Abstract
The aim of this work was to investigate the microstructure and the mechanical properties of laser-welded joints combined of Dual Phase DP800 and DP1000 high strength thin steel sheets. Microstructural and hardness measurements as well as tensile and fatigue tests have been carried out. The welded joints (WJ) comprised of similar/dissimilar steels with similar/dissimilar thickness were consisted of different zones and exhibited similar microstructural characteristics. The trend of microhardness for all WJs was consistent, characterized by the highest value at hardening zone (HZ) and lowest at softening zone (SZ). The degree of softening was 20 and 8% for the DP1000 and DP800 WJ, respectively, and the size of SZ was wider in the WJ combinations of DP1000 than DP800. The tensile test fractures were located at the base material (BM) for all DP800 weldments, while the fractures occurred at the fusion zone (FZ) for the weldments with DP1000 and those with dissimilar sheet thicknesses. The DP800-DP1000 weldment presented similar yield strength (YS, 747 MPa) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS, 858 MPa) values but lower elongation (EI, 5.1%) in comparison with the DP800-DP800 weldment (YS 701 MPa, UTS 868 MPa, EI 7.9%), which showed similar strength properties as the BM of DP800. However, the EI of DP1000-DP1000 weldment was 1.9%, much lower in comparison with the BM of DP1000. The DP800-DP1000 weldment with dissimilar thicknesses showed the highest YS (955 MPa) and UTS (1075 MPa) values compared with the other weldments, but with the lowest EI (1.2%). The fatigue fractures occurred at the WJ for all types of weldments. The DP800-DP800 weldment had the highest fatigue limit (348 MPa) and DP800-DP1000 with dissimilar thicknesses had the lowest fatigue limit (<200 MPa). The fatigue crack initiated from the weld surface.
Highlights
Advanced high strength steel (AHSS) is the fastest growing material group in today’s automotive industry, because of its high strength to weight ratio performance, which allows the car makers to produce thinner components and, thereby, reduce the fuel consumption [1,2,3].Dual phase (DP) steel group is among the AHSS family widely used in the crash zones of the vehicle due to its high energy absorption ability [3,4,5]
These weld centers served in the DP800/2.1-DP800/2.1 and DP800/2.1-DP1000/1.3
A difference in thickness, (1.3 to 2.1 mm), for the welded DP800 steel, did not affect the tensile property significantly and the fracture occurred at the base material
Summary
Advanced high strength steel (AHSS) is the fastest growing material group in today’s automotive industry, because of its high strength to weight ratio performance, which allows the car makers to produce thinner components and, thereby, reduce the fuel consumption [1,2,3].Dual phase (DP) steel group is among the AHSS family widely used in the crash zones of the vehicle due to its high energy absorption ability [3,4,5]. The interest has increased on the welding of dissimilar materials with the purpose to reduce both production and operation costs and optimize the properties, such as strength and hardness. The appearance of the new phases produces the differences between the base material (BM) and the joint, which can significantly affect the overall properties of the welded material, e.g., poor mechanical strength and fatigue [8,9]. Additional challenges may occur when welding the dissimilar materials because of the different physical and chemical properties of the BMs, such as thermal expansion coefficients, melting points, and mechanical properties, as well as the formation of intermetallic compounds [10,11,12]. The thermal cycles of welding processes cause changes in the microstructures of DP steels, leading to the formation of a fusion zone (FZ) and a heat-affected zone (HAZ) in the welded joint (WJ)
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