Patents Assigned to Constellium France
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Patent number: 8420226Abstract: A structural member comprising at least two aluminum alloy parts displaying different property balances, said at least two parts being welded and wherein one of said parts either is (i) selected from an aluminum alloy different from the other of said at least two parts and/or (ii) is selected from an initial temper different from the other of said at least two parts, and wherein at least one of said at least two parts has been pre-aged prior to being welded, and, wherein said structural member has undergone a post-welding thermal treatment conferring a final temper to each of said at least two parts. The parts are advantageously welded by friction stir welding. Another subject of the invention is a method for manufacturing a structural member.Type: GrantFiled: September 14, 2005Date of Patent: April 16, 2013Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Jean-Christophe Ehrstrom, Henri Gérard
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Patent number: 8413876Abstract: The invention relates to a strip or sheet of aluminium alloy, comprising at least 80% by weight of aluminium and 0.01 to 0.5% yttrium and/or 0.05 to 0.5% bismuth, coated on at least one face with a brazing alloy. Said sheets and strips are used for the production of pieces by non-flux brazing.Type: GrantFiled: June 29, 2011Date of Patent: April 9, 2013Assignees: Constellium France, Constellium Rolled Products, Ravenswood, LLCInventors: Sandrine Dulac, Sylvain Henry
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Patent number: 8393129Abstract: The invention relates to a metal composite panel intended for construction, including at least two substantially parallel sheets (21) and (22) with at least three profiles (3) substantially parallel to each other arranged between and fastened to the sheets. The three profiles serve as separators, making it possible to separate the sheets and are arranged so that the average distance between two adjacent profiles is not necessarily uniform but suited to the local conditions of use of said panel. In order to obtain a panel having an optimal compromise between weight and performance, light alloys and, in particular, aluminum are advantageous. The composite panels are particularly useful as a floor of a rolling vehicle, as the floor, deck or ramp of a floating vehicle or as the floor of a flying vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: February 8, 2008Date of Patent: March 12, 2013Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Sylvie Arsene, Jérôme Guillemenet, Céline Andrieu, Myriam Bouet-Griffon
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Patent number: 8366839Abstract: The present invention relates to extruded, rolled and/or forged products. Also provided are methods of making such products based on aluminum alloy wherein a liquid metal bath is prepared comprising 2.0 to 3.5% by weight of Cu, 1.4 to 1.8% by weight of Li, 0.1 to 0.5% by weight of Ag, 0.1 to 1.0% by weight of Mg, 0.05 to 0.18% by weight of Zr, 0.2 to 0.6% by weight of Mn and at least one element selected from Cr, Sc, Hf and Ti, the quantity of said element, if it is selected, being 0.05 to 0.3% by weight for Cr and for Sc, 0.05 to 0.5% by weight for Hf and 0.01 to 0.15% by weight for Ti, the remainder being aluminum and inevitable impurities. The products and methods of the present invention offer a particularly advantageous compromise between static mechanical strength and damage tolerance and are particularly useful in the field of aeronautical design.Type: GrantFiled: November 13, 2009Date of Patent: February 5, 2013Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Fabrice Heymes, Frank Eberl, Gaëlle Pouget
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Publication number: 20130009422Abstract: Auto body roof comprising at least one steel part and a skin part made of aluminum alloy that is attached to the steel part before painting. The aluminum part comprises a sheet of the following composition: Si: 0.7-1.3, Fe<0.5, Cu: 0.5-1.1, Mn: 0.4-1.0, Mg: 0.6-1.2, Zn<0.7, Cr 0.25, Zr+Ti 0.20, other elements <0.05 each and <0.15 total, and the remainder aluminum. The aluminum part, after solution treatment, quenching and age-hardening for three weeks at room temperature, possesses a yield strength R0.2 of less than 170 MPa, and preferably 160 MPa.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 6, 2012Publication date: January 10, 2013Applicant: CONSTELLIUM FRANCEInventors: Myriam Bouet-Griffon, Gilles Guiglionda, Ravi Shahani, Pierre Gavoille, Salim Dermarkar, Guy Michel Raynaud
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Publication number: 20120325381Abstract: The invention relates to a manufacturing process for an aluminum block of at least 250 mm thick designed for the manufacture of elements for vacuum chambers in which the following operations are carried out successively: an alloy block is cast by semi-continuous casting, the composition of this block in weight % being: Si 0.5-1.5; Mg: 0.5-1.5; Fe<0.3; Cu<0.2; Mn<0.8; Cr<0.10; Ti<0.15, other elements <0.05 each and <0.15 in total, the rest aluminum; solution heat treatment is performed at a temperature ranging between 450 and 560° C. directly on the cast block and optionally homogenized; the block that has undergone solution heat treatment is quenched at a cooling speed between the solution heat treatment temperature and 200° C. of at least 200° C./h; the block quenched and optionally stress-relieved is artificially aged.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 19, 2011Publication date: December 27, 2012Applicants: CONSTELLIUM VALAIS SA, CONSTELLIUM FRANCEInventors: Cédric Gasqueres, Joost Van Kappel
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Patent number: 8323426Abstract: The present invention is directed to a substantially unrecrystallized rolled aluminum alloy product, obtained from a plate with a thickness of at least 30 mm, comprising 2.2 to 3.9 wt. % Cu, 0.7 to 2.1 wt. % Li, 0.2 to 0.8 wt. % Mg, 0.2 to 0.5 wt. % Mn, 0.04 to 0.18 wt. % Zr, less than 0.05 wt. % Zn, and optionally 0.1 to 0.5 wt. % Ag, remainder aluminum and unavoidable impurities having a low propensity to crack branching during L-S a fatigue test. A product of the invention has a crack deviation angle ? of at least 20° under a maximum equivalent stress intensity factor Keff max of 10 MPa ?m for a S-L cracked test sample under a mixed mode I and mode II loading wherein the angle ? between a plane perpendicular to the initial crack direction and the load direction is 75°.Type: GrantFiled: April 1, 2010Date of Patent: December 4, 2012Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Armelle Danielou, Jean Christophe Ehrstrom
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Publication number: 20120291925Abstract: Wrought product made of aluminum alloy composed as follows, as a percentage by weight Mg: 4.0-5.0; Li: 1.0-1.6; Zr: 0.05-0.15; Ti: 0.01-0.15; Fe: 0.02-0.2; Si: 0.02-0.2; Mn: ?0.5; Cr?0.5; Ag: ?0.5; Cu?0.5; Zn?0.5; Sc?0.01; other elements <0.05; the rest aluminum.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 16, 2012Publication date: November 22, 2012Applicant: CONSTELLIUM FRANCEInventors: Bernard Bes, Frank Eberl
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Patent number: 8302657Abstract: A casting process for an aluminum alloy containing at least about 0.1% of Mg and/or at least about 0.1% of Li in which a liquid surface of the alloy is put into contact with a dried gas including at least about 2% of oxygen by volume and with a water partial pressure lower than about 150 Pa throughout most of the solidification process is described. The process makes it possible to cast most oxidable aluminum alloys, in particular aluminum alloys containing magnesium and/or lithium, without using additives such as beryllium and/or calcium and without using expensive devices and/or gases, to obtain cast ingots generally free from surface defects and pollution, in complete safety.Type: GrantFiled: February 16, 2010Date of Patent: November 6, 2012Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Guillaume Bes, Robert Rey-Flandrin, Olivier Ribaud, Stephane Vernede
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Publication number: 20120261036Abstract: The disclosure provides for wrought products made of Al—Cu—Mg aluminum alloy composed as follows, as a percentage by weight, Cucorr: 2.6-3.7; Mgcorr: 1.5-2.6, Mn: 0.2-0.5; Zr: ?0.16; Ti: 0.01-0.15; Cr?0.25; Si?0.2; Fe?0.2; other elements <0.05 the rest aluminum; with Cucorr>?0.9 (Mgcorr)+4.3 and Cucorr<?0.9 (Mgcorr)+5.0; where Cucorr?Cu?0.74 (Mn?0.2)?2.28 Fe and Mgcorr?Mg 1.73 (Si?0.05) for Si?0.05 and Mgcorr?Mg for Si<0.05 and their manufacturing process.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 13, 2012Publication date: October 18, 2012Applicant: CONSTELLIUM FRANCEInventors: Gaelle POUGET, Christophe SIGLI
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Patent number: 8277580Abstract: A rolled or forged Al—Zn—Cu—Mg aluminum-based alloy wrought product having a thickness from 2 to 10 inches. The product has been treated by solution heat-treatment, quenching and aging, and the product comprises (in weight-%): Zn 6.2-7.2, Mg 1.5-2.4, Cu 1.7-2.1. Fe 0-0.13, Si 0-0.10, Ti 0-0.06, Zr 0.06-0.13, Cr 0-0.04, Mn 0-0.04, Mn 0-0.04, impurities and other incidental elements ?0.05 each. Alloys per se and aircraft and aerospace uses, as well as methods of making products are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: February 10, 2006Date of Patent: October 2, 2012Assignees: Constellium France, Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, LLCInventors: Vic Dangerfield, Kenneth Paul Smith, Timothy Warner, David Dumont
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Publication number: 20120237395Abstract: The invention relates to a manufacturing method for making an unwrought semi-finished product having at mid thickness a density of micropores of size greater than 90 ?m less than 50% and preferably less than 20% of the density of micropores of size greater than 90 ?m obtained by a method according to prior art. The method according to the invention comprises in particular an ultrasound treatment step for the molten metal bath in a furnace and/or a vessel using an immersed device comprising at least one ultrasound transmitter. The semi-finished products obtained according to the method of the invention are particularly advantageous for manufacturing by rolling sheets designed for the aircraft industry to produce spars, ribs, upper and lower wing skins and for manufacturing by extrusion sections designed for the aircraft industry to produce stiffeners.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 16, 2012Publication date: September 20, 2012Applicants: Constellium France, ALCAN REHNALUInventor: Philippe JARRY
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Patent number: 8210421Abstract: A process for the manufacture of plated strips comprising at least two layers of different metals or alloys. The process allows subsequent separation of different cropped layers resulting from shearing the plated strips. The process comprises preparing plates corresponding to each of the plating layers, superimposing and assembly of these plates to form a composite plate, hot and possibly cold rolling of this composite plate to obtain a plated strip, and shearing of cropping areas during or after rolling. In one embodiment, prior to superimposing the different plates, an anti-sticking agent is applied to the cropping areas of at least one of the surfaces of the plates which will be in contact with each other.Type: GrantFiled: June 1, 2004Date of Patent: July 3, 2012Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Sandrine Dulac, Christian Barthelemy, Sylvain Henry, Armand Gabriel
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Publication number: 20120152415Abstract: The invention relates to a manufacturing process for flat-rolled products made of an alloy containing aluminum, including the steps of production, casting, homogenization, rolling at temperature greater than 400° C., solution heat treating, quenching, stretching between 2 and 3.5% and aging. The invention also relates to flat-rolled products obtained by this process, which offer a favorable compromise of properties between mechanical resistance under compression and stretching and fracture toughness. The products according to the invention are useful in particular for the manufacture of upper wing skins.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 16, 2011Publication date: June 21, 2012Applicant: CONSTELLIUM FRANCEInventors: Armelle DANIELOU, Gaelle POUGET, Christophe SIGLI, Timothy WARNER
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Patent number: 8202347Abstract: A manufacturing process for a remelt block containing aluminum designed for making aluminum alloy for the aircraft industry in which scrap containing mainly aluminum alloys used in the aircraft industry is supplied during a supply stage, the scrap is melted in a smelting furnace in order to obtain an initial molten metal bath during a smelting stage, the initial molten metal bath is subjected to purification by fractional crystallization in order to obtain a solidified mass and a bath of residual liquid during a segregation stage, and the solidified mass is recovered in order to obtain a remelt block during a recovery stage. The invention is particularly useful for the recycling of aluminum alloys used in the aircraft industry as it makes it possible to purify scrap of series 2XXX or series 7XXX alloys for iron and silicon, without eliminating additive elements such as zinc, copper and magnesium.Type: GrantFiled: June 18, 2007Date of Patent: June 19, 2012Assignee: Constellium FranceInventors: Jean-Francois Verdier, Jean-Remi Butruille, Michel Leroy, Didier Valax
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Patent number: 7993474Abstract: The invention relates to a work-hardened product, particularly a rolled, extruded or forged product, made of an alloy with the following composition (% by weight): Cu 3.8-4.3; Mg 1.25-1.45; Mn 0.2-0.5; Zn 0.4-1.3; Fe<0.15; Si<0.15; Zr?0.05; Ag<0.01, other elements <0.05 each and <0.15 total, remainder Al, treated by dissolution, quenching and cold strain-hardening, with a permanent deformation of between 0.5% and 15%, and preferably between 1.5% and 3.5%. Cold strain-hardening can be achieved by controlled tension and/or cold transformation, for example rolling, die forging or drawing. This cladded metal plate type product is a suitable element to be used as aircraft fuselage skin.Type: GrantFiled: October 1, 2007Date of Patent: August 9, 2011Assignee: Alcan Rhenalu/Constellium FranceInventors: Timothy Warner, Ronan Dif, Bernard Bes, Herve Ribes