Improved Formability of Aluminum Alloys using Laser Induced Hardening of Tailored Heat Treated Blanks

Tailored Heat Treated Blanks can considerably enhance the formability of fast-hardenable aluminum alloys, e.g. for car body parts. These blanks exhibit a properties distribution over the sheet plane, which is optimized for the forming operation. In this paper, the enhancement of the material strength of fast-hardenable aluminum alloys with a laser is in focus. Hereby, the working principle of the hardening is presented. Moreover, a process window for the hardening process is elaborated identifying the temperature and holding time as key parameters. Furthermore, heat treatment layouts are considered demonstrating the impact of hardening on the improvement of forming limit of fast-hardenable aluminum alloys.