Flexible rolling of aluminium alloy sheet-Process optimization and control of materials properties

In the present paper, the status of the process and materials development of Al-TRB is presented and the prospective of the future development is outlined. First, the possible development directions are addressed, followed by an outline of the process chain for the Al-TRB fabrication together with several application examples. Considering work-hardening AA 5xxx series and age-hardening AA 6xxx series alloys for automotive applications, lab-scale experiments have been conducted in order to elucidate the range of properties which can be realized through flexible rolling while maintaining reproducible constant materials properties according to specification. Large-scale trials were performed to demonstrate that the manufacturing of Al-TRBs is feasible, in that these alloys can be processed in industrial scale to provide homogeneous materials properties over the relevant thickness range for automotive applications.