Research Article

Hot stamping of an Al-Li alloy: a feasibility study

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
² AVIC Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute, Beijing 100024, China

^* Corresponding author: liliang.wang@imperial.ac.uk

Received: 30 September 2015
Accepted: 28 February 2016

Abstract

The feasibility of forming a third generation aluminium-lithium alloy (AA2060) into a complex shaped panel component, was studied by using an advanced forming technology called solution heat treatment, cold die forming and in-die quenching (HFQ^a) process. The main challenges using HFQ technology to form complex shaped AA2060 component was to find out optimum forming parameters, such as forming temperature, forming speed, lubrication condition and blank holding force. In this paper, the optimum forming temperature was mainly concerned. The flow stresses of AA2060 were obtained at different temperatures ranging from 350 to 520 °C at the strain rate of 2 s⁻¹. The suitable temperature to achieve the adequate ductility was found at 470 °C. By forming the AA2060 blanks at the optimum forming temperature, experimental results exhibited the feasibility for forming complex-shaped AA2060 components. The formed components were analysed through strain measurements. The post-form mechanical properties of AA2060 were assessed using hardness and tensile tests.