Examination of Buckling Behavior of Thin-Walled Al-Mg-Si Alloy Extrusions

Abstract

To achieve the combination of improved crash tolerance and maximum strength in aluminium automotive extrusions, a research program was carried out. The main objective was to study AA6063 alloy thin-walled square tubes' buckling behavior under axial quasi-static load after various artificial aging treatments. Variables included cooling rate after solid solution treatment, duration of the 1st stage of artificial aging and time and temperature of the 2nd stage of artificial aging. Metallography and tensile testing were employed for developing deeper knowledge on the effect of the aging process parameters. FEM analysis with the computer code LS-DYNA was supplementary applied for deformation mode investigation and crashworthiness prediction. Results showed that data from actual compression tests and numerical modeling were in considerable agreement.