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The aluminum alloy 2036 is presently being used in the production of automotive body panels. In the study presented, specimens of 2036-T4 with varying crystallographic textures were subjected to tensile testing and limiting dome height (LDH) evaluations in an effort to gauge the effect of texture on formability and stamping performance. To describe the texture, relative magnitudes of ideal texture components were derived from the orientation distribution function. Finite element analysis was used to study the effect of anisotropic properties due to texture on thinning in the LDH test. The impact of textural character on formability is discussed.

Aluminum use for automotive body sheet applications is growing. This growth requires improvement of related joining processes and technology. Resistance spot welding will be one of the major joining technologies used in assembling automobiles. When spot welding aluminum, electrode tip life is limited by tip erosion and pickup of aluminum on the tip. Increasing weld current improves weld strength (to a limit), however this reduces tip life. This study examines the control variables in the resistance spot welding process and offers an improved weld schedule to achieve desired weld properties while maximizing tip life. First, the limits of weld parameters where satisfactory welds can be obtained are determined. A window of tip force and weld current is established for a given material and tip geometry. These limits are used to optimize the weld schedule in terms of tip life. Spot welds fail on the basis of shear strength, button diameter or peel rate.