An experimental study on pre-stretched double-chamber 6000-series aluminium profiles subjected to quasi-static and dynamic axial crushing

Abstract

Automotive crash boxes require a material selection with strength and ductility in a balanced combination. In this work, the behaviour of double-chamber AA6063 and AA6082 aluminium profiles subjected to quasi-static and dynamic axial crushing was studied experimentally. The profiles were stretched to two different levels between extrusion and artificial ageing to temper T6. The higher pre-stretch resulted in a more ductile material with a slightly lower ultimate tensile strength. By visual inspection and by studying X-ray Computed Tomography scans of the tested profiles, dynamic loading was found to cause a larger amount of fracture than quasi-static loading.