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Prediction of Post Weld Hardness of Advanced High Strength Steels for Automotive Application using a Dedicated Carbon Equivalent Number

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Abstract

Weldability of advanced high strength steels in automotive manufacturing is a key issue. There are two important aspects to weldability: producing the welds and the quality of the welds. Producing the welds concerns the process to be used, possible addition of filler materials, the electrodes to be used, et cetera. Weld quality concerns the performance of the welds in a construction (e.g. strength and crash). With advanced high strength steels issues arise with increasing strength levels concerning the weld-quality. Traditionally carbon equivalent numbers are used to predict weldability. These traditional carbon equivalent numbers are not sufficient to predict post weld hardness of advanced high strength steels. Sumitomo Metal Industries and Corus cooperate to research weldability of advanced high strength steels. This paper concentrates on the influence of the chemical composition on weldability, as a first step to assess weldability of advanced high strength steels. This is done in two steps. First the traditional use of carbon equivalent numbers to predict weldability is explored. Literature is reviewed and possible issues with welding of advanced high strength steels are identified. Next the application of carbon equivalent numbers to predict post weld hardness for various welding processes (e.g. laser beam welding and resistance spot welding) is discussed. A wide range of steels was evaluated experimentally to determine the relationship between chemical composition and post weld hardness. The influence of welding processes expressed in terms of the cooling rates. The results are combined into simple models to predict post weld hardness of advanced high strength steel joints.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Corus RD&T, The Netherlands

    N. J. den Uijl, S. Smith & T. van der Veldt

  2. Sumitomo Metal Industries, Hyogo, Japan

    H. Nishibata, T. Okada & M. Uchihara

  3. Sumitomo Metal Industries, Tokyo, Japan

    K. Fukui

Authors
  1. N. J. den Uijl
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  2. H. Nishibata
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  3. S. Smith
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  4. T. Okada
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  5. T. van der Veldt
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  6. M. Uchihara
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  7. K. Fukui
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den Uijl, N.J., Nishibata, H., Smith, S. et al. Prediction of Post Weld Hardness of Advanced High Strength Steels for Automotive Application using a Dedicated Carbon Equivalent Number. Weld World 52, 18–29 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03266679

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03266679

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