Development of alloy technology to allow better matching of dies to different alloys

Aluminium alloys are commonly used throughout the world due to their properties such as great strength to weight ratio and corrosion resistance. Aluminium alloys are used in industries including space and aircraft, Car manufacturing and infrastructure in many cities. these alloys are often extruded through an extrusion process that is able to produce large quantities of worked material in many different shapes and sizes.In theis project, the aim is to differentiate the mechanical properties of 6000 and 7000 series aluminium alloys to give our industry partner, Capral, a recommendation based on the data obtained through experimental work. The dat obtained throughout the project indicates a large strength difference between the tow alloys, where series 70000 alloys are approximately 100% stronger than 60000 series in terms of tensile strength and about 47% stronger in terms of hardness strength.Grain boundaries were explored in both series and significant differences were shown in terms of the grain structure. The grain size of the 6000 series is approximately 50-100μm, while the 7000 is much smaller in comparison, which reinforces that 7000 series are much stronger alloys overall. It was found during the project that other specific extrusion parameters need to be considered such as temperature , ram speed and the die profile. It was recommended that the profile should be simple for 7000 series alloys to avoid short die life and poor quality extrudates. Hollow dies should be used with caution with 7000 series alloys.