Heat-Treatable Aluminum Alloys: Three-Point Bending

In many applications within the automotive industry, the formability of sheets or extruded material is of great importance. The formability is strongly influenced by the chemical composition and the thermomechanical treatment prior to deformation. Grain size and morphology as well as texture and the presence of constituent particles make the material heavily anisotropic and the properties direction dependent. In all cases, shear band formation leads to surface topography during bending, and fracture initiates from the grooves. The crack propagation after initiation is, however, dependent on the grain size and the number and distribution of particles.