Background

The demand for aluminium profiles for structural details for the automotive industry has increased in recent years and will increase in the coming years. As many of these profiles are used in structural details such as bumpers, crash boxes and side sills, the mechanical properties are of the utmost importance and that the mechanical properties are at the same level every time they are produced. The material's ductility also has a contributing influence on how much energy can be absorbed in, for example, a crash, i.e. the material's crash properties.

However, the impact properties cannot be distinguished from a normal tensile test curve, test methods such as 3-point bending or compression of the material usually need to be used. This contributes to the fact that a lot of testing resources need to be put into each individual production order. Internal investigations have shown that for certain alloys and production parameters, such as cooling and aging, a relationship between parameters from tensile testing and other parameters linked to ductility can be seen. However, it is not clear whether this holds for multiple alloys, cooling rates and aging cycles.

Goal

Conducting investigations to investigate whether the relationships found between tensile test parameters and ductility values also hold for other alloys, cooling rates and aging cycles.

Mission

To carry out relevant tests and investigations together with our employees to investigate whether the relationship between strength values and ductility values also applies to other alloys, cooling rates and aging cycles. This includes literature study, production trials and laboratory work.

Education and organization

We believe this work is suitable for one or two people at bachelor or master level in materials science or strength. The work can be carried out remotely with some visits to our factories in Finspång or Vetlanda. In addition to this, the following apply:

• Compensation by agreement after approved work from Hydro.
• Travel and accommodation within the project is paid for by Hydro.
• Knowledge of MS Office and above all Excel is a requirement.
• Language skills in Swedish and English, both spoken and written, are a requirement.

Contact person:

Oskar Altzar, Process Engineer Extrusion,
+46 383 941 96
oskar.altzar@hydro.com

We look forward to your application.