Bending behavior of structured steel sheets with undercuts for interlocking with Al die-cast metal

International Journal of Material Forming, vol. 17

Abstract

Abstract Due to the current changes in mobility, lightweight design concepts continue to be of particular interest to the automotive industry. One form is the multi-material design, in which the advantageous properties of different materials are combined in one component. In this work, a component made of a steel sheet with stiffening structures of cast aluminum is considered. The joint is created by channel structures with undercuts on the surface of the steel sheet, into which the molten aluminum can flow. After solidification, an interlocking connection is created. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of a bending operation on the surface structure before the die casting process. Numerical simulations and experimental validations were performed with different bending angles and radii as well as orientations between the channel structure and the punch. The results show that the undercuts on the outer radius are reduced by up to 75% by the bending operation, thus weakening the resulting joint. On the inner radius, the channel opening width narrows by up to 73% and can thus impede the filling with the melt.

Authors 2

1. Aron Ringel corresponding Aachen Institute of Metal Forming

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Metal Forming (IBF), RWTH Aachen University, Intzestraße 10, 52072, Aachen, Germany

2. Gerhard Hirt Aachen Institute of Metal Forming

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Metal Forming (IBF), RWTH Aachen University, Intzestraße 10, 52072, Aachen, Germany