• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.84-86
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• 2003

The laser welding and its analysis of thin-sheet carbon steels were carried out with high power CO$_2$1aser. Bead on plate welding of thin sheet was examined to investigate the effect of weld variables of laser welding, and to obtain optimum welding condition. Butt-welding was also carried out to show the effect of gap on the laser weldability of thin sheet. At high welding speed, the partial penetration was obtained by low heat input. Otherwise, porosity was formed in the bead at low weld speed because of too many heat input. The maximum gap tolerance on laser welding was observed to be about 0.2mm. This gap size has good relationship with beam size of laser spot(about 0.3mm). The formability of welded sheet was about 80% value of base metal and the gap size has not affected on the formability, although weld quality is dependent on the gap size.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.362-368
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• 2011

For the purpose of improving crashworthiness qualities and maximizing weight saving efficiency, TWB's(tailor welded blanks) of quench-hardenable boron steel sheet formed by hot stamping processes has been used for automotive BIW (body in white) applications. In this work, the flow behaviors of TWB of quench-hardenable boron steel sheet were investigated in uniaxial tension tests at elevated temperature. TWB's having a uniform thickness of 1.4mm were fabricated by laser welding. Specimens with two weld line directions were used to test the mechanical property and reliability of the weld zone. After heating at $950^{\circ}C$ for 5min, the specimens were subjected to tension test at 650, 700 and $800^{\circ}C$ with a strain rate of 0.01 /s and at $700^{\circ}C$ with strain rates of 0.01, 0.1 and 1/s. The ultimate strength of the weld zones was higher than that of the base materials at 650 and $700^{\circ}C$, but was similar to the base metal at $800^{\circ}C$. Fracture occurred at the base material at 650 and $700^{\circ}C$, but at the weld zone at $800^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.100-110
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• 1998

In this paper, the laser weldability of thin gage steels for automobile application is discussed. Welding was carried out with a high power carbon dioxide laser system, and the laser energy was concentrated through a plano-convex lens. Test results showed that the joint gap in the butt welding proved to be one of the critical conditions for an acceptable weld. In the case where the ratio of the gap clearance to the material thickness was slightly bigger than optimal value, the weld strength was reduced showing weld metal fracture. It was possible to obtained a weld penetration ratio of 0.91 when the vertical offset ratio was controlled to be 0.4 or smaller. Results also demonstrated that the weld strength of the lap joint was influenced by travel speed. At the travel speeds lower than 37 mm/s, the weld strength indicated higher value than that of class A recommendation strength of a resistance spot weld based on the KS code. It was clear that the complicated effect of specimen alignment should be considered so as to make a sound weld with high integrity when the laser process was applied to the long weld line.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.161-169
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• 2004

In this study, we investigated fatigue crack growth behavior of laser welded sheet metal due to a single overload. Fatigue specimens were made using butt joint of cold rolled sheet metal that was welded by $CO_2$ laser. The fatigue crack propagation tests were performed in such a way that fatigue loading was parallel to the weld line while crack propagation was perpendicular to the weld line. Single overload was applied when fatigue crack tip was arrived near the weld line. The distances between the crack tip and the weld line at which a single overload was applied were 6, 4 and 2mm. The effect of specimen thickness and overload ratio on the fatigue behavior was determined. The plastic zone size of crack tip due to the single overload was determined from the finite element analysis. For investigating fatigue crack growth behavior, we used different thickness specimen 0.9mm and 2.0mm, and variable overload ratio applied fatigue crack propagation test. Also we used finite element analysis for investigating the plastic zone size of crack tip when single overload applied

• International Journal of Korean Welding Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.51-56
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• 2002

The weld seam tracking system for arc welding process uses various kinds of sensors such as arc sensor, vision sensor, laser displacement sensor and so on. Among the variety of sensors available, electro-magnetic sensor is one of the most useful methods especially in sheet metal butt-joint arc welding, primarily because it is hardly affected by the intense arc light and fume generated during the welding process, and also by the surface condition of weldments. In this study, a dual-electromagnetic sensor, which utilizes the induced current variation in the sensing coil due to the eddy current variation of the metal near the sensor, was developed for arc welding of sheet metal I-butt joints. The dual-electromagnetic sensor thus detects the offset displacement of weld line from the center of sensor head even though there's no clearance in the joint. A set of design variables of the sensor was determined far the maximum sensing capability through the repeated experiments. Seam tracking is performed by correcting the position of sensor to the amount of offset displacement every sampling period. From the experimental results, the developed sensor showed the excellent capability of weld seam detection when the sensor to workpiece distance is near less than 5 ㎜, and it was revealed that the system has excellent seam tracking ability for the I-butt joint of sheet metal.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.48-55
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• 2000

For the Tailor Welded Blank sheet used for automobile body panel, the characteristics of fatigue strength and crack propagation behavior were studied. The thickness of specimens was joined to be same (0.9mm+0.9mm) and different (0.9mm+2.0mm) .As a base test, mechanical properties around weld zone were examined . The results indicated that there were no significant decreases in mechanical properties , but hardness around weld bead was 2.3 times greater than base material . The fatigue strength was the highest when the loading direction was parallel to the welding direction, which was about 85% of tensile strength of base material. It was decreased by 8.5% when the thickness of specimens and base metal was different, and it was increased by 25% when pres-strain was applied. The crack propagation rate was noticeably decreased around weld line and rapidly increased as it passed through weld line. Reviewing the shape of the crack propagation , crack width around weld line was around the weld zone due to retardation of crack growth , but is became narrow passing weld line due to decreased toughness.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1312-1316
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• 2007

Strip casted and rolled magnesium sheet is become exiting material for car manufacturer, due to its better formability and specific strength compare with conventional extruded sheet. TWB technology was attractive for car body designer, because it saves the weight of the car without strength loss. In this study, the laser welding performance of magnesium sheet was investigated for Mg TWB panel manufacturing. The material was strip casted and rolled magnesium alloy sheet contains 3 wt% Al and 1 wt% Zn (AZ31). Lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser of 2kW was used and its laser light was delivered by optical fiber of 0.6mm core diameter to material surface with focusing optics of 200mm focal length for TWB welding. The microstructure of weld bead was investigated to check internal defects such as inclusion, porosity and cracks. Also mechanical properties and formability were evaluated for press forming of car body. For the results, there was no crack but inclusion or porosity on weld at some conditions.The tensile strength of weld was over 95% of base metal. Inner and outer panel of engine hood were press formed and assembled at elevated temperature.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.19-24
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• 2004

The laser welding and its analysis of thin-sheet carbon steels were carried out with high power $CO_{2}$ laser. The main factor of weld quality of laser welding is gap and edge quality. This work was preformed to focus on the gap tolerance problem during laser welding. First, bead on plate welding of thin sheet was examined to investigate the effect of laser welding variables, and to obtain optimum welding condition. Butt welding was also carried out to show the effect of gap on the laser weldability of thin sheet. In order to investigate the effect of gap on formability of welded thin sheet, LDH test was caried out. At high welding speed, the partial penetration was obtained by low heat input. Otherwise, porosity was formed in the bead at low weld speed because of too much heat input. The optimum welding condition of welding was derived from bead width, penetration and hardness property. The maximum gap tolerance on laser welding was observed to be about 0.2mm. This gap size has good relationship with beam size of laser spot(about 0.3mm). The formability of welded sheet was about $80{\%}$ value of base metal and the gap size has not affected on the formability, although weld quality is dependent on the gap size.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.354-363
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• 1998

In order to analyze the stretch forming characteristics of tailored blanks, laser welded blanks of different thickness and strength combinations were prepared and stretching tests were done. The stretching formability of laser welded blanks was reduced as increasing the deformation restraining force ($strength{\times}thickness$) ratio between two welded sheets. Weld line movement was attributed to strain concentration at weaker sheets and resulted in fracture at weaker sid, so that fracture could be predicted by the forming limit of the weak sheet. In the case of a welded blank with the similar deformation restraining force rations between two welded sheets, crack occurred at weld and its forming limit was about 15% less than the base sheet. The effects of lubrication and weld line position on stretch-ing formability were also investigated by experiments. Lower friction did not always give better formability for tailored blanks. Stretching formability was observed to be improved as increasing the area of weak sheet.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.196-196
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• 2000

Formation of the weld defect, such as a blowhole and a pit in lap-jointed fillet arc welds has been a serious problem in arc welding of Zn-coated steel sheet. In this study, the relationship among welding conditions, welding materials and defect formation was investigated in order to minimize these defects in the CO₂ welds. In addition, the arc stability of the commercial welding wires was evaluated for revealing their effects on defect formation. Main conclusions obtained are as follows:1) There was no difference between shear tensile strength of the sound welds and that of the welds with blowholes whose diameters are less than 0.5mm. However, the welds with blowholes whose diameters are equal or larger than 0.5mm and pits exhibited tensile strength 10~20% and 30~40% lower than that of the sound welds respectively.2) The optimum welding condition to effectively prevent or reduce the weld defects formation are as follows:- The welding variables of 220A-23V-100cm/min and 120A-190V-30cm/min were recommended for minimizing the weld defects.- The gap between the two sheets at the lap-joint should be controlled to more than 0.2mm- Solid wire was less susceptible to the formation of the weld defects than the flux-cored wire.- The low welding current condition produced less weld defects than the hihg welding current condition.3) One of the reason why the amount of the defect was reduced at the low welding current was the gas discharging by the active agitation of the molten pool, due to an increasing in the number of the short circuit. (Received September 27, 1999)