Analysis of residual plastic deformation of blanked sheets out of automotive aluminium alloys through hardness map

Reducing overall vehicle weight is essential to reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emission and to improve noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) performances. The substitution with lighter alloys can involve the grand majority of vehicle components, depending on the market sector. In several applications, e.g., chassis, pulleys, and viscodampers, metal sheets are formed in several steps, each of whom work-hardens the material reducing the available residual plasticity. Typically, the process is designed via FEM, whose results are affected by the initial conditions, often neglected, and is performed on pre-processed materials from suppliers. In this regard, correctly simulating the first step of the process is critical. However, the related initial conditions, in terms of residual stress and strain induced by former preliminary operations, are often neglected. This work proposes a quick and economical experimental procedure based on a hardness map to estimate initial conditions and to validate FEM results. The procedure allows evaluating the material’s residual plasticity, which is necessary to process engineers to design following manufacturing steps. The approach is demonstrated on an industrially relevant case study, i.e., the blanking of an AA 5754, in use for water pump pulleys.