Chongmin Kim

Properties of Friction-Stir Welded Aluminum Alloys 6111 and 5083

Friction-stir welding (FSW) promises joints with low porosity, fine microstructures, minimum phase transformation, and low oxidation compared with conventional welding techniques. It is capable of joining combinations of alloys not amenable to conventional welding. Certain combinations of FSW parameters were used to create FSWs of aluminum alloys 5083-HJ8 and 6111-T4, and the physical weld defects were measured The mechanical behavior of FSW welds made under the most favorable choice of parameters was determined using tensile tests and hardness measurements and was correlated to the microstructures of the weld and base material. Stir zones (SZs) in the 5083 specimens were much softer than the strain-hardened base materials. SZs in the 6111 material are approximately as hard as the base material. Natural aging of 6111 FSW specimens occurred in some parts of the heat-affected zone and produced hardening for up to 12 weeks after welding. Annealing of 5083 FSW specimens produced abnormal grain growth (AGG) for welds produced under certain welding conditions and in certain parts of the weld zone. AGG is more severe for low-heat conditions, i.e., higher tool travel speed but lower rotational speed. The conditions for most favorable FSW are presented, as well as the expected microstructures and mechanical properties, along with the weld conditions that promote AGG.

Measurements of anisotropic yielding, bauschinger and transient behavior of automotive dual-phase steel sheets

In order to present better prediction capability in computational analysis, mechanical properties of the dualphase high strength steel have been characterized especially for anisotropy as well as the Bauschinger and transient behavior. As for the anisotropy, the non-quadratic anisotropic yield function Yld2000-2d has been utilized and its material parameters have been obtained using the uni-axial tension tests as well as the hydraulic bulge test. To measure the hardening behavior including the Bauschinger and transient behavior, a newly developed test method has been applied for the uni-axial tension/compression and compression/tension tests, in which solid blocks along the both sides of the sheet specimen prevent buckling. From the tension/compression curves, the equations to describe isotropic and kinematic hardening behavior have been obtained. The modified Chaboche model has been confirmed to well represent the hardening behavior including the Bauschinger and transient behavior.

Effect of hardening laws and yield function types on spring-back simulations of dual-phase steel automotive sheets

In order to simulate the spring-back of DP-steel automotive sheets, the effect of hardening laws and yield function types has been studied based on finite element simulations performed for 2-D draw bending and S-rail tests. Specifically, the performance of the combined isotropic-kinematic hardening based on the modified Chaboche model was compared with those of the pure isotropic hardening and kinematic hardening laws, along with the non-quadratic anisotropic yield (Yld2000-2d) and Mises yield functions. As for the 2-D draw bending test, numerical results were compared with experimental results for verification purposes.

Experimental Formability Investigation for FSW Sheets with Respect to Base Material`s Directional Combination

In order to investigate the formability of friction stir welded(FSW) tailor welded blanks(TWB) with respect to the base material`s directional combination, aluminum alloy AA6111-T4 sheets were welded with three different conjoining types: RD-RD, TD-RD and TD-TD. Here, RD and TD represent rolling and transverse directions, respectively. For experimental formability study, three tests with gradual complexity were performed: the simple tension test with various weld line directions for uni-axial elongation, the hemisphere dome stretching test for biaxial stretching and the cylindrical cup deep drawing test. As a result, all three forming tests showed that RD-RD type samples exhibited the best formability, while TD-TD type sheets showed the least formability performance.

Analysis of Failure Phenomena in Uni-axial Tension Tests of Friction Stir Welded AA6111-T4, AA5083-H18 and DP-Steel

Failure phenomena in uni-axial tension test were experimentally and numerically investigated for AA6111-T4, AA5083-H18 and DP-Steel, which were friction-stir welded with the same and different thicknesses. Forming limit diagram(FLD) was measured using hemispherical dome stretching tests for base materials and also predicted by Hill`s bifurcation and M-K theories for welded areas. Finite element simulations well predicted hardening behaviors, failure locations as well as failure patterns for the uni-axial tension tests especially utilizing very fine meshes and FLD along with stress softening.

Springback Prediction of Friction Stir Welded DP590 Steel Sheet Considering Permanent Softening Behavior

In order to better predict the springback for friction stir welded DP590 steel sheet, the combined isotropic-kinematic hardening was formulated with considering the permanent softening behavior during reverse loading. As for yield function, the non-quadratic anisotropic yield function, Yld2000-2d, was used under plane stress condition. For the verification purposes, comparisons of simulation and experiments were performed here for the unconstrained cylindrical bending, the 2-D draw bending tests. For two applications, simulations showed good agreements with experiments.

Crash Performance Evaluation of Hydro-formed DP-steel Tubes Considering Welding Heat Effects, Formability and Spring-back

In order to numerically evaluate hydro‐formed DP‐steel tubes on crash performance considering welding heat effects, finite element simulations of crash behavior were performed for hydro‐formed tubes with and without heat treatment effects. Also, finite element simulations were performed for the sequential procedures of bending and hydro‐forming of tubes in order to design process parameters, particularly for the boost condition and axial feeding, considering formability and spring‐back. Effects of the material property including strain‐rate sensitivity on formability as well as spring‐back were also considered. The mechanical properties of the metal active gas (MAG) weld zone and the heat affected zone (HAZ) were obtained utilizing the continuous indentation method in this work.

Spring-back Evaluation of Automotive Sheets Based on Combined Isotropic-Kinematic Hardening Rule

In order to evaluate spring-back behavior in automotive sheet forming processes, a panel shape idealized as a double S-rail has been investigated. After spring-back has been predicted for double S-rails using the finite element analysis, results has been compared with experimental measurements for three automotive sheets. To account for hardening behavior such as the Bauschinger and transient effects in addition to anisotropic behavior, the combined isotropic-kinematic hardening law based on the Chaboche type model and a recently developed non-quadratic anisotropic yield function have been utilized, respectively.