In the automotive industry, the use of stamped aluminium alloy components has become a
very common occurrence. For the appropriate design of these components, it is necessary to know
how the manufacturing process a ects the material properties. In the first place, high plastic strains
("p) can be generated during the stamping process, which can result in a change in the residual stress
and mechanical properties in the plastically deformed areas. Furthermore, if a last coat of paint
that is usually subjected to a thermal cycle, characterized by temperature (T) and exposure time (t),
is applied, it can also influence mechanical behaviour. Consequently, this paper studies how both
processes a ect the mechanical behaviour of an aluminium alloy of the 5000 series, commonly used
in these types of components. In particular, the mechanical properties such as the yield stress at 0.2%
( 0.2), the ultimate tensile strength (sut) and the engineering strain at break (e f ) have been analysed.
To achieve this, a response surface technique, based on the design of experiments, has been used. The
response surfaces obtained allow for the prediction of mechanical properties 0.2, sut and e f for any
combination of values of t, T and "p.
