Effect of skin-pass reduction in deep drawing operations Automotive Spain Challenge Skin-pass is essential to produce cold rolled steels to remove the yield point elongation and obtain the surface quality and flatness required by customers. In this last step of the manufacturing process of cold-rolled steels, final characteristics are defined with a maximum final reduction…
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Cracks in AA5657H22 Packaging Spain Challenge Aludium supplies AA5657 alloy H2X temper for cosmetic packaging applications, slitted in narrow bands to feed customers deep drawing presses. They experienced that some slitted coils produce defective pieces. The small size of the samples is an obstacle to finding the defect cause and implementing corrective actions to reduce…
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Complementary services Other material characterisation services Complementary services are offered by the Test Bed in line with innovative services, offering our clients a full 360º package to meet their needs and ensure that the solutions are optimal for their commercial development. Some complementary services include: heat treatment, tribometry, fatigue testing, forming or vacuum melting. Tailored-made…
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Industrial on-line diffusible H measurement After proper preliminary calibration, HELIOS 4 HOT PROBE equipment is able to perform diffusible hydrogen measurements directly online on sheet metal parts, according to CWA 17794 2021. Measurement is completely non-destructive and there is no need to remove the coating. Tests are useful for new steel grade qualification or process…
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Punching system for quality control of materials A method based on the instrumentalization of a punch or die tool that allows detecting the parameters required to shear the material. Once the parameters are set by using a calibration step, the system permits monitoring the material quality during the stamping process or even before doing a…
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Modelling of H embrittlement Starting from a given model of the component, accounting for the geometry and stress-strain distribution map at the end of the stamping process, the evaluation of hydrogen diffusion and eventual accumulation over time can be estimated. In particular, a coupled diffusion-structural FEM can be used to estimate the hydrogen concentration distribution…
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Forming limits evaluation Biaxial tensile test at room temperature Biaxial tensile tests using optimised cruciform speciments permit the measurement of linear and non-linear strain paths at room temperature, at quasi-static conditions or at high deformation rates. The straith path can be controlled by the displacement of the machine, using DIC system with 3D calibration. Deep…
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Delayed fracture and H embrittlement Diffusion tests H diffusion testing Hydrogen permeation test, performed by electrochemical technique, is useful to determine hydrogen effective diffusivity and other hydrogen diffusion related parameters. Tests can be carried out also on coated sheet metals to evaluate the barrier effect of specific coating layers.Hydrogen permeation tests are performed by using…
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Fatigue resistance Rapid Fatigue Test The fatigue test, known as the stiffness method, enables accurate determination of the fatigue limit and S-N curve of materials in a fast, cost-effective, and straightforward manner, requiring only three specimens. The methodology involves monitoring fatigue damage through the evolution of plastic strain during a stepwise fatigue test. Tests can…
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Fracture toughness Fracture toughness evaluation Fracture toughness evaluation of thin metal sheets (1-3 mm of thickness), using mechanically notched or fatigue pre-cracked (DENT) specimens, and thick sheets (>3mm of thickness) by bending tests of fatigue pre-cracked (SENB) specimens, following fast and affordable methodologies based on the Essential Work of Fracture (EWF). The EWF is the…
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