Influence of heat treatment conditions on bending characteristics of 6063 aluminum alloy sheets

Bending deformation behaviors of solution treated (ST), natural aged (NA) and T6 tempered 6063 aluminum alloy sheets were studied by three-point bending tests. The changes of bending force, interior angle, bending radius and sheet thickness in the fillet region were analyzed by experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The results showed that the bending characteristics were strongly dependent on the heat treatment conditions. The T6 alloy sheets were bent more sharply and local plastic deformation occurred severely in the fillet region. However, the ST and NA alloy sheets exhibited relatively uniform bending deformation and large bending radius. The bending force of T6 alloy was the highest, followed by the NA alloy and that of the ST alloy was minimum. After unloading, as compared with the ST and NA alloys, the springback of T6 alloys was markedly larger. The aging time showed a positive sensitivity on the springback and non-uniform bending deformability. The bending characteristics are attributed to the combined effects of yield strength, yield ratio and coefficient of neutral layer.