Other

Uacj Corporation

Sumitomo Light Metal Industries, Ltd.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Tadashi Minoda

Mineo Asano

Hidetoshi Uchida

Yoshikazu Ozeki

Masaki Kumagai

Koji Tanaka

Hideo Yoshida

Hiroki Tanaka

Toshihiko Fukuda

Kyo Takahashi

Tsutomu Furuyama

Shinichi Matsuda

Masahito Katsukura

Tsutomu Hattori

Shinji Matsuda

Yukihide Fukuda

Hiroki Esaki

Yasuhiro Nakai

A method of joining heat-treatable aluminum alloy members by friction stir welding, including the steps of: a T4-treatment-performing step of performing a T4 treatment on heat-treatable aluminum alloy members so as to impart T4 temper to the heat-treatable aluminum alloy members; a joining step of joining the heat-treatable aluminum alloy members with T4 temper by friction stir welding to provide a joined product; and a reversion-treatment-performing step of performing a reversion treatment, the reversion-treatment-performing step being carried out prior to or after the joining step.

Method of joining heat-treatable aluminum alloy members by friction stir welding

An aluminum alloy material exhibiting excellent bendability can be produced without performing a straightening step, and can be bent without developing orange peel. The aluminum alloy material is a T4-tempered material formed of an Al&#x2014;Cu&#x2014;Mg&#x2014;Si alloy including 1.0 to 2.5 mass % of Cu, 0.5 to 1.5 mass % of Mg, and 0.5 to 1.5 mass % of Si, with the balance being aluminum and unavoidable impurities, a matrix that forms an inner part of the aluminum alloy material having a microstructure formed by recrystallized grains having an average crystal grain size of 200 &#x3bc;m or less, and the aluminum alloy material having a ratio of tensile strength/yield strength determined by a tensile test of 1.5 or more.

Aluminum alloy material exhibiting excellent bendability and method for producing the same

A frame member for use in a two-wheeled vehicle and an all-terrain vehicle that includes a plurality of Al members each made of a 7000 series Al alloy having a high strength is provided in which weld crack sensitivity is reduced and a weld joint having an excellent strength is provided. The alloy composition of the 7000 series Al alloy, which provides the Al member, containing Cu: 0.01 to 0.50%, Mg: 0.5 to 2.1%, and Zn: 4.0 to 8.5%, with the balance being Al and inevitable impurities. Further, in the production of the frame member, the plurality of Al members are integrated by welding using a filler metal containing Mg: 5.5 to 8.0%, Cr: 0.05 to 0.25%, Ti: 0.25% or less, Si: 0.4% or less, Fe: 0.4% or less, Cu: 0.1% or less, Zr: 0.05% or less and Zn: 0.25% or less, and with the balance being Al and inevitable impurities.

Frame member for use in two-wheeled vehicle and all-terrain vehicle, and method for producing the same

A method of joining aluminum alloy members, including the steps of: obtaining a joined body including: (a) contacting aluminum alloy members each made of a 6000 series aluminum alloy with T4 temper; and (b) performing a friction stir welding operation on a contact portion of the aluminum alloy members at which they are held in contact with each other, so as to form a stir zone at the contact portion; and performing, on the obtained joined body, an underaging treatment which is an artificial aging treatment and which is completed before hardness of the stir zone reaches maximum hardness, the underaging treatment being performed before GP zones are formed at the stir zone of the joined body.

Heat treating friction stir welded aluminum alloy members and joined product

The present invention provides an aluminum alloy structural plate excelling in strength and corrosion resistance, in particular, resistance to stress corrosion cracking, and a method of manufacturing the aluminum alloy plate. This aluminum alloy structural plate includes 4.8-7% Zn, 1-3% Mg, 1-2.5% Cu, and 0.05-0.25% Zr, with the remaining portion consisting of Al and impurities, wherein the aluminum alloy structural plate has a structure in which grain boundaries with a ratio of misorientations of 3-10&deg; is 25% or more at the plate surface. The aluminum alloy structural plate is manufactured by: homogenizing an ingot of an aluminum alloy having the above composition; hot rolling the ingot; repeatedly rolling the hot-rolled product at 400-150&deg; C. so that the degree of rolling is 70% or more to produce a plate with a specific thickness, or repeatedly rolling the hot-rolled product at a material temperature of 400-150&deg; C. in a state in which rolls for hot rolling are heated at 40&deg; C. or more so that the degree of rolling is 70% or more to produce a plate material with a specific thickness; subjecting the plate material to a solution heat treatment at 450-500&deg; C. for five minutes or more; and cooling the resulting plate material at a cooling rate of 10&deg; C. or more.

Aluminum alloy structural plate excelling in strength and corrosion resistance and method of manufacturing same

An Al&mdash;Mg&mdash;Si&mdash;Cu aluminum alloy plate excelling in strength and formability and exhibiting improved filiform corrosion resistance which is suitably used for automotive body panels. The aluminum alloy plate contains 0.25-0.6% of Mg (mass %, hereinafter the same), 0.9-1.1% of Si, 0.6-1.0% of Cu, and at least one of 0.20% or less of Mn and 0.10% or less of Cr, with the balance consisting of Al and impurities, wherein the number of Q phases (Cu&mdash;Mg&mdash;Si&mdash;Al phases) with a size of 2 &mgr;m or more in diameter present in a matrix is 150 per mm or more. The aluminum alloy plate is fabricated by homogenizing an ingot of an aluminum alloy having the above composition at 530&deg; C. or more, cooling the ingot to 450&deg; C. or less at a cooling rate of 30&deg; C./hour or less, hot-rolling the ingot, cold-rolling the hot-rolled product, and providing the cold-rolled product with a solution heat treatment.

Aluminum alloy plate excelling in filiform corrosion resistance and method of fabricating same

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Tadashi Minoda