Forming Characteristics of Coarse and Fine Grained Aluminum Alloy Sheet (2024, 7075, 6061)

The forming behavior of Al-Cu-Mg-Mn alloy 2024 sheets with fine, equiaxed and coarse, elongated grain structures was characterized in the O temper (fully annealed) and W temper (solution heat treated and quenched) conditions. The fine grained materials had better biaxial stretching capabilities in both tempers. The fine grained O temper also had superior drawing and plane strain stretching properties. For the O temper, conventional tensile forming indicators such as elongation and strain ratio, correlated with ball punch depth, forming limit strains and limiting draw ratio. Such correlations were not apparent in the W temper, however, nor could the two tempers be compared on the basis of tensile data alone.