Stephan Brauser

Determination of local stress–strain properties of resistance spot-welded joints of advanced high-strength steels using the instrumented indentation test

For spot-welded joints, the resistance to mechanical stress depends on the local strength properties and gradients in the weld area. The commonly used methods for investigating the stress–strain behaviour across the weld area are connected with a high level of sample preparation and with considerable limitations in local resolution. A promising method for determining locally resolved stress–strain curves is the instrumented indentation test in connection with the method of representative stress and strain (RS) and the method of artificial neural networks (NNs). The stress–strain properties of the weld nugget and the base metal determined by these two methods are compared and discussed, additionally in relation to the stress–strain curves obtained from the tensile test. The measured Vickers hardness across the weld area is compared with the evaluated local stress–strain properties. Three steels used in automobile manufacturing are investigated: mild steel DC04 and two advanced high-strength steels (TRIP steel HCT690T and martensitic steel HDT 1200M). The results of the two methods (RS and NN) show good correspondence for the base metal area but some significant differences for the weld nugget. Comparing the data across the weld area, no evidence of the presence of residual stress (which would influence the results) was found.

Methods to Obtain Weld Discontinuities in Spot-Welded Joints Made of Advanced High-Strength Steels

Resistance spot welding is the major joining technique in mass car production. This applies in particular to high-strength steel and advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) joining of thin sheet steel components for lightweight body shell structures. Joining of AHSS in mass production might lead to weld discontinuities under certain circumstances. Those discontinuities in form of cracks might be an initial start of cracking in the spot-welded joints regarding fatigue loads. It is of great interest to figure out, if, in comparison to specimens without weld discontinuities, the crack initiating point changes and if the fatigue resistance might be reduced by the discontinuities. In this contribution, an overview of potential discontinuities is given. Their possible causes are discussed and means for their detection are highlighted. Among the possible causes of weld discontinuities, two major groups are distinguished: the welding parameters as primary influences in the welding process, and the production-specific influences as secondary ones. With emphasis on major cracks penetrating the weld nugget, these influences are analysed. Finally, a combination of extreme welding parameters with production-specific influences is chosen in order to establish a method which enables the preparation of fatigue test specimens with reproducible major cracks in different locations of the spot-welded joints. This method is then applied in order to prepare spot weld specimens for fatigue tests.

Influence of Production-Related Gaps on Strength Properties and Deformation Behaviour of Spot Welded Trip Steel HCT690T

In this study, the influence of production-related gaps on the shear tension strength and fatigue performance was investigated for resistance spot welded TRIP steel HCT690, Furthermore, the local strain distribution in shear tension test was calculated by the digital image correlation technique (DIG), The static shear tension strength was found to be almost independent of gaps up to 3 mm, The maximum local strain in the spot weld region however decreases depending on which sample side (deformed or undeformed) is considered, In addition, it has been ascertained that gaps of 3 mm lead to a significant drop in fatigue life compared to gap-free shear tension samples, This fact could be attributed to decreased stiffness, higher transverse vibration and higher rotation (0) between the sheets as well as increased local stress calculated by 2-dimensional FE simulation.

Hydrogen absorption and diffusion in different welded duplex steels

In this study, hydrogen absorption and diffusion were investigated for various high-alloyed ferritic-austenitic duplex steels. On account of the specific transformation and solidification behaviour, respectively, of duplex steels as compared to single-phase ferritic and austenitic steels, special conditions have to be considered concerning hydrogen absorption which may ultimately lead to microstructure-dependent hydrogen-assisted weld metal cracking. Hydrogen absorption during welding may occur via the shielding gas, moisture from Qthe surroundings or via the welding filler material. As a contribution to the interpretation and prediction of “ hydrogen-induced cracking in welded duplex steels, the actual hydrogen absorption via the arc as well as the weld metal hydrogen diffusion was investigated for the first time in a duplex steel DS (1.4462), a super duplex steel SDS (1.4501) and in a lean duplex steel LDS (1.4162). Isothermal heat treatment using carrier gas hot extraction enabled quantification of the amounts of hydrogen trapped in the respective microstructure areas. The hydrogen diffusion coefficients were determined by analytical and numerical calculation. The total hydrogen concentrations and the diffusion coefficients were found to be nearly identical. Trapped hydrogen was however observed to be dependent on the material and on the microstructure condition. The influence of hydrogen on the mechano-technological properties of the weld metal was characterized with the help of tensile tests. In addition, the hydrogen embrittlement effect was detected in scanning electron microscopic analyses

Instrumentierte Eindringpruefung zur Bestimmung lokaler Festigkeitskennwerte an Punktschweissverbindungen

Kurzfassung Die lokalen Festigkeiten im Bereich einer Schweißverbindung sind maßgebend für deren Widerstandsfähigkeit gegenüber mechanischen Beanspruchungen. Im Gegensatz zu anderen präparationsaufwendigen Methoden, z.B. die Untersuchung von Mikro-Zugproben, liefert die instrumentierte Eindringprüfung mit deutlich geringerem Aufwand Verläufe von Festigkeiten mit sehr guter Ortsauflösung. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden wahre Spannungs-Dehnungskurven aus zyklischen Eindringversuchen mittels Auswertungen auf der Basis repräsentativer Spannungen und Dehnungen und auf der Basis neuronaler Netze an Punktschweißverbindungen aus hochfesten Stählen, jeweils im Bereich des Grundwerkstoffs und der Schweißlinse, bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse werden exemplarisch für einen Stahltyp mit Ergebnissen von Zugversuchen am Grundwerkstoff und am thermisch behandelten Werkstoff mit Schweißgut ähnlicher Struktur verglichen und diskutiert.