Formability of aluminum alloys used in aviation industry by deep drawing method and analysis by finite element method

In the aerospace industry, the demand for lightweight and high-strength materials is increasing. In addition, aluminum is widely used in aircraft manufacturing due to its corrosion resistance and contribution to energy saving. Due to their high mechanical and physical properties, 7xxx series aluminum alloys are often used in demanding applications such as aerospace and defence. In this study, 7075-T6 series aluminum alloy sheet plate was used. The processing of aluminum alloy sheets by plastic forming enables the production of various products in many fields. One of the plastic forming processes used in the production of parts made of aluminum materials is deep drawing. Deep drawing process allows to evaluate the ability of the material to take the desired shape and its behavior during the forming process. In this study, the deep drawing results of sheets with different diameters and different drawing depths were analysed. The microstructure images of the sheets before and after deep drawing were compared. In addition, a microhardness test was carried out and the changes in hardness were measured and evaluated. In the production process, it is very important to produce the desired part as fast as possible and with minimum error in the first attempt. The use of trial-and-error method increases production costs as it causes labor, material waste and time loss. In order to prevent this, correct design and analysis methods should be applied to the production process and simulation techniques should be used effectively. These approaches save time by reducing errors and efficiency by reducing costs. In order to ensure the reliability of the results obtained with finite element software, the actual production process should be simulated in detail and the data obtained should be compared with the software results. This procedure increases the accuracy of modelling results and enables more reliable design and manufacturing decisions to be made. In this study, analytical models suitable for experimental studies were created using Simufact Forming software and parameters such as effective plastic strain, equivalent stress and thickness distribution were evaluated according to the results obtained. Keywords: Aluminum Alloys, Aerospace, Deep Drawing, Sheet Forming, Finite Element Method (FEM)