You want to build lighter cars? The body offers the greatest potential to reduce weight, as it is the heaviest component. Thus, body-in-white is the fastest-growing segment for aluminium in cars.
It is also the most demanding application: outer body panels need an excellent surface, hang-on parts like doors have to be stiff, and structural components require sheet that allows for quite complex forms.
Rolled aluminium alloys not only are significantly lighter than traditional materials, but also deliver good forming and functional properties - as already proven in some automotive segments.
Key features
- Great potential in weight-saving
- Good formability
- High dent resistance and yield strength
- Good behaviour under thermal load
- High-quality surface finish, free from defects and roping
Find your specification
| Requirements |
Material |
Examples |
| High dent resistance |
Hydro 6016-E |
Outer body panels |
| Surface finish |
Hydro 6016-H |
|
| Very good hemming performance |
Hydro 6016-U |
|
| High strength |
Hydro 6960-D |
|
| |
EN AW-5182ssf |
|
| High strength |
Hydro 6016-R |
Stiffening sheet for hang-on parts |
| Formability |
EN AW-5754 ssf
Hydro AlMg3.5Mn
|
Body-in-white structures |
Which alloy do you need?
- Heat-treatable AlMgSi alloys (6xxx series) which, in principle, display no pronounced stretcher-strain marks, Heat-treatable alloys attain their service strength during the paint-baking cycle. In Europe, the alloy 6016 is typically used.
By making special modifications to the manufacturing process – from ingot casting through to subsequent heat treatment in automotive’s dedicated annealing furnaces – and by specifically adjusting the alloy composition, variants with their own individually determined properties are manufactured for a wide range of requirements and applications.
In this way, tailor-made solutions can be supplied, e.g.
+ Fast bake-hardening alloys for use at low age-hardening temperatures
+ Alloys for outer skin components with high requirements on bending behaviour and hemming performance
+ Alloys with enhanced forming properties for the manufacture of components with complex geometries
+ High-strength alloys which facilitate weight savings through the reduction of
wall thicknesses
- Non-heat-treatable AlMg(Mn) alloys (5xxx series) which, through modification and special manufacturing processes, produce surfaces with no stretcherstrain marks. These special alloys are a low-cost alternative to today’s widely used heat-treatable AlMgSi alloys. Optimum component strength can be achieved with the stretcher-strain-free alloy EN AW-5182ssf.
For inner body components which require maximum strength, heat-treatable alloys can be used. Hydro’s 6016-R alloy meets the highest requirements, especially when the parts undergo long and high-temperature paint-baken cycles. When the paint-baking temperature and baking time are reduced at the OEM to minimise costs and energy consumption, the fast bake-hardening variant of Hydro’s 6016-R is used.
- As a rule, inner body components are complex in shape. This is where nonheat-treatable AlMg(Mn) alloys show their outstanding forming potential and, at the same time, high strength. Typical alloys comprise the highstrength EN AW-5182 or the costeffective EN AW-5754.
For structural applications which require high corrosion resistance and strength, we recommend Hydro’s AlMg3.5Mn alloy. Even when the surface is damaged or temperature exerts an influence, this alloy guarantees particularly good resistance to corrosion.
