PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING ALUMINUM ALLOY WORKPIECE

Abstract

A process of manufacturing an aluminum alloy workpiece includes a preparation step, in which an aluminum alloy sheet, a forming die, and a handling device are prepared; an aging and forming step including a heating substep for heating the aluminum alloy sheet to a first temperature, a transferring substep for transferring the aluminum alloy sheet to the die at a second temperature, and a forming and cooling substep for forming the aluminum alloy sheet into a target shape; and an aging out of forming die step, in which the formed aluminum alloy sheet is removed from the die, is heated to a third temperature, and undergoes another aging treatment to manufacture the aluminum alloy workpiece.

Claims

1. A process of manufacturing an aluminum alloy workpiece, comprising: a preparation step, in which an aluminum alloy sheet, a forming die, and a handling device are prepared, the handling device including a transfer mechanism for at least one degree of freedom movement, and a dismountable temperature control module detachably connected to the transfer mechanism, said dismountable temperature control module having a second temperature; an aging and forming step including a heating substep, in which the aluminum alloy sheet is heated to a first temperature lower than a solid solution temperature but higher than a solid solution temperature of a Guinier-Preston Zone (G-P zone), and is then transferred to the temperature control module, a transferring substep, in which the transfer mechanism is used for transferring the aluminum alloy sheet contained in the temperature control module into the forming die, the aluminum alloy sheet being maintained at the second temperature through the temperature control module, the second temperature being lower than the solid solution temperature but higher than the solid solution temperature of the G-P zone, and a forming and cooling substep, in which the aluminum alloy sheet is formed into a target shape while cooling in the forming die; and an aging out of forming die step, in which the formed aluminum sheet is removed from the forming die, is heated to a third temperature that is lower than the solid solution temperature but higher than the solid solution temperature of the G-P zone, and then undergoes another aging treatment to manufacture the aluminum alloy workpiece.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein, in the preparation step, the aluminum alloy sheet has undergone a pre-aging treatment.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein, in the heating substep, the aluminum alloy sheet is heated to the first temperature at a rate of more than 10° C. per second.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein: in the heating substep, the first temperature is held for a period of time; in the transferring substep, the aluminum alloy sheet contained in the temperature control module is transferred into the forming die within a transport time; and the sum of the holding time of the first temperature and the transport time is 5 to 300 seconds.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein the preparation step includes a pre-processing substep, in which the aluminum alloy sheet is heated to the solid solution temperature for a period of time, followed by quenching.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein, in the heating substep, the aluminum alloy sheet is heated to the first temperature within a period of 10 to 30 minutes.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein: in the heating substep, the first temperature is held for a period of time; in the transferring substep, the aluminum alloy sheet contained in the temperature control module is transferred into the forming die within a transport time; and the sum of the holding time of the first temperature and the transport time is 5 to 20 minutes.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein, in the heating substep, the first temperature is 130 to 270° C.

9. The process of claim 1, wherein, in the aging out of forming die step, the third temperature is 170 to 190° C.

10. The process of claim 5, wherein the heating substep is conducted within 30 minutes after the pre-processing substep.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent with detailed description and figures of the embodiments:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a flow chart, illustrating the steps involved in a process of manufacturing an aluminum alloy workpiece according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a handling device used in an aging and forming step of the first embodiment;

[0015] FIG. 3 is a graph of temperature versus time, illustrating a temperature change of treating an aluminum alloy sheet with the process of the first embodiment;

[0016] FIG. 4 is a flow chart, illustrating the steps involved in a process of manufacturing an aluminum alloy workpiece according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 5 is a graph of temperature versus time, illustrating a temperature change of treating an aluminum alloy sheet with the process of the second embodiment; and

[0018] FIG. 6 is a schematic top view, illustrating a layout of a pre-processing substep in a preparation step and a heating substep of an aging and forming step of the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] It should be noted that similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure before describing the present disclosure in more detail with reference to the figures and embodiments.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, a process of manufacturing an aluminum alloy workpiece according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure includes a preparation step 11, an aging and forming step 12, and an aging out of forming die step 13.

[0021] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an aluminum alloy sheet (not shown), a forming die (not shown), and a handling device 2 are prepared in the preparation step 11.

[0022] A transfer mechanism 21 for at least one degree of freedom movement and a dismountable temperature control module 22 are included in the handling device 2. The transfer mechanism 21 includes a robotic arm 29 for detachable connection with the temperature control module 22.

[0023] The aluminum alloy sheet in the first embodiment is the AA 7075 aluminum alloy sheet with required pre-aging treatment. Furthermore, the aluminum alloy sheet is manufactured into an automotive stamping part as an example for the first embodiment. The transfer mechanism 21 and the temperature control module 22 can be connected to or separated from each other through a programmable logic control to arrange the layout of automated operations.

[0024] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the aging and forming step 12 includes a heating substep 121, a transferring substep 122, and a forming and cooling substep 123. In the heating substep 121, the aluminum alloy sheet is heated in a heating station to a first temperature lower than a solid solution temperature (T1) but higher than a solid solution temperature (T2) of a Guinier-Preston Zone (G-P zone) at a rate of more than 10° C. per second. Then, it is transferred to the temperature control module 22 of the handling device 2.

[0025] The aluminum alloy sheet is held in the heating station for a period of time at the first temperature to achieve a uniform temperature distribution and also to carry out the first aging treatment. Specifically, the first temperature is 130 to 270° C. if it is the 6000 series of aluminum alloy sheet; and, the heating temperature is 150 to 250° C. if it is the 7000 series of aluminum alloy sheet.

[0026] The AA 7075 aluminum alloy sheet of AA 7000 series aluminum alloy is taken as an example to illustrate in this embodiment, so the first temperature is set at 200° C. It is worth noting that the holding time of the first temperature is preferably to be chosen as two minutes, which is sufficient for the aluminum alloy sheet to reach a uniform temperature distribution and prepare required heat energy for the subsequent aging treatment. Especially, a strengthening phase of the aluminum alloy sheet is started precipitating and a metastable state is initially reached when the heating temperature is maintained above the solid solution temperature (T2) of the G-P zone.

[0027] In the transferring substep 122, the aluminum alloy sheet contained in the temperature control module 22 is transferred through the robotic arm 29 of the transfer mechanism 21 to the forming die within a transport time. The temperature control module 22 has a second temperature.

[0028] The aluminum alloy sheet is maintained at the second temperature in the temperature control module 22. The second temperature is lower than the solid solution temperature (T1) but higher than the solid solution temperature (T2) of the G-P zone.

[0029] The sum of the holding time of the first temperature and the transport time is 5 to 300 seconds to transfer the aluminum alloy sheet into the forming die as soon as possible to prevent the temperature of the aluminum alloy sheet from dropping. A certain formability of the aluminum alloy sheet is ensured when transferring into the forming die and thus the quality of the formed part is optimized. It is noteworthy that the forming die has to be clamped immediately after transferring the aluminum alloy sheet into the forming die to prevent the temperature of the aluminum alloy sheet from dropping after leaving the temperature control module 22.

[0030] In the forming and cooling substep 123, the aluminum alloy sheet is held in the forming die for more than 5 seconds to be formed into a desired shape under condition of improved formability, and the aluminum alloy sheet is formed into a target shape while cooling in the forming die. That is, in the forming and cooling substep 123, an aluminum alloy plate is formed during the aging process.

[0031] In the aging out of forming die step 13, the formed part is removed from the forming die and is heated in another heating station to a third temperature, which is lower than the solid solution temperature (T1) but higher than the solid solution temperature (T2) of the G-P zone. The aluminum alloy workpiece is manufactured after aging treated again. The third temperature is 170 to 190° C.

[0032] To be specific, the aging out of forming die step 13 is preferable to go with a paint bake process since the aluminum alloy sheet is manufactured to be an automotive stamping part in this embodiment.

[0033] The temperature and the holding time are set to be 185° C. and 20 minutes, respectively, for the second aging treatment, which can be matched with the parameters of the paint bake process.

[0034] Besides the advantage of being aging treated again through the paint bake process, the automotive stamping part can also achieve a peak strength and obtain a strengthening phase after the paint bake process. The strength loss of the automotive stamping part due to the paint bake process is avoided. Therefore, the strength of the aluminum alloy workpiece is maintained at a peak state after the paint bake process and the aging treatment and the heating process are coordinated through the manufacture process of the first embodiment.

[0035] Not only the thermal energy of the paint bake process is properly utilized, the thermal energy consumption is also reduced dramatically compared with the existing heat treatment with parameters of heating to 120° C. and holding for 24 hours.

[0036] Furthermore, thermal accumulation of the forming die because of frequent contact with heated sheets or mass production is reduced due to lower target forming temperature. The forming die life is effectively increased and the production cost is thus reduced.

[0037] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a process of manufacturing an aluminum alloy workpiece according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, which is similar with the first embodiment.

[0038] The difference between the first and second embodiments is that the prepared aluminum alloy sheet in the preparation step 11 of the second embodiment is untreated (F state), and a pre-processing substep 111 is thus concluded in the preparation step 11. In the pre-processing substep 111, the aluminum alloy sheet is heated to the solid solution temperature (T1) and is held for a period of time, and is then quenched. Additionally, the aluminum alloy sheet requires further heat treatment in the heating substep 121 to ensure the strength after the entire manufacture process due to not being heat treated compared with the first embodiment. Therefore, the aluminum alloy sheet is slowly heated to the first temperature for 20 minutes, and is then held for 5 minutes.

[0039] In addition, the overall holding time and transfer time at the first temperature is 5 to 20 minutes since it does not take too much time to transfer the aluminum alloy sheet contained in the temperature control module 22 into the forming die. The second embodiment mainly processes the aluminum alloy sheet that is not being heat treated. The heating substep 121 is preferably conducted in 30 minutes after the pre-processing step 111.

[0040] Relative slower heating and longer holding time are required in the heating substep 121 to ensure that the aluminum alloy sheet is completely pre-aged before the forming and cooling substep 123. Besides the differences mentioned above, the effect of the first embodiment can be achieved by the second embodiment.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 4, a solid solution heating furnace zone (Z1) for conducting the pre-processing substep 111 and a warm-forming heating furnace zone (Z2) for conducting the heating substep 121 can be placed respectively (see FIG. 6) if different aluminum alloy sheets are needed to be manufactured separately by the first embodiment and the second embodiment at the same time.

[0042] Multiple handling devices 2 are arranged between the solid solution heating furnace zone (Z1) and the warm-forming heating furnace zone (Z2) to achieve the configuration of production lines. The efficiency of whole manufacturing process is optimized and it is conducive to mass production.

[0043] In summary, the aluminum alloy sheet is contained in the temperature control module 22 to maintain required aging treatment while transferring into the forming die through the handling device 2 by combining heating process of the pre-aging treatment with transfer process of the aluminum alloy sheet of this disclosure.

[0044] It not only solves the problem of dropping temperature during the transfer process of heated aluminum alloy sheet, but also avoid consumption of time by reheating process. Besides the improved formability after heating is maintained and the quality of workpiece is optimized, the aging treatment process of the aluminum alloy sheet can also be flexibly arranged.

[0045] Furthermore, the forming and cooling processes are completed in the forming die at the same time, and the aging treatment can also be conducted by going with subsequent process, such as the paint bake process.

[0046] The peak strength of the aluminum alloy sheet is achieved after completing subsequent processes.

[0047] In addition to the prevented strength loss, it is beneficial for improving production efficiency by reduced manufacturing time and efficiency costs. Therefore, the object of this disclosure can indeed be achieved.

[0048] In the description above, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments for the purposes of explanation.

[0049] However, it will be apparent to those one skilled in the art that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details.

[0050] It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

[0051] While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.