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Mechanical attributes and microstructural characteristics of resistance spot-welded HSLA 420 steel joints

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Abstract

The wide application of high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels in the automobile industry makes the metallurgical properties and mechanical attributes of spot welds essential. The relationships among macrostructure, microstructure, mechanical properties, and failure modes of welded joints of HSLA 420 steel were studied. An optical microscope was employed to describe the microstructure, macrostructure, and geometry of the welds, while their mechanical properties and failure modes were characterized via tensile shear tests. It turns out to be that the weld nugget mainly contains lath martensite. The results of the microhardness test show that the microhardness of the fusion zone (FZ) is superior to those of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and base metal (BM). The increase in heat input brings about a decrease in FZ martensite hardness, but the hardness distribution is more uniform. The grain size of the FZ is 38 µm, 51 µm, and 62 µm when the welding time is at the levels of 11 cycles, 15 cycles, and 19 cycles, while its values increased by about 58% as the welding current increases from 7.2 to 9.6 kA. As the welding time increases, the differences between the maximum hardness and minimum hardness decrease from 74 to 54 HV. In the tensile shear test, interfacial fracture and pullout fracture were observed, followed by BM sheet tearing. Evidently, the weld nugget with the size of 4t0.5 (t = sheet thickness) will not bring about pullout fracture. Furthermore, existing standards for determining the acceptable load capacity of welded joints cannot guarantee good welding quality. Finally, moderate welding current (from 8.4 to 9 kA) and long welding time (above 15 cycles) should be used to obtain the welded joints with sufficiently large FZs which present good mechanical properties in the tensile shear test.

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Funding

The authors are thankful for the financial support offered by the Russian Science Foundation (22–29-20095).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Welding Engineering, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia

    Dawei Zhao, Nikita Vdonin & Yuriy Bezgans

  2. Moscow Polytechnic University, Moscow, 107023, Russia

    Lyudmila Radionova

  3. Department of Metal Forming, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia

    Vitaly Bykov & Lev Glebov

Authors
  1. Dawei Zhao
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  2. Nikita Vdonin
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  3. Yuriy Bezgans
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  4. Lyudmila Radionova
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Correspondence to Dawei Zhao.

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Zhao, D., Vdonin, N., Bezgans, Y. et al. Mechanical attributes and microstructural characteristics of resistance spot-welded HSLA 420 steel joints. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 124, 3505–3518 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10798-9

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