The Effect of Tempering (Artificial Aging) on the Crashworthiness Performance of Mass-Efficient Extruded Aluminum Structures

The effect of tempering (artificial aging) on the axial crush strength of four cell extruded rectangular aluminum alloy (AA) 6061 and 6063 tubes is developed in this report. Increasing the aging time from the press quenched condition increases the flow strength of the material and also increases the axial energy absorbed up to a point when the material showed fracture. Good predictions were made between experimental, theoretical, and numerical mean crush loads for various tempers of AA6061 and AA6063, except in the cases where a large amount of fracture was present. A recommended temper time of three hours was obtained for AA6063, with an increase in mean crush load of 60%. A recommended temper time of six hours was obtained for AA6061 with an increase in mean crush load of 40%. These results will be useful in future aluminum automotive body projects, both for their predictive capability, and for the temper recommendations.Copyright © 2003 by ASME