08 Products

Heat treatment is the first process step to follow the casting of the ingots and this serves the dissolution and removal of phases and the breakdown of segrega- tions. Hot rolling then adjusts the thick- ness to within the required tolerances and above all, creates the grain structure nec- essary to achieve the desired characteris- tics. The cutting to length of the mother plates takes place using consecutive num- bering (stamping), in order to guarantee the traceability of every single plate from The AMAG team for aircraft industry qualifications. the production process. The setting of a supersaturated mixed crys- tal takes place by solution heat treatment Aircraft industry in a horizontal semi-continuous furnace and very fast and uniform quenching . Stretching and levelling then follows in or- accreditations der to create the required flatness in both a lateral and longitudinal direction. Moreover, in particular, this process serves to reduce As a result of its long-term experience and a high degree of specialisation, the residual from quenching to an AMAG has established itself as a producer of sheet, strip and plate for the aero- absolute minimum. space industry and its subsuppliers. The company is already an authorised sup- Artificial ageing creates overaging tem- plier to leading aircraft manufacturers, who include , , Bombardier pers, which results in an excellent balance and . The related accreditations were recently supplemented by impor- between strength, toughness and corro- tant plate alloys, including especially demanding, damage-tolerant materials. sion resistance. Ultrasonic tests serve the identification of Sheet and plate competence behaviour, and is also highly fire- and fa- defects in the plates up to a calibration re- MRS sheets (Minimum Residual Stress), tigue-resistant. AMAG rolling provides the flector size of < 1mm. In addition, one of materials with excellent levels of formabil- unclad sheet for the intermedi- the first and most efficient testing systems ity, one-or two-sided clad materials, pol- ate layers within the GLARE ® composite, is employed, which uses phased array ished skin sheet and GLARE ®, constitute and single-sided clad sheet for the outer technology. clear evidence of the diversity of AMAG’s layer. Electrical conductivity measurements pro- sheet programme. In particular, single- vide evidence of uniform heat treatment sided cladding is based on comprehensive Process for the extension of accredi- and ensure the transfer of the mechani- know-how in the field of multi-clad, brazed tation to damage-tolerant plate alloys cal parameters at each plate end to the materials. Moreover, the current plate ac- Above all, 7050 is one of the main alloys entire mother plate. The determination of creditations have now been expanded to used in aircraft production, as it offers a the mechanical parameters and corrosion include high-strength, damage-tolerant combination of high strength, great tough- resistant characteristics is required prior to 7xxx materials such as 7050 and 7475. ness and favourable corrosion resistance. release. In order to obtain authorisation as an avia-

Know-how for GLARE® tion industry supplier, samples had to be distribution of aviation plates and taken from the entire process relating to AMAG accreditations GLARE ® (Glass Fibre Reinforced Alu- downstream production phases, and evi- The global market for aviation plates amounts to approx. 200,000 t/a. The diagram shows the minium) is an innovative material for air- dence had to be provided with regard to shares of the most important alloys, 7050, 7075 craft manufacture and is used in the outer the appropriate process stability. and 7475, etc. for which AMAG possesses ac- creditation. skin. It offers exceptional static Other 7475 characteristics and excellent crack growth The production process has to be firmly 2024 T3 single-sided, clad sheet (> 4%) established and approved by the aircraft 7075 manufacturers in the course of a qualifi- cation procedure. Of major significance in this connection are the optimisation of the chemical composition and the setting of 7050 S2 glass fibre prepregs coated with a suitable micro structure during casting. epoxy adhesive film This allows the subsequent thermo-me- chanical processing steps and heat treat- 2024 T3 unclad sheet ment to be adjusted to the structure, which The alloys covered by AMAG’s qualifications are GLARE ® consists of AA 2024 T3 aluminium sheets with a thickness of only 0.3-0.4 mm, as well as S2 glass fibre pre- has to be attained to meet the prescribed shown in blue. AMAG also covers some of the other alloys. pregs with epoxy adhesive film. combination of strength and toughness.

Paris Air Show 2009. AMAG will again be represented at the Show in Le Bourget from June 15-21, on Stand 4-B28 in Hall 4.