exhibits new and unique design features and automated process capabilities that address and overcome three primary technical challenges. The first challenge is satisfying the customer-driven requirement to access the entire fastening area of the fan cowl doors. This necessitates a unique machine design which is capable of fitting ‘inside’ a fan cowl door radius. The second challenge is determining drill geometry and drill process parameters which can produce consistent and high-quality countersunk holes in varying mixed-metal stack-up combinations consisting of aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel. The third challenge is providing the capability of fully automatic wet installation of hollow-ended titanium rivets.

This SAE Recommended Practice provides an orderly series for designating the thickness of unocated and coated hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheet and strip. This document also provides methods for specifying thickness tolerances.

Solid rods of dissimilar metals are easily welded by friction welding. This process is a solid-state process where no fumes or gases are released which is friendly to the environment. In advanced engineering practice, joining Titanium (Ti) alloy and stainless steel (SS) is very important due to poor bonding strength in direct joining. These materials are easily joined by an interlayer technique using materials like nickel, silver, niobium, aluminum, and copper. Special surface geometry techniques hold the interlayer materials between dissimilar metals in different forms like coating, foils, and solid metals. In this investigation, the finite element method is used for modeling the process, and the Johnson-cook equation was used to find the analysis of output values with the defined material properties. The heat generated is calculated and numerically compared and analyzed with experimental results. Observations such as metallography, hardness, and tensile test were studied.

Magnesium and its alloys are promising engineering materials with broad potential applications in the automotive, aerospace, and biomedical fields. These materials are prized for their lightweight properties, impressive specific strength, and biocompatibility. However, their practical use is often hindered by their low wear and corrosion resistance. Despite their excellent mechanical properties, the high strength-to-weight ratio of magnesium alloys necessitates surface protection for many applications. In this particular study, we employed the plasma spraying technique to enhance the low corrosion resistance of the AZ91D magnesium alloy. We conducted a wear analysis on nine coated samples, each with a thickness of 6mm, to assess their tribological performance. To evaluate the surface morphology and microstructure of the dual-phase treated samples, we employed scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

Aluminium composites are remarkably used in automotive, aerospace, and agricultural sectors because of their lightweight with definable mechanical properties. The stir casting route was followed to fabricate cylindrical samples with base aluminium alloy LM4, LM4/SiC, LM4/Al2O3, and LM4/SiC/Al2O3. The tensile strength, compressive strength, hardness, and micro-structural analysis were performed on samples and Finite element analysis (FEA) was adopted to predict the failure modes of composites. The composites experimental results were found to be in line with the FEA results, however, the LM4/SiC/Al2O3 revealed better results on the mechanical properties when compared with other composite configurations. The mechanical properties improvement like hardness 5%-11%, tensile strength 10.26%-20.67%, compressive strength 15.19% - 32.58% and 71.52 - 82.1% reduction in dimension have been achieved in LM4/SiC/Al2O3 composite comparing to base metal.

Metal matrix composite processing allows the possibility of improving both mechanical and damping properties by selecting reinforcements which have high damping characteristics, hardness and strength. In this work, the effect of disperse SiC as passive agents on the dynamic properties such as damping ratio, loss factor and effect of damping factor on Al7075/Al2O3/SiC composite machinability was studied. The composite samples were fabricated as Al7075/5%Al2O3, Al7075/5%Al2O3/5%SiC, Al7075/5%Al2O3/10%SiC and Al7075/5%Al2O3/15%SiC as well subsequently experimented. The dynamic properties were found using free vibration test approach and the hysteresis loop method. Further, the machinability in end milling operation was accessed by experimentation with the surface finish as the parameter under scrutiny. The composite Al7075/5%Al2O3/5%SiC has better damping ratio comparing to others, also the composite with the best damping capacity produces a fine surface finish during machining.

Fly ash is a light byproduct produced when pulverized coal is burnt in suspension-fueled furnaces in power plants. Separating the recovered fly ash from the exhaust gases. Due to its distinct physical and chemical properties, it is utilized in a wide variety of industrial and building applications. These applications include the production of cement and concrete, the stabilization of liquid waste, and hydraulic mining backfill. Fly ash has the potential to enhance the physical and mechanical properties of aluminum castings, as well as reduce their costs and increase their densities, all while lowering their prices. This research investigated the effect of fly ash incorporation on the mechanical properties of the aluminum casting alloy ZA8. Investigated were the cast and heat-treated varieties of unreinforced ZA8 and its metal matrix composite of 15% ferrous, 20% nickel, 10% fly ash, and 10% magnesium carbide.

The microstructure of the alloy and the manner in which it responds to heat treatment has been investigated. The alloy was aged at 550OC when it was initially spray-formed, or when its thickness was decreased by 38%. Before further aging of some specimens, a four-hour solution treatment at 1015OC was performed. The subsequent phase was a cold deformation that was barely 60% of the sample's initial thickness. The alloys' electrical conductivity and hardness may be evaluated based on how long they had been created. Following solution treatment and cold rolling, the alloy's peak hardness was around 380 kgf/mm2. In samples aged immediately under spray-produced conditions, the maximum peak hardness of 255 kgf/mm2 was attained. Conductivities in freshly cold-rolled samples could reach up to 75% of the standard for annealed copper internationally. It looks at the microstructural features of this alloy in this context, paying close attention to how various processing conditions affect them.

The increased adoption of AA2014 Aluminum alloy within the manufacturing sector can be attributed to its lightweight properties and other attributes that position it as an appealing substitute for steel. Notably, AA2014 Aluminum alloy is employed in the production of components and frameworks for aircraft engines. However, conventional welding techniques do not always seamlessly apply to aluminum alloys due to aluminum's high thermal conductivity, pronounced susceptibility to oxidation, and comparatively low melting point. These characteristics can give rise to challenges such as burn-through and porosity during welding. To tackle these issues, the application of friction stir welding (FSW), a solid-state welding method, has been embraced. In the creation of lap joints, five distinct tools, each featuring a different ratio of tool shoulder diameter (D) to pin diameter (d), ranging from 2 to 4, were employed.

Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) made of the aluminium as base metal is now being used in diversed applications due to its extended properties. The physical, chemical, mechanical and structural properties make it as irresistible in the engineering applications. Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) based on aluminium have increased in popular in various applications including aerospace, car, space, transportation, and undersea applications.. In this study, Al LM25/SiCp MMC was fabricated using a low-cost stir casting technique, and the weight percentage of SiCp was varied from 4% to 8% to prepare the MMC plates. The aim of the research was to investigate the mechanical properties of the specimen, including hardness, tensile, and impact tests. The microstructure of the specimens is investigated which shows the bonding between the particles which is fabricated by Stir casting method. The sample 2 has better mechanical properties when it is compared with other specimens.

The wide applications of aluminum composites in the defense, automotive and aerospace industries interest researchers in developing hybrid nanocomposites with specific properties such as high strength, hardness, and wear resistance. The aluminum was reinforced by silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles with a constant weight composition, and the spark plasma sintering process fabricated zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) nanoparticles with a different weight composition. The hybrid composite material’s density, porosity, and hardness were assessed using the SEM images of composites and hybrid nanocomposites that were effectively created by the sintering process without particle agglomeration. A pin-on-disc device was used for the wear test, with different input parameters such as weight (20, 25, 30, and 35 N), varying sliding distance (300, 500, 700 and 900m) and diverse sliding speeds (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 m/sec).

The requirement for lightweight, high-performance materials with higher wear resistance, which is critical in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and consumer-related sectors, has fueled the development of particle reinforced metal matrix composites (PRMCs). These materials are an appealing alternative for a broad variety of scientific and technological applications due to their remarkable mechanical qualities and low cost. The primary goal of developing metal matrix composite materials is to combine the favorable properties of metals and ceramics. This study included several experimental experiments to explore the behavior of stir-cast composites made of aluminum grade 6063 with varying amounts of SiC, Al2O3, and TiO2 reinforcements.