• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.304-309
• /
• 2009

Quenchable boron steel is a new type of high strength steel to reduce the weight of automobiles and maintain the safety conditions. Quenchable blanks can be hot-stamped and hardened in a water-cooled tool to achieve high strength. In this paper, new alloy for hot stamping is designed based on requirement of mechanical properties and two types of surface coating are investigated in viewpoints of oxidization and exfoliation. An automotive part of center pillar is manufactured by hot-stamping using Al-Si coated sheet. The performance of developed part is compared by static compression test and side impact crash test.

• Laser Solutions
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2010

Recently the use of ultra high strength steels (UHSS) in structural and safety component is rapidly increasing in the automotive industry. For example, 1.5GPa grade hot stamping with die-quenching of boron steel 22MnB5 could apply crash-resistant parts such as bumpers and pillars. The development of laser welding process of hot stamping steels, fundamental bead-on-plate welding and lap joint welding test were carried out using 3kW Nd:YAG laser. Local hardening & HAZ softening occurred in hot stamping steel as a result of metallurgical change caused by the welding heat input in the Nd:YAG laser welding process. The size of soft zones in the hot stamping steel was related to the welding heat input, being smaller at high speeds which generated a smaller heat input. Also in the case of lap joint design structure, same welded characteristics were shown. The HAZ softening degree was controlled to ensure the joint strength.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.29 no.12
• /
• pp.818-824
• /
• 2019

In this study, the direct water quenching technique is applied to validate the applicability of direct water quenching as a cooling method in the hot stamping process of 3.2 mm thick boron steel sheet. Cooling performance of conventional die quenching and direct water quenching is compared. Higher cooling rate is obtained by hot stamping with direct water quenching compared to die quenching. As the flow rate of cooling water increases, the cooling rate increases, and a high cooling rate of 71 ℃/s is achieved under flow rate conditions of 0.8 L/min. Through direct water quenching, the cooling time required for sufficient cooling of the sheet is reduced. Full martensitic microstructure is obtained under flow rate condition of 0.8 L/min. Hardness increases with increasing flow rate. From these results, it is verified that the direct water quenching is applicable to the hot stamping of thick boron steel sheet.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.123-132
• /
• 2013

Hot stamping, which is the hot pressing of special steel sheet using a cold die, can combine ease of shaping with high strength mechanical properties due to the hardening effect of rapid quenching. In this paper, a thermo-mechanical analysis of hot stamping using the finite element method in conjunction with phase transformations was performed in order to investigate the plastic deformation behavior, temperature history, and mechanical properties of the stamped car part. We also conducted a fully coupled thermo-mechanical analysis during the stamping and rapid quenching process to obtain the mechanical properties with the consideration of the effects of plastic deformation and phase transformation on the temperature histories at each point in the part. The finite element analysis could provide key information concerning the temperature histories and the sheet mechanical properties when the phase transformation is properly considered. Such an analysis can also be used to determine the effect of cyclic cooling on the tooling.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.196-203
• /
• 2021

To improve corrosion resistance and reduce the hydrogen uptake of 22MnB5, up to 5% Mg was added to the AlSi coating of 22MnB5. After hot-stamping and electrocoating were done on the metallic-coated specimen, the surface characteristics of the steel, hydrogen uptake content, and corrosion resistance were examined by transmittance electron microscopy, thermal desorption spectrometry, cyclic corrosion testing, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Mg was investigated as MgO on the surface layer after hot-stamping while it existed as Mg₂Si before hot-stamping. The total hydrogen content of 22MnB5 was decreased along with the Mg content. However, there was no difference at 0.2 wt% or more. When a small amount of Mg was added, the coating corrosion resistance was decreased, but when it was added at around 1.0 wt%, the greatest corrosion resistance increase was seen. However, when 3 wt% or more was added excessively, the corrosion resistance was decreased. MgO on the surface was considered to suppress H uptake by the AlSi melting solution and increase the barrier effect of the coating.

• Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.13-19
• /
• 2018

This research is to optimize Single-Piece Side otr reinforcement using Hot-stamping and to strengthen weak regions on Single-Piece Side otr reinforcement. As a consequence, the weight and the number of parts were reduced and resulting in improvement of impact and stiffness performance when compared to multi-piece construction.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.96-106
• /
• 2013

In this study, the effect of laser source($CO_2$ and Nd:YAG) on the microstructure and tensile properties of laser welded Al-Si coated boron steel(1.2mmt) was investigated with before and after hot-stamping. In case of as welds condition, fracture occurred in base metal unrelated to the laser source. It could be explained that tensile strength of fusion zone composed of martensite and bainite is higher than that of base metal that contains a lot of ferrite despite dilution of Al and Si from coating layer to fusion zone. In case of hot-stamping condition, the fracture occurred in fusion zone irrelevant to laser source and the tensile strength was lower than hot stamped base metal. In the $CO_2$ laser welds, $Fe_3$(Al,Si) formed near the bond line was transformed into ferrite during hot-stamping. Therefore tensile strength of bond line is lower than that of base metal and center of fusion zone and the fracture occurred in the bond line. On the other hand, in the Nd:YAG laser welds, the higher concentration of Al formed the ferrite in the fusion zone during hot-stamping treatment. Also, the thickness of centerline was thinner than that of base metal. Therefore, it is considered that fracture occurred in centerline of fusion zone due to effect of concentration stress, and it leaded to a lower tensile strength and elongation.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.36-41
• /
• 2015

In the automotive industry, TWB hot stamping process is broadly adapted to reduce weight of the car and improve fuel efficiency. However, the process faces a problem of weakened strength of the welded zone after hot stamping process, due to the fact that Al-Si elements of the coating layer penetrating the welded zone. In this study, filler wires with high percentages of carbon and manganese is adapted during laser welding process to secure the strength of the fusion zone. In addition, wire feeding speed and laser welding speed are optimized by sample test.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.396-401
• /
• 2016

Recently, Multi-strength hot stamping process has been widely used to achieve lightweight and crashworthiness in automotive industry. In concept of multi-strength hot stamping process, process design of tailor rolled blank(TRB) in partial heating is difficult because of thickness and temperature variation of blank. In this study, springback prediction of TRB in partial heating process was performed considering its thickness and temperature variation. In partial heating process, TRB was heated up to $900^{\circ}C$ for thicker side and below $Ac_3$ transformation temperature for thinner side, respectively. Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov(JMAK) equation was applied to calculate austenite fraction according to heating temperature. Calculated austenite fraction was applied to FE-simulation for the prediction of springback. Experiment for partial heating process of TRB was also performed to verify prediction accuracy of FE-simulation coupled with JMAK equation.

• Laser Solutions
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2013

In this study, Al-Si coated boron steel(1.2 mm) were laser welded by $CO_2$ laser and hot-stamping was applied to the laser joints. Tensile properties and microstructures of the joints were investigated before and after hot-stamping. Tensile and yield strengths of the as welded specimen similar with base metal and fracture occurred base metal of boron steel. Although, in case of heat treated specimen, fracture occurred fusion zone that Al segregated zone near the bond line. These could be explained by the existence of ferrite, in the Al segregated zone near the bond line and base metal of boron steel. Before hot-stamping, hardness of base metal is lower than fusion zone and heat affected zone in spite of exist Al segregation zone($Fe_3$(Al,Si)). So fracture occurred base metal. Although, after hot-stamping, microstructure of base metal and welds zone transformed to martensite and bainite except in Al segregation zone near the bond line that $Fe_3$(Al,Si) transformed to a-ferrite. So fracture occurred Al segregation zone near the bond line.