Comparative study of resistance spot welding performance between cold-rolled DP980 and Q&P980 steels

Advanced high strength steel (AHSS) has been widely used in the automobile industry.The resistance spot welding performance of DP980 and Q&P980 steels was studied through comparing the two steels’welding current range,tensile shear strength (TSS),cross tension strength (CTS),weld spots’microhardness,etc.The following conclusions were achieved:It is easy for both DP980 and Q&P980 steels to get a nugget size bigger than 4 mm,they all have welding current ranges exceeding 2 kA and high weld strength.     

Metallurgical and Mechanical Characterization of Laser Spot Welded Low Carbon Steel Sheets

This paper aims at investigating metallurgical and mechanical characterization of low carbon steel laser spot welds. Microstructural examinations, microhardness tests and quasi‐static tensile‐shear tests were preformed. Mechanical properties of the welds were described in terms of peak load and failure mode. The effects of laser spot welding parameters including pulse frequency, laser energy, welding speed, pulse width and welded circle diameter, on low carbon steel laser spot weld performance were studied using the Taguchi design of experiment method. It was found that the effective laser pulse energy is the controlling factor in the determination of mechanical strength of laser spot welds.     

Improvement of weldability of TRIP steels by use of in‐situ pre‐ and post‐heat treatments

Low alloy TRIP‐aided steels are very interesting for the automotive industry as they combine both a high strength and an excellent formability. Though the actually developed TRIP steels can be considered as low alloyed when compared to the first generations of steels exhibiting TRIP effect, due to their chemical composition, they still exhibit a quite high carbon equivalent. This is particularly detrimental for the weldability of those materials. After solidification, welds are very hard and can show a brittle behaviour. The hardness of the heat affected zone of the welds can even exceed 500HV and cold cracking phenomena is prone to occur. In the automotive industry, spot welding is the main joining process. During spot welding of TRIP steels, the interface between the plates can act like a notch and promote fracture of the weld. This is particularly dangerous when brittle welds are submitted to peel stresses. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that a careful choice of the process parameters can significantly improve the resistance of the welds. The selection of the welding cycle parameters is far from being an easy task as many different parameters are involved. Therefore, a design of experiment methodology (DOE) was chosen to optimise the welding cycle for a cold‐rolled TRIP steel with a tensile strength above 700 MPa. Mechanical properties of the welds were significantly improved by use of pre‐ and post‐heat treatments. Those improved welding cycles were realised without excessive extension of the total weld cycle on a conventional spot welding machine. This means that the optimised welds can be obtained in the existing production lines without any additional investment or significant decrease in productivity.     

Weldability of Low Carbon Transformation Induced Plasticity Steel

Transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） steel exhibited high or rather high carbon equivalent （CE） because of its chemical composition, which was a particularly detrimental factor affecting weldability of steels. Thus the weldability of a TRIP steel （grade 600） containing （in mass percent, %） 0.11C-1. 19Si-1.67Mn was extensively studied. The mechanical properties and impact toughness of butt joint, the welding crack susceptibility of weld and heat affected zone （HAZ） for tee joint, control thermal severity （CTS） of the welded joint, and Y shape 60° butt joint were measured after the gas metal arc welding （GMAW） test. The tensile strength of the weld was higher than 700 MPa. Both in the fusion zone （FZ） and HAZ for butt joint, the impact toughness was much higher than 27 J, either at room temperature or at -20 ℃, indicating good low temperature impact ductility of the weld of TRIP 600 steel. In addition, welding crack susceptibility tests revealed that weldments were free of surface crack and other imperfection. All experimental results of this steel showed fairly good weldability. For application, the crossmember in automobile made of this steel exhibited excellent weldability, and fatigue and durability tests were also accomplished for crossmember assembly.     

600 MPa级高能量输入焊接压力钢管用钢的研制

经过系列技术攻关,改进了武钢专用钢板冶炼及连铸过程中一些工艺,形成了一套自主操作技术模式,生产的微合金化低合金高强钢中杂质含量显著降低,钢板性能稳定性明显提高.利用武钢新改进的冶炼技术研制了一种600 MPa级低焊接裂纹敏感性高能量输入焊接水电站压力钢管用钢,研究了该钢的力学性能、微观组织结构以及焊接粗晶热影响区(CGHAZ)的组织特征及力学性能.结果表明,研制的新钢种集高强度、高韧性、优异的焊接性能于一体,且能承受大线能量焊接,焊前不预热,焊后不热处理.CGHAZ中弥散分布的复合氧化物夹杂促使针状铁素体的形成,提高了CGHAZ的力学性能.     

The effects of process variables on pulsed Nd:YAG laser spot welds: Part I. AISI 409 stainless steel

The weldabilities of AA 1100 aluminum and AISI 409 stainless steel by the pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding process have been examined experimentally and compared. The effects of Nd:YAG laser welding parameters, including laser pulse time and power intensity, and material-dependent variables, such as absorptivity and thermophysical properties, on laser spot-weld characteristics, such as weld diameter, penetration, melt area, melting ratio, porosity, and sur-face cratering, have been studied experimentally. The results of this work are reported in two parts. In Part I, the weldability of AISI 409 stainless steel by the pulse laser welding process is reported. In Part II, the weldability of A A 1100 aluminum under the same operating con-ditions is reported and compared to those of the stainless steel. When welding AISI 409 stainless steel, weld pool shapes were found to be influenced most by the power intensity of the laser beam and to a lesser extent by the pulse duration. Conduction mode welding, keyhole mode welding, and drilling were observed. Conduction mode welds were produced when power in-tensities between 0.7 and 4 GW/m² were used. The initial transient in weld pool development occurred in the first 4 ms of the laser pulse. Following this, steady-state conditions existed and conduction mode welds with aspect ratios (depth/width) of about 0.4 were produced. Keyhole mode welds were observed at power intensities greater than 4 GW/m². Penetration of these keyhole mode welds increased with increases in both power intensity and pulse time. The major weld defects observed in the stainless steel spot welds were cratering and large-occluded gas pores. Significant metal loss due to spatter was measured during the initial 2 ms of keyhole mode welds. With increasing power intensity, there was an increased propensity for occluded gas pores near the bottom of the keyhole mode welds. Formerly Graduate Student.     

Peak load and energy absorption of DP600 advanced steel resistance spot welds

The paper aims at investigating the microstructure, failure mode transition, peak load and energy absorption of DP600 dual phase steel during the tensile-shear test. It was found that the welding current has profound effect on the load–displacement characteristics. In the low welding current, welds failed in interfacial failure mode. Increasing welding current resulted in sufficient weld nugget growth to promote double-sided pullout failure mode with improved mechanical properties. Further increase in the welding current caused expulsion and failure mode was changed to single-sided pullout with reduced energy absorption capability. It was found that the fusion zone size is the key parameter controlling the mechanical properties of DP600 resistance spot welds in terms of peak load, maximum displacement and failure energy.     

Influence of welding parameters on peak load and energy absorption of dissimilar resistance spot welds of DP600 and AISI 1008 steels

Abstract

This paper addresses the mechanical performance of dissimilar resistance spot welds between DP600 and AISI 1008 low carbon steels. The weldability lobe was established and proper welding conditions to produce welds with sufficient size and without expulsion were determined. Correlations among the process parameters (welding current and welding time), physical spot weld attributes (fusion zone size and electrode indentation depth) and mechanical performance (peak load and energy absorption) were analysed. It was shown that the increases in welding current and welding time result in increases in fusion zone size and electrode indentation depth. In the low heat input welding condition, welds failed in interfacial failure mode. Increasing welding heat input results in sufficient weld size and promotes pullout failure mode with improved mechanical properties in terms of peak load and failure energy. However, a further increase in heat input caused metal expulsion and the failure mode was changed to partial pullout–partial thickness mode with reduced energy absorption capability.

Cet article discute du rendement mécanique de soudures dissimilaires par points entre les alliages à faible carbone DP600 et AISI 1008. On a établi le lobe de soudabilité et l’on a déterminé les conditions appropriées de soudage afin de produire des soudures d’une taille suffisante et sans expulsion. On analyse la corrélation entre les paramètres du processus (courant de soudage et temps de soudage), les attributs physiques de la soudure par points (taille de la zone de fusion et profondeur d’indentation de l’électrode) et le rendement mécanique (charge maximale et absorption d’énergie). On a montré qu’une augmentation du courant de soudage et du temps de soudage avait pour résultat une augmentation de la taille de la zone de fusion et de la profondeur d’indentation de l’électrode. Sous condition de soudage à faible apport de chaleur, les soudures défaillaient en mode de défaillance à l’interface. L’augmentation de l’apport de chaleur de soudage avait pour résultat une taille de soudure suffisante et favorisait le mode de défaillance par arrachement avec des propriétés mécaniques améliorées quant à la charge maximale et à l’énergie de défaillance. Cependant, une augmentation additionnelle de l’apport de chaleur résultait en l’expulsion du métal et le mode de défaillance se changeait en un mode d’arrachement partiel-épaisseur partielle avec capacité réduite d’absorption d’énergie.     

Comparing Properties of Adhesive Bonding, Resistance Spot Welding, and Adhesive Weld Bonding of Coated and Uncoated DP 600 Steel

 Zinc coated dual phase 600 steel (DP 600 grade) was investigated, utilisation of which has gradually increased with each passing day in the automotive industry. The adhesive bonding (AB), resistance spot welding (RSW), and adhesive weld bonding (AWB) joints of the zinc coated DP 600 steel were investigated. Additionally, the zinc coating was removed using HCL acid in order to investigate the effect of the coating. The microstructure, tensile shear strengths, and fracture properties of adhesive bonding (AB), resistance spot welding (RSW), and adhesive weld bonding (AWB) joints of the coated and uncoated DP 600 steel were compared. In addition, a mechanical-electrical-thermal coupled model in a finite element analysis environment was utilised. The thermal profile phenomenon was calculated by simulating this process. The results of the tensile shear test indicated that the tensile load bearing capacity (TLBC) values of the coated specimens among the three welding methods were higher than those of the uncoated specimens. Additionally, the tensile strength of the AWB joints of the coated and uncoated specimens was higher than that of the AB and RSW joints. It was determined that the fracture behaviours and the deformation caused were different for the three welding methods.     

The effects of process variables on pulsed Nd:YAG laser spot welds: Part II. AA 1100 aluminum and comparison to AISI 409 stainless steel

In this two-part article, the weldabilities of AA 1100 aluminum and AISI 409 stainless steel by the pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding process have been examined experimentally and compared. The effects of laser pulse time and power density on laser spot weld characteristics, such as weld diameter, penetration, melt area, melting ratio, porosity, and surface cratering, have been studied and explained qualitatively in relation to material-dependent variables such as absorptivity and thermophysical properties. The weldability of AISI 409 stainless steel was reported in Part I of this article. In the present article, the weldability of AA 1100 aluminum is reported and compared to that of AISI 409 stainless steel. Weld pool shapes in aluminum were found to be influenced by the mean power density of the laser beam and the laser pulse time. Both conduction-mode and keyhole-mode welding were observed in aluminum. Unlike stainless steel, however, drilling was not observed. Conduction-mode welds were produced in aluminum at power densities ranging from 3.2 to 10 GW/m². The power density required for melting aluminum was approximately 4.5 times greater than stainless steel. The initial transient in weld pool development in aluminum occurred within 2 ms, and the aspect ratios (depth/width) of the steady-state conduction-mode weld pools were approximately 0.2. These values are about half those observed in stainless steel. The transition from conduction- to keyhole-mode welding occurred in aluminum at a power density of about 10 GW/m², compared to about 4 GW/m² for stainless steel. Weld defects such as porosity and cratering were observed in both aluminum and stainless steel spot welds. In both materials, there was an increased propensity for large occluded vapor pores near the root of keyhole-mode welds with increasing power density. In aluminum, pores were observed close to the fusion boundary. These could be eliminated by surface milling and vacuum annealing the specimens, suggesting that such pores were due to hydrogen. Finally, excellent agreement was obtained between experimental data from both alloys and an existing analytical model for conduction-mode laser spot welding. Two nondimensional parameters, the Fourier number and a nondimensional incident heat flux parameter, were derived and shown to completely characterize weld pool development in conduction-mode welds made in both materials.     

Research of DP600 high strength steel wheels

Steel has been used as a traditional wheel materials for a long time.Before 1980’ s,over 90% wheels were made of steels.Then,the yield strength of wheel steels increased gradually from 240 -350 MPa to 600 MPa or higher.The advanced high strength steels become the main wheel materials.Since 1990’s,DP600 has been broadly applied in steel wheels oversea.However,there was little research of application of high strength steel wheels(especially wheel disc) in domestic wheel industrial.In presence, DP600 steel wheel is only developed in FAWSH by using imported CKD.Other domestic steel wheel manufacturers did little work on high strength DP600 wheel discs.Baosteel wheels Co.Ltd.is the first domestic company producing DP600 steel discs and has become the leading company in production of high strength wheel.Because of the high strength of DP600,its formability,springback,and wrinkle have become the keys of the successful application of DP600 steel.In this paper,the metallurgical and mechanical properties are firstly introduced and formation problems of DP600 are described compared to traditional steels.Secondly,FLD analysis has been done.Wrinkle and more springback are recognized.To solve these problems,an optimized solution is designed and the good result is obtained.The test has shown that the fatigue property of steel wheel discs made by DP600 have been greatly improved.     

Friction Stir Lap Welding of Magnesium Alloy to Steel: A Preliminary Investigation

An initial study was made to evaluate the feasibility of joining magnesium alloy AZ31 sheet to galvanized steel sheet in a lap configuration using friction stir welding (FSW). Two different automotive sheet steels were used for comparative evaluation of the dissimilar joining potential: a 0.8 mm thick, electrogalvanized (EG) mild steel, and a 1.5 mm thick hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel. These steels were joined to 2.33 mm thick AZ31B magnesium sheet. A single FSW tool design was used for both dissimilar welds, and the process parameters were kept the same. The average peak load for the AZ31-1.5 mm steel weld joint in lap shear mode was found to be 6.3 ± 1.0 kN. For the AZ31-0.8 mm steel weld, joint strength was 5.1 ± 1.5 kN. Microstructural investigation indicates melting of the Zn coating present on the steel sheets, and subsequent alloying with the Mg sheet resulted in the formation of a solidified Zn-Mg alloy layer.     

High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) Steels in Building Construction

Majority of the buildings,including industrial buildings,are constructed using either structural steel (plates and structural shapes) or deformed bar steel reinforced concrete.Such buildings,however,must be designed to be safe and serviceable during construction and during use and occupancy.These objectives can be easily achieved by the use of steels having superior mechanical properties,ductility,weldability,fire resistance,etc.Over the years,the steel industry has made improvements in steel making technologies resulting in high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels with superior steel properties well suited for building construction.First part of this paper presents the structural design considerations,and the constructional considerations associated with the building structures in general,and steel structures in particular.This second part of the paper looks at the acceptance criteria for HSLA steels for North American building codes and construction.The third part of the paper presents the structural properties of currently available HSLA steels for building construction.The discussion focuses on hot-rolled structural steel shapes as well as deformed steel bars for concrete reinforcement.The paper argues that Niobium microalloying is the key to achieving superior properties in such steels.     

Fatigue of a dual- phase steel

A study has been made of the fatigue of a V containing dual-phase steel, whose tensile strength is equivalent to that of SAE 980X high strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steels, as a function of prestrain. It is found that the cyclic stress-strain curve, strain-life response and notch sensitivity are little affected by pre-strains of up to 8 pct: This is in contrast to monotonie flow strength which increases substantially with prestrain. The fatigue performance of the dual-phase steel, while different in detail from that of other HSLA steels, is intermediate between that for SAE 950X and 980X steels. However, the notch fatigue behavior is equivalent to that of 980X steels. The fatigue response of dual-phase steel can be understood in terms of its high rate of work hardening which is a consequence of its ferrite plus martensite microstructure.     

Weldability Evaluation and Microstructure Analysis of Resistance‐Spot‐Welded High‐Mn Steel in Automotive Application

In this paper, resistance spot weldability of high‐Mn steels were investigated in order to get high reliability in welded joints of automotive components. Microstructural characterizations, cross‐tensile test (CTT), microhardness tests of spot welded parts were conducted. The effects of weld current on the microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties, and fracture modes were investigated using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hardness in the weld nugget was observed to be lower than that in the base metal (BM). In CTT, the failure initiation was observed to occur at the boundary of the weld nugget. Also welding imperfections of welded parts were investigated. Liquation cracking in heat affected zone (HAZ), porosity, and shrinkage cavity were found most common welding defects in welded parts. Furthermore, the effects of welding imperfections on weld quality and failure criteria were identified and discussed.     

Ultrasonic Spot Welding of Aluminum to High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel: Microstructure,Tensile and Fatigue Properties

The structural applications of lightweight aluminum alloys inevitably involve dissimilar welding with steels and the related durability issues. This study was aimed at evaluating the microstructural change, lap shear tensile load, and fatigue resistance of dissimilar ultrasonic spot-welded joints of aluminum-to-galvanized high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel. Two non-uniform layers were identified in between Al and HSLA steel via SEM/EDS and XRD. One was an Al-Zn eutectic layer and the other was a thin (<2 μm) layer of intermetallic compound (IMC) of Al and Fe in the nugget zone. The lap shear tensile testing gave a maximum load of 3.7 kN and the sample failed initially in between the Al-Zn eutectic film and Al-Fe IMC, and afterward from the region containing Al on both matching fracture surfaces. The fatigue test results showed a fatigue limit of about 0.5 kN (at 1 × 10⁷ cycles). The maximum cyclic stress at which transition of the fatigue fracture from transverse through-thickness crack growth mode to the interfacial failure mode occurs increases with increasing energy input.     

A study on weldability of zinc-coated steel sheets in lap joint configuration

The weldability of Zn-coated steel sheets 0.7 mm thick was investigated using resistance spot welding process. The effect of welding current, welding time and holding time on weld nugget characteristics, microstructure, and mechanical properties was discussed. Then, the possibility of replacing this welding process with laser beam welding was outlined. In this respect, quality of weld joints as a function of zinc removal by grinding prior to welding was evaluated. It is found that resistance spot welding current and time are the most significant parameters in affecting both expulsion and Zn-induced porosity. Expulsion was avoided and Zn-induced porosity was reduced with the decrease in welding current and/or welding time. Zn-induced porosity was completely eliminated by zinc-removal by grinding prior to welding. The best weld joint concerning nugget characteristics, soundness and tensile shear strength was obtained using welding current of 10 kA, weld cycle of 20, holding cycle of 18. Unlike resistance spot welds, high quality of CO₂ laser welds free from Zn-induced porosity could be made without zinc removal by grinding before welding.     

Fatigue properties of high strength-low alloy steels

High strength-low alloy (HSLA) steels are a relatively new group of alloys similar to hot rolled low carbon steel (HRLC) but having higher strengths as a result of composition and processing variations. Because these steels are of potential use in a variety of structural applications involving cyclic loading a knowledge of their fatigue behavior is important. Fatigue experiments were performed on several 80 ksi yield strength HSLA steels and on conventional HRLC steel for comparison. The HSLA steels were all found to exhibit similar fatigue resistance, and were superior to HRLC steel at longer lives. The effects on fatigue behavior of two types of plastic prestrain were determined.While prestrains caused large increases in monotonic strength properties, such improvements were largely lost in fatigue due to cyclic softening. Tensile prestrains are more detrimental to fatigue resistance than compressive prestrains. Finally, it was found that HSLA steel has a higher fatigue notch sensitivity than HRLC steel, however its notch fatigue resistance is still superior to that of HRLC steel.