The growing demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles to reduce energy consumption and air pollution represents a challenge for the automotive industry. Aluminum has attracted increasing interest in automotive applications due to the general need for weight savings to further reduce fuel consumption in recent years. Especially sheet metal applications for light structural arts and body-in-white constructions are gaining interest and great efforts have been made by all major manufacturers of semi-finished aluminum alloy products to meet the main requirements which are: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Assay• Sufficient strength for structural stability and durability, dent resistance, and impact resistance.• Good formability for stretching, bending, and deep drawing operations (including control of anisotropy and springback).• Metal joining techniques , such as welding, clinching, incandescent, brazing etc.• Recyclability and low material and manufacturing costsTo meet the various requirements on mechanical properties a good knowledge of the specific behavior of the material is required and an understanding of the underlying metallurgical effects involved are important. The main requirement for many sheet applications is to find the most appropriate combination of sufficient strength and good formability. For structural parts and body-in-white (BIW) application, the two main alloy systems used are Al-Mg and Al-Mg-Si which are well accepted due to their good combination of the required properties. aluminium: We are in a multi-material world where no material has power and influence on the car. Aluminum is the material on the rise, offering the fastest, safest, most environmentally friendly and economical way to increase fuel economy and reduce total carbon emissions. Decreasing vehicle weight, without reducing size, will be essential as automakers develop next-generation vehicles. Some of the main properties of this metal are: • Weight: aluminum is light. The density of aluminum is ? = 2.7 g/cm3, which is one third that of steel.• Strength: Aluminum is strong. Aluminum alloys have tensile strengths ranging from 70 to 700 MPa. Unlike steel, aluminum does not become brittle at low temperatures. Indeed, when it is cold, the strength of aluminum increases.• Flexibility: its strength is combined with flexibility, which means it can flex under load and recover from the force of impacts.• Malleability: it is extremely malleable and can be extruded into any shape required by passing it through a matrix. It can be hot or cold extruded and can be further manipulated through operations such as bending and forming. • Conductivity: It has excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. An aluminum conductor weighs about half as much as a copper conductor with the same conductivity.• Reflectivity: It is a good reflector of both light and heat.• Corrosion resistance: Aluminum reacts with oxygen in the air to form a microscopically thin layer of oxide. The layer is only 4 nanometers thick but offers excellent protection against corrosion. [7]Aluminum alloys are classified into two types: die-cast aluminum alloy and wrought aluminum alloy. Table 1 shows the aluminum alloy designation system, used by the Aluminum Association of the United States, for both cast and wrought aluminum alloys. This designation system uses afour-digit numerical system to distinguish different aluminum alloys. The nomenclature for wrought alloys has been agreed upon and accepted by most countries and is also called the International Alloy Designation System (IADS). The alloy group is indicated by the first digits, and the last two digits identify the aluminum alloy or specify the purity of the aluminum. The second digit indicates changes in the impurity limits of the original alloy. In the designation of the cast alloy system, the first digit is essentially the same as for plastic wrought alloys, while the second two digits serve to identify a particular composition. Die-cast aluminum alloys Since die-cast aluminum alloys are economical and environmentally friendly lightweight materials, there is growing interest in the automotive industries. Properties such as better castability, high mechanical properties, ductility and good corrosion resistance have allowed them to replace steel and cast iron for the production of critical components [11]. Die-cast aluminum alloys contain a high percentage of alloying elements; the most important alloying elements are: Silicon: Silicon is one of the main alloying elements used for die-cast aluminum alloys. It generally has a content between 5-12% by weight. First of all, these alloying elements allow to increase the fluidity of the alloys and consequently improve their castability, reducing the thermal expansion coefficient of the alloys. It has a low density (2.34 g/cm3) resulting in a reduction in the weight of the cast components and, finally, its low solubility in aluminum allows the precipitation of pure and hard Si particles which improve the abrasion resistance of the alloy .Copper: Copper increases both the mechanical resistance and workability of the alloys; reduces the coefficient of thermal expansion and as the most important characteristic has a negative effect on the corrosion resistance of the alloys. Magnesium: Magnesium offers to increase the mechanical properties through the precipitation of hardening Mg2Si precipitates, improving the corrosion resistance and weldability of the alloys .Manganese: Improves tensile properties and significantly increases low cycle fatigue resistance. The addition of manganese also improves the corrosion resistance of the alloy. Iron: Iron is the most common and unavoidable impurity in Al-Si foundry alloys because it can form different types of intermetallic compounds; such compounds are fragile and have a deleterious effect on the mechanical strength of the components. There are different types of Fe-rich phases, such as ?-Al5FeSi, a-Al15Fe3Si2 and a'-Al8Fe2Si. Wrought aluminum alloys Wrought aluminum alloys are widely used in the automotive industry to produce various components, due to their mechanical properties, which are higher than those obtained from die-cast aluminum alloys. Approximately 85% of aluminum applications are from wrought aluminum alloys. They are initially cast in the form of ingots or billets and subsequently mechanically worked hot and/or cold into the required shape. The crystalline structure of aluminium, the face-centered cubic (fcc) system, guarantees good cold formability. For plastic processing applications, the addition of alloying elements improves most mechanical properties; Even though they have comparatively fewer alloying elements, the structure of wrought alloys offers better mechanical properties than cast alloys. The plastic deformations increased the degree of grain refinement and homogenized the microstructure. There are four important processes applied to obtain different products:1) The product obtained from rolling: plates,flat sheets, dirty sheets and sheets.2) The product obtained by extrusion: extruded bars, solid and hollow shapes, profiles or tubes.3) The product obtained by forming: rolled or extruded products are formed to obtain complex shapes.4 ) The product obtained by forging: they have complex shapes with superior mechanical properties. Due to increasingly stringent requirements for vehicle safety and comfort, the dimensions of many vehicle elements increases, leading to an increase in the total mass of the vehicle. For vehicles powered by combustion engines, reducing the mass of the vehicle helps reduce fuel consumption and, consequently, ownership costs and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Aluminum alloys used for the construction of automotive vehicles are one of the methods for reducing vehicle mass, as the density of aluminum alloys amounts to 2700 kg/m3 – one third of that of steel (7600 kg/m3). To ensure mechanical properties comparable to those of steel, it is necessary to use aluminum elements with larger cross sections than steel elements. Therefore, the average mass reduction is slightly less than the reduction resulting from simply comparing the specific gravity values ​​for both materials. The reduction in effectiveness of the aluminum alloy element compared to the steel one is approximately 50%. The direct reduction of the mass of the vehicle causes the so-called “secondary” mass reduction, being the effect of the smaller dimensions and dimensions necessary for other structural elements of the vehicle. The 5000 and 6000 series alloys, which allow the construction of almost the entire body structure of an automotive vehicle, are of particular interest for the automotive industry. Using 6060-T6 alloy, a design based on the vehicle's space frame was developed that met the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for frontal impact testing. [5]History of Aluminum in the Automotive Industry: Aluminum has been a key material for automotive manufacturers today. The first sports car with an aluminum body was presented at the Berlin International Motor Show in 1899. After two years, the first engine with aluminum components was developed by Karl Benz. After World War II, aluminum had become cheap enough to be considered for use in mass-produced vehicles. An innovation occurred in 1961 when the British Land Rover company produced V-8 engine blocks made from aluminum cylinders. From there, aluminum automotive components found their way into wheels and transmission cases, then moved on to cylinder heads and suspension joints. This infinitely reusable metal is now the primary material for use in powertrain and wheel applications and continues to gain market share in hoods, trunks, doors and bumpers, and complete vehicle structures. [6]Applications Aluminum alloys in the automotive industry: Aluminum-oriented optimized automotive design has been established in various parts and applications in the automotive industry (refer to Figure 3): • Powertrain: engine block and cylinder head, transmission housings, fuel system and radiators: 69 kg• Chassis and suspension - cradle, axle, wheels, suspension arms and steering systems: 37 kg• Bodywork: body in white (BIW), hoods/bonnets, doors, structure front, fenders, anti-crash elements, bumpers and various interiors: 26 kg Figure 5 shows the relative and absolute mass savings achieved by using aluminum alloys for the production of automotive components.It also shows the market penetration for each individual component. Over the last forty years, it can be observed from Figure 6 that the percentage of Aluminum cars has had a strong and continuous increase, due to the growing demand from the automotive industry to use lightweight materials. For most automotive components made of aluminum, two types of alloys are used: I) Non-heat treatable or work hardenable Al-Mg (Mn) alloys (5000 series alloys) which are a solid solution - hardened, showing a fair combination of strength and formability.II) Heat treatable Al Mg Si alloys (6000 series alloys) which obtain the desired strength through heat treatment processes, for example for sheet metal when the car body is subjected to the baking process of paint. In the case of particular components, such as bumpers and crush zones, high-strength Al–Zn–Mg–Cu (AA7xxx) is used. These alloys have been developed and are currently also widely used in the aerospace industry, due to their high mechanical performance. Extrusion: Another important area of ​​aluminum solutions and applications is the well-established aluminum extrusion technology. Here very complex profile shapes can be achieved allowing for a lightweight and innovative design with integrated functions. Generally, medium strength AA6000 and high strength AA7000 hardening alloys are used, because the desired cooling occurs during the extrusion process. Formability and ultimate strength are controlled by heating the forage hardening. Extrusions are made for bumper beams and crash elements/boxes. The main drivers of new developments are extrusion, tolerances and strength, especially for strength-relevant applications in automotive vehicles. New alloys that exhibit greater strength are being developed. At the same time, it is easier to extrude, and also complex shapes can be produced, such as drawing thin-walled shapes. Today, extrusions are widely used when it is possible to manually compensate for tight tolerances. [3]Castings: Increasing volume of aluminum components in automotive applications are castings, such as engine blocks, cylinder heads, wheels, and specialty chassis components. However, due to the high demand for strength and durability, cast iron is still often used. Significant progress in the development of aluminum alloys (such as Al-Si-Cu-Mg-Fe) and improved process control and casting methods have improved material properties and functional integration that enable aluminum to meet the high specific requirements. Aluminum castings are also gaining ground in the construction of space frames, axle parts and structural components. Complex parts are produced using high-integrity casting methods that ensure optimal mechanical properties and enable better functional integration. [3]Advanced Multi-Material Design Concepts ''MM''Multi-material design is the innovative concept of automotive vehicle, which is being developed by the automotive industry nowadays. The idea behind this concept is to use the "best" material for the components of each car, which allows the production of a light car with reduced emissions, without losing performance and first of all the safety of the passengers. car. The materials adopted could be aluminum together with high and very high resistance steels, magnesium and plastics or composites. This is the primary objective of the “Super Light Car” (SLC) project. [3]Microstructure evolution (sheet metal production): A processing layout forthe production of aluminum sheets by DC: ingot casting, hot rolling, cold rolling and final annealing treatment. The material is transformed through several stages from the cast structure into a fine-grained recrystallized structure by hot and cold rolling and soft final annealing or solution heat treatment in a continuous annealing furnace.1) Cast structure with relatively large grains and random structure usually formed by homogenization annealing2) The recrystallized grain structure formed during hot rolling with a typical cubic structure and constituent particles elongated in the rolling direction.3) Deformed grains and fine dispersions after final cold rolling with typical rolling structure .4) The relatively weak cube recrystallized grain structure formed after final annealing.Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Alloys:Unblended aluminum does not have high tensile strength. Due to the addition of alloying elements such as manganese, silicon, copper and magnesium, which will improve properties such as the strength of aluminum and produce an alloy with properties tailored for particular applications. Aluminum alloys have been widely used and become a valuable material in automotive industries due to its properties such as light weight, strength, recyclability, corrosion, strength, durability, ductility, formability and conductivity. The strength and durability of aluminum alloys vary widely, not only as a result of the specific alloy components but also as a result of heat treatments and manufacturing processes. Its strength can be tailored to the desired application by changing the composition of its alloys. Mixed with a small amount of other metals, it can provide the strength of steel, with only a third of the weight (The Aluminum Association, 2011). Aluminum alloys increase their strength without loss of ductility. On the other hand it naturally generates a protective oxide layer and is highly resistant to corrosion. Different types of surface treatment processes such as anodizing, painting or lacquering can further improve this property. It is especially useful for applications where protection and conservation is desired. Thanks to this distinctive combination of properties, the variety of applications for aluminum continues to increase. Table 3 below shows the typical properties of aluminum normally used. Aluminum can be worked in several ways when it is in a molten state because it is ductile and has a low melting point and density. Its ductility allows aluminum products to be made essentially towards the end of product design. Another fundamental property of aluminum alloys is their sensitivity to heat. Workshop procedures involving heating are complicated by the fact that aluminium, unlike steel, melts without first emitting red light. Forming operations where a torch is used therefore require some expertise as no visual signs reveal how close the material is to melting. Aluminum alloys, like all structural alloys, are also subject to internal stresses following heating operations such as welding and casting. The difficulty with aluminum alloys in this regard is their low melting point, which makes them more susceptible to distortions due to thermally induced stress relief. Controlled stress relief can be accomplished during manufacturing by the process of heat treating parts in an oven, followed by gradual cooling, effectively annealing the stresses. Aluminum alloys are divided into two types, cast and wrought (mechanically machined products). THE.