Aluminum alloy sheets for railcars have higher requirements for comfort and aesthetics, which has promoted the use of many new materials. According to the development of mainstream low-floor railcars bodies, the materials used in the body structure are from a single weathering steel/carbon steel, stainless steel, a combination of aluminum alloy to a variety of materials, and gradually use new materials. Compared with other vehicles, the railcars has the advantages of fast, large transportation, safety, punctuality and reliability. It solves the problem of urban traffic congestion and greatly facilitates people's travel, has produced significant social benefits.
Aluminum plays an important role in rail transit. Aluminum alloy sheets for railcars have outstanding advantages such as light weight, high strength and good corrosion resistance, making them very widely used in the field of railcar transit. On average, each EMU needs to use 9 tons of aluminum alloy, each subway, light rail, and urban express rail needs to use 6.5 tons of aluminum alloy, and each railcar needs to use 4.5 tons of aluminum sheet alloy. Currently, the commonly used aluminum sheet for railcars transit include 3003 aluminum plates, 5052 aluminum plates and 6061 aluminum plates.
Aluminum alloy sheets for railcars is widely used in the manufacture of rail transit vehicles due to its advantages of low density, high strength, high rigidity,and easy processing. However, the corrosion resistance and appearance decoration performance of aluminum alloy sheet is not high, and it usually requires surface treatment methods such as oxidation, chromization and painting to improve the corrosion resistance and appearance decoration of aluminum alloy sheet products.