Aluminum sheet for car door

What is aluminum sheet for car door

Aluminum sheet for car door refers to aluminum alloy sheet specially used for making car door. With the development of automobile lightweight trend, aluminum alloy is widely used in modern automobile manufacturing industry due to its characteristics of light weight, high strength and good corrosion resistance, so as to replace traditional steel, thereby reducing the weight of the car, improving fuel efficiency, reducing emissions, and maintaining or enhancing the safety performance of the vehicle.

Commonly used aluminum sheet alloy grades for car door include 5182 and 6061 aluminum sheet. These materials not only have good formability and corrosion resistance, but also are suitable for stamping, welding and other processing processes to ensure the integrity and safety of the door structure. For example, 5182 aluminum sheet is often used for door panels that require high corrosion resistance and good formability, while 6061 aluminum sheet is suitable for parts that require higher strength in the door structure due to its excellent mechanical properties and weldability.

Car doors made of aluminum sheet can effectively reduce the weight of the car body, thereby reducing energy consumption, improving the overall environmental performance and economy of the vehicle, and also meet the high standards of modern car design for safety, environmental protection and energy saving.

Parameters of aluminum sheet for car door

Why are 5182 and 6061 common aluminum sheet for car doors?

The reason why 5182 and 6061 aluminum sheets are often used in car doors is mainly because of their unique performance characteristics, which perfectly meet the strict requirements of automobile manufacturing for materials, especially in terms of lightweight, safety, durability and processability.

Features of 5182 aluminum sheet

• High strength and plasticity balance: 5182 belongs to the 5 series aluminum-magnesium alloy, which has good mechanical strength and ductility, which makes it not easy to crack during complex stamping and forming, and is suitable for the complex shape of car doors.
• Excellent corrosion resistance: The magnesium component makes it have better corrosion resistance under various environmental conditions, which is especially important for car doors exposed to the outside for a long time.
• Good weldability: Suitable for welding processing, which is very critical for structural connection during the assembly process of car doors.
• Coating adaptability: Good surface treatment performance makes the coating have strong adhesion, which can effectively protect the car door from external erosion and improve the appearance quality.

Characteristics of 6061 aluminum sheet

• Medium strength and toughness: 6061 is a 6-series aluminum-magnesium-silicon alloy. After heat treatment, it can obtain high mechanical strength while maintaining good toughness. It is suitable for door structures that need to bear weight or large forces.
• Comprehensive processing performance: easy to process, cut, drill and weld, suitable for fine manufacturing processes, which is very beneficial for door structures that require precise assembly.
• Good corrosion resistance: Although the corrosion resistance is slightly inferior to 5182, it can also achieve a good anti-corrosion effect after anodizing.
• Stability and durability: Stable performance under different temperatures and environments, ensuring the reliability and durability of the door for long-term use.

In summary, 5182 and 6061 aluminum sheets have become ideal materials for automobile door manufacturing due to their comprehensive advantages in strength, processing, corrosion resistance, etc., meeting the multiple requirements of automobile lightweight, safety and aesthetics.

 

Typical cases of aluminum sheet for car doors

Early examples for aluminium sheet doors realized using the traditional steel design concept are the front doors of the Renault Espace and the Renault Vel Satis. The only adaptation to the new material is the window frame which is a properly bent extruded aluminium section.

Compared to a steel door, the aluminium door shows a substantial weight reduction (37 %).

For the outer panel, the AlMgSi alloy EN AW-6016 is used, the alloy for the inner panel is EN AW-5182.

An example of analuminium sheet shell concept without a separate window frame is the door of the Audi A2. The outer panel has been produced from the alloy EN AW-6016
(Anticorodal®-121), the inner panel and the reinforcements from Ecodal®-608 (EN AW-6181A).

A technical limitation in early aluminium sheet shell door designproved to be the limited formability of the standard aluminium car body sheet alloys compared to that of deep drawing steel grades. In particular for doors of upper class vehicles, a large drawing depth is required for the inner panels.Using standard stamping procedures, the consistent realization of such high drawingdepths presents someproblemswith the available standard car body aluminium alloys in large series production. Nevertheless, the fabrication of aluminium inner door panels with larger drawing depths is possible, but asks formore complex and closelycontrolled (and therefore more expensive) stamping procedures.

An alternative, but also expensive option is the application of special forming methods, e.g. superplastic forming. The inner front door of the Maybach shown below has been made from superplastically formable EN AW-5083 (Formall®-545) using a forming temperature of 515 °C. The initial sheet thickness was 1.6 mm in case of the inner door panel and 3.0 mm for the reinforcement panel. The forming time was about 20 min.

A modern example for an all-aluminium door is the door of the Mercedes-Benz CLS.The door of the CLS coupe is designed without a window frame. It includes an inner door sheet panel reinforced with aluminium extrusions.

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