Impact compressive behavior of deep-drawn cups consisting of aluminum/duralumin multi-layered graded structures

This study aims to investigate impact compressive behavior of deep-drawn cups consisting of aluminum (A1050)/duralumin (A2017) multi-layered structures, which are fabricated by hot rolling. Such multi-layered structures are possibly used for a new type of crash boxes in automobiles to effectively absorb impact energy. The effect of heat treatments on micro-Vickers hardness gradients at the interfaces between layers in 2 and 6-layered aluminum/duralumin structures have been investigated. Impact compressive behavior of deep-drawn cups consisting of such aluminum/duralumin multi-layered graded structures has been studied in terms of energy absorption, maximum force and maximum displacement with examination based on micro-Vickers hardness results. Deep-drawn cups consisting of 6-layerd clad structures with gradient properties exhibited superior impact compressive characteristics to be effective in application to vehicle crash absorbers.