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Ultrasonic shot peening (USP) is widely used for materials surface strengthening and metal sheet forming as a novel mechanical surface treatment technology. The USP-caused surface roughness is usually viewed as an unfavorable factor influencing the service performance of the mechanical components treated by USP. Taking advantages of the experimental investigation, analytical calculation and finite element simulation, the correlation between the USP-caused surface roughness and the USP-induced metal sheet forming deformation is studied comprehensively. Firstly, the USP intensity was experimentally tested by USP of Almen strips. In accordance with the USP intensity, the experimental investigations on the evolutions of surface roughness caused by USP of 2024 aluminum alloy sheets with the thicknesses of 1 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm were carried out, respectively. An analytical calculation model (ACM) was then proposed to account for the effects of the USP-induced metal sheet forming deformation on the USP-caused surface roughness. The analytically-calculated results are in good agreement with the experimentally-measured surface roughness caused by USP of 2024 aluminum alloy sheets. Lastly, linking the finite element simulation of the USP-induced metal sheet forming with the analytical calculation model, an innovative FEM-ACM coupling approach was presented for predicting the evolutions of surface roughness caused by USP of metal sheets. It has been experimentally validated with USP of 2024 aluminum alloy sheets, and would be of great significance for the development and industrial application of USP technology.

2319 aluminum alloy parts was prepared by wire arc additive manufacturing technology. The corrosion properties of additively manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy and 2219 aluminum alloy sheets were systematically investigated by electrochemical tests and localized corrosion tests. The results of electrochemical tests showed that the 2219 aluminum alloy sheet has a lower corrosion current density than the additively manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy. Localized corrosion test results indicated that the additively manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy exhibited a higher intergranular corrosion depth and more severe corrosion morphology than the 2219 aluminum alloy sheet. This suggests that the 2219 aluminum alloy sheet has higher corrosion resistance than the additively manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy. The poor corrosion resistance of additively manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy could be attributed to the formation of a coarse continuous Al2Cu phase along the grain boundary. Based on this, heat treatment was used to dissolve the Al2Cu, which can effectively improve the corrosion resistance of additively manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy to the same level as that of the 2219 aluminum alloy sheet.

The hot tensile deformation behavior of 7075 aluminum alloy sheet was studied using Gleeble-3800 thermal simulation machine at deformation temperatures of 400–475 °C and strain rates of 0.001∼1s−1. Microstructure evolution and fracture morphology were observed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hyperbolic sine model is used to establish the constitutive equation of the relationship between peak stress and Z parameter. The results show that the hyperbolic sine Arrhenius constitutive equation can well characterize the flow behavior of the studied alloy, and the hot deformation activation energy is 132.52 kJ/mol. The average relative error between the predicted and experimental values is only 4.58%, and r2 is as high as 0.988, indicating that there is good consistency between the experimental value and the predicted value. When the strain rate keeps unchanged, the elongation of the studied alloy shows an upward trend in the lower deformation temperature range (400–425 °C). When the deformation temperature continued to rise to 475 °C, the elongation of the studied alloy decreased sharply. Based on the analysis of fracture morphology, a large number of dimples can be observed at 450 °C/0.001s−1, which is a typical ductile fracture. With increasing of deformation temperatures, the fracture mechanism gradually changes from ductile fracture to brittle fracture. Under the condition of 425 °C/0.01s−1, there are a lot of dislocations in the alloy, and the dislocation walls are formed. With the increase of deformation temperatures or the decrease of strain rates, the dislocation density gradually decreases and dynamic recrystallization occurs. The softening mechanism of the studied alloy changes from dynamic recovery to dynamic recrystallization.

6061-T6 aluminum alloy plate (3 × 150 × 300 mm3) was welded by tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. The welding process methods are single-pass welding process and full welding process respectively. The effects of different welding processes on the performance of TIG welding 6061-T6 aluminum alloy were compared and studied. The effects of microstructure and precipitation on the microhardness and tensile strength were analyzed by optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) characterization, electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) characterization, microhardness and tensile test. The microstructure of the weld zone is mainly composed of aluminum solid solution (α-Al) dendritic structure and Al–Si eutectic structure. Through EBSD characterization analysis, the average grain size of the weld zone of the full welding process and the single-pass welding process is about 45 μm and 55 μm, and the grain size of the heat-affected zone and the weld zone of the two welded joints does not change significantly. The hardness curves of the two welded joints have the same distribution trend, which is roughly 'W' type distribution. In the tensile test, the tensile strength of the single pass welding process is lower than that of the full welding process, and the fracture of the tensile parts is dimple structure, which is ductile fracture. Through analysis and comparative study, the full welding process is better than the single-pass welding process when welding 6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheet.

In the roll-hemming forming process of door cover, the non-metallic flanging adhesive and the interaction between light metal and flanging adhesive will affect the manufacturing accuracy and performance of the door cover, and increase the difficulty of roll-hemming forming and quality control of automobile body sheet with adhesive. Therefore, a numerical analysis model for roll-hemming forming of aluminum alloy sheet with adhesive was proposed based on the finite element method and the smooth particle hydrodynamic (FEM-SPH) method. First, SPH was used to simulate the extrusion flow process of the flanging adhesive, and a roll-hemming simulation model of sheet metal with adhesive was established in combination with FEM. Then, an experimental platform for two-pass roll-hemming forming of aluminum alloy sheet with adhesive was built, and the roll-hemming loss and surface wave coefficient were taken as the roll-hemming forming quality index to analysis and verify the validity of the numerical model. After that, the quality change between the first pass and the last pass and the key process parameters affecting quality were studied based on the orthogonal test method. Finally, the fitting relationship between roll-hemming forming quality and process parameters was established. The results show that the roll-hemming loss and the surface wave coefficient of the last pass are reduced compared with the first pass. The process parameters that affect the surface wave coefficient in descending order are flanging height, fillet radius, TCP-RTP value, and roller diameter. The process parameters that affect the roll-hemming loss in descending order are TCP-RTP value, fillet radius, flanging height, and roller diameter. The fitting relationship can support the prediction of roll-hemming forming quality of aluminum alloy sheet with adhesive.

In this study, the ductile damage responses of high-strength 7000 series aluminum alloy (AA), AA 7075-T6 sheet samples, subjected to the plane strain deformation mode were investigated using finite element (FE) simulations. In the experiments, uniaxial tension (UT) and plane strain tension (PST) tests were conducted to characterize the plasticity and ductile damage behavior of the AA 7075-T6 sheet samples. The limiting dome height (LDH) and V-die air bending tests were conducted to evaluate the ductility of the material subjected to plastic deformation and friction between the tools, and the corresponding fractured samples were qualitatively analyzed in terms of dimples using fractography. FE simulations were performed to predict the ductility of the AA 7075-T6 sheet samples under plane strain deformation using an enhanced Gurson−Tvergaard−Needleman (GTN) model, namely the GTN-shear model. The model was improved by adding the shear dimple effect to the original GTN model. The predicted results in terms of the load–displacement curves and displacements at the onset of failure were in good agreement with experimental data from the aforementioned tests. Furthermore, virtual roll forming simulations were conducted using the GTN-shear model to determine the effect of the prediction on ductile behavior for industrial applications.