What Are The Uses of 6016 Aluminum in Auto Body

The market penetration rate of new energy vehicles is rising rapidly, and vehicle lightweighting is an inevitable trend. Aluminum plates have the advantages of light weight and corrosion resistance due to their special material properties.

Aluminum plates have stronger corrosion resistance than steel plates. For the anti-corrosion of the entire vehicle, they do not need to be pre-phosphated or galvanized like steel plates. Aluminum plates also have some disadvantages: for example, the material cost of aluminum plates is relatively high, they are more susceptible to scratches and abrasions due to their lower hardness, they are difficult to repair after bumps, and their welding performance is poor.

The auto body has high requirements on the mechanical properties of aluminum plates, and strict standards for the flanging performance and surface quality of the aluminum plates. Conventional aluminum alloys used for ABS include: 2002, 2117, 2036, 2037, 2038, 3004, 5052, 5182, 6009, 6010, 6015, 6111, 6016 Al, etc.

The automobile panels used in new energy vehicles use deformed aluminum alloys, such as non-heat-treated 5000 series and heat-treated 6000 series aluminum sheets. The alloy elements are mainly magnesium, silicon and other elements. These two series of aluminum sheets have good tensile strength, corrosion resistance, and better oxidation resistance.

6016-T651 is the main alloy of 6016 alloy. It is a high-quality aluminum alloy produced by heat treatment and pre-stretching process. Although its strength cannot be compared with 2XXX series or 7XXX series, its magnesium and silicon alloys have many properties like excellent processability, good corrosion resistance, high toughness and no deformation after processing, easy polishing, easy coloring film,etc.

There are obvious differences between the validity period of aluminum plate and steel plate. Taking the 6000 series aluminum plate as an example, the yield strength of the aluminum plate after annealing and heat treatment is about 130MPa. The yield strength after being left for 3 months increases by about 20MPa to 150MPa. After being placed for 6 months, the yield strength is approximately above 165MPa.

According to actual production, if the 6000 series aluminum plate is left for more than 6 months fter annealing and being heat treated, it will be too hard to be formed. The 6016 t6 aluminum is prone to cracking during the production process, which will cause losses to the car makers.