Extension of Process Limits in High‐Strength Aluminum Forming by Local Contact Heating

The aluminum alloy EN AW‐7075 T6 is used in the automotive sector for its favorable strength‐to‐weight ratio. However, the limited cold formability is currently addressed by energy‐ and time‐consuming temperature‐assisted processes. In order to limit the effort to critical forming areas only, the state‐of‐the‐art shows promising results for increasing the blank temperature in the range of warm forming. The design of new processes in an industrial context requires appropriate numerical simulation with inherent complexity due to time‐ and temperature‐dependent effects. Herein, the potential of a newly developed tool setup and process chain with integrated local contact heating of the EN AW‐7075 T6 blank is investigated on the basis of a curved hat profile. A thermomechanically coupled FE model of the process is developed and validated. The influence of the local heating layout is analyzed in experimental forming tests and a corresponding process window is derived. The influence of local heating on the occurring failure mechanisms is discussed based on simulation results. The equivalent plastic strain evolution is successfully used to evaluate the local heating dependent failure behavior. A significant increase in the overall formability of the part is achieved by the proposed process chain. A tool and process integrated Local Heating Unit (LHU) is used to locally raise the blank temperature to warm forming condition. The influence of the LHUs on the plastic deformation is analyzed using a validated FE model. Significant improvements in the formability S‐shaped hat profiles of high‐strength aluminum alloy EN AW 7075‐T6 are achieved.