Mechanical Characterization of AA8006 Aluminum Alloy through Cold Free Forming Test

In this work, for the first time thin, sheets of AA8006 aluminum alloy, that are commonly used for food packaging, were mechanically characterized through an unconventional free-forming technique that was performed at room temperature. This technique constitutes an economically effective solution to determine the constitutive equation of a metal sheet subjected to two-axes stresses. This state of stress reproduces the behavior of the material during the forming process better than the more traditional tensile test, which involves uniaxial stress. Specifically, the material constants were determined by using a simplified analytical model applied to the results of the experimental tests of the free forming process carried out at room temperature and constant pressure. Therefore, the obtained material constant values were used to simulate the same free-forming tests using FEM. In conclusion, the numerical results were in agreement with the experimental ones, thus confirming the goodness of the developed numerical model.