Additional Funding Sources
The project described was supported by a student grant from the UI Office of Undergraduate Research.
Abstract
Aluminum components manufactured from sheet metal are used in numerous applications including electronics enclosures. Due to the limited data for fatigue properties of aluminum, engineers who create structural designs using aluminum sheet metal and formed sheet metal components have less data. The goal of this research is to use the sheet metal fatigue testing equipment to identify the fatigue properties of both flat and formed aluminum sheet materials. The experiment involves a proper setup of the device including sample loading, dimensional setup and centering, force measurement, software programming, and cycling verification. Each experiment is expected to span several days. As this occurs, sample preparation for subsequent tests and data analysis will occur in parallel. Five separate sample sizes will be conducted on both flat sheet metal samples and formed sheet metal specimens. From this equipment, fatigue properties (S-N curves) will be generated for Aluminum alloy 5052 for both flat and formed sheet metal. This study will provide a methodology that will be formed for ongoing research of alternative aluminum alloys and other sheet metal materials.
Evaluation of Fatigue Properties of Aluminum Sheet Metal
Aluminum components manufactured from sheet metal are used in numerous applications including electronics enclosures. Due to the limited data for fatigue properties of aluminum, engineers who create structural designs using aluminum sheet metal and formed sheet metal components have less data. The goal of this research is to use the sheet metal fatigue testing equipment to identify the fatigue properties of both flat and formed aluminum sheet materials. The experiment involves a proper setup of the device including sample loading, dimensional setup and centering, force measurement, software programming, and cycling verification. Each experiment is expected to span several days. As this occurs, sample preparation for subsequent tests and data analysis will occur in parallel. Five separate sample sizes will be conducted on both flat sheet metal samples and formed sheet metal specimens. From this equipment, fatigue properties (S-N curves) will be generated for Aluminum alloy 5052 for both flat and formed sheet metal. This study will provide a methodology that will be formed for ongoing research of alternative aluminum alloys and other sheet metal materials.