The ageform process allows cost effective and efficient forming of fuselage and wing products. The use of creep forming during aging avoids a lot of manual or, step-by-step, mechanical forming. Ageforming is also an alternative for shot peen forming which is labor intensive and has quite a strong impact on the environment due to the generation of dust and noise.

Currently, the process is widely applied for products within the 7xxx Aluminium alloy family, such as top wing applications, where in general T7x or T6x tempers are applied. The ageforming process can be used and very precise product curvatures can be obtained. In the framework of the European AGEFORM project, it is foreseen to enlarge the range of applications for this type of process. The candidate products are bottom wing and fuselage applications. Pechiney has developed a range of alloys, which allow an ageforming solution for these types of products.

For fuselage applications the 6056 alloy will be presented with its performance for ageformability for tempers close to T78. For bottom wing applications, an example of the 7xxx family, 7475, will be discussed. Complementarily to the 6xxx and 7xxx solutions, a new 2xxx alloy will be presented in a T8x temper.

The mechanical property data will be illustrated by aerospace applications currently used by the different partners mentioned as authors of this contribution.