Experimental and numerical study of machined aluminum tailor-made blanks

In this paper, the effects of the thickness difference and machining on the mechanical behavior of machined aluminum tailor-made blanks are studied from both experimental and numerical viewpoints. A variety of tensile test specimens with different thickness ratios are machined from Clad and bare AA2024-T3 monolithic sheets and are used for the experimental study. Two different machining processes, i.e. milling and grinding, are applied for preparation of the samples. A numerical study is also conducted to understand the effects of the thickness difference on the mechanical behavior of machined tailor-made blanks. FEM simulations are carried out by using a FEM package (ABAQUS). The stress concentration phenomenon, bending caused by the thickness difference, and the effects of the thickness ratio on the stress and strain fields are studied numerically. It is shown that both the machining process and thickness difference have significant impact on the forming behavior and failure mechanism of the specimens. It is also concluded that stress concentration and strain localization are two competing failure mechanisms in the tensile testing of machined tailor-made blanks.