Sylvain Henry

Fatigue mechanisms of brazed Al-Mn alloys used in heat exchangers

The ratio of aluminium alloys used in the automotive industry tends to increase as a consequence of the enforcement of tougher environmental regulation (minimization of vehicles weight). For example, thanks to their good thermal, corrosion and mechanical properties, aluminium alloys have steadily replaced copper alloys and brass for manufacturing heat exchangers in cars or trucks. Such components have been constantly optimized in terms of exchange surface area and, nowadays, this has led to Al components in heat exchangers with a typical thickness of the order of 0.2 to 1.5 mm. With such small thicknesses, the load levels experienced by heat exchangers components has drastically increased leading to an important research effort in order to improve the resistance to damage development during service life.