The Effect of Solution Annealing and Ageing During the RSW of 6082 Aluminium Alloy

In the automotive industry there is a growing tendency for the application of high strength aluminium alloys. In spite of their significant role in weight reduction there are still obstacles for their wider use due to their limited formability and weldability. Hot forming and in-die quenching (HFQ) process was recently developed for the forming of car body sheets. During the HFQ technology the sheet metal forming should be performed in a solution annealed condition. In the solution annealed condition the aluminium alloys have lower strength and better formability properties. The forming process is followed by a precipitation hardening which is generally connected with the painting of body parts (bake hardening). Besides the formability the implementation of HFQ has an effect on the weldability properties, too. HFQ must have an effect on the resistance spot welding (RSW) of aluminium sheets since the weld nuggets are produced after the HFQ, in the assembly part of the production chain, when the aluminium alloy is in a solution annealed and formed condition. The final properties of the welded joints are determined by the precipitation hardening which is the final step of the whole production process. The present research work aims to investigate the effect of the HFQ process on the weldability of AA6082-T6 aluminium alloy. The properties of the RSW joints are examined in different conditions (T6 delivery condition, solution annealed, precipitation aged). The materials tests include conventional macro testing, hardness tests and tensile-shear tests extended with EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) and EBSD (Electron Backscatter Diffraction) tests in order to characterize the distribution of alloying elements and to analyze the grain structure.