• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 1998

In order to analyze the tensile deformation characteristics of laser welded tailored blanks. laser welded blanks of different thikness and strength combinations were prepared and tensile tests were done. The tensile elongation along the direction perpendicular to weld line of laser welded blanks was reduced as increasing the deformation restraining force (strength X thicknes) ratio between two welded sheets and fracture occurred at weaker side of base sheets if void ration of welded sheets and fracture occurred at weaker side of base sheets if void ratio of weld section was less than 45% The tensile elongation along weld line reached above 90% of the elongation of base material if welding was done perfectly. Total elongation along the direction perpendicular to weld line was able to be predicted by force equilibrium and power law behavior of base sheets and it was related with the deformation of stronger sheet and formability of weaker side.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.36-48
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• 1998

In order to analyze the stretch flange forming characteristics of tailored blanks. laser welded blanks of different thickness and strength combinations were prepared and hole expansion tests were done. The stretch flange formability of laser welded blanks was reduced as increasing the deformation restraining force($strength{\times}thickness$) ratio between two welded sheets. Simulation of stretch forming mode deformation and comparson with experimental results showed that the stretch flange formabili-ty was influenced not only by the difference of the deformation restraining forces between two base sheets but also by the difference of the deformation restraining forces between base sheet and weld. Therefore the stretch flange formability was reduced more rapidly than tensile elongation as increas-ing the deformation restraining force ration. It was also found that simulation of stretch flange forming was more accurate when material properties of weld was given.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.23-29
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• 2002

As automotive manufacturers have taken a growing more interest in tailored sheet metals for improving the rigidity, weight reduction, crash durability, and cost saving application of the tailored sheet metals to automotive bodies has been resently increased greatly. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of fatigue crack initiation behavior of laser welded sheet use for vehicle body panel. We experimented three types of specimens which were machined of the same base metal : one is 1.4㎜ thick, another is 1.6㎜ thick, the others is laser welded of the 1.4mm thick specimen and 1.6㎜ thick specimen. The results indicated that laser welded metal (1.4＋1.6㎜) is the best one for fatigue strength and fatigue life.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2014

This research was conducted as a fundamental study to apply tailored blank welding technique into automotive production process. Specially we tried to apply the TWB technique to exhaust system. The materials used in this work were ferritic 439 stainless steel sheet with a thickness of 1.2mm and 0.8mm. Welding tests were conducted for BOP test and dissimilar thickness (0.8 to 1.2t) cases. Major process parameters were position of focus, travel speed, shielding gas and joint (gap) condition. As a result, there are nothing significant welding characteristic compare with TWB of carbon steel. Stainless steel shows the good weldability and mechanical properties (tensile, hardness and forming strength) also shows high level. Just problem is gap condition. However, also in this case, it shows not only good forming strength but also base metal fracture after tensile test. And to conclude, it is good opportunity to make lightweight design muffler using TB welding technique.

• 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 Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 1998

This paper deals with the effect of laser welding parameters on the weld formation. Thin steels for automotive application were prepared so as to be welded with high power carbon dioxide laser system. Major process parameters were position of focus and travel speed. The effect of shielding gas was also discussed by employing the high speed photometry. Test results showed that the optimal position of focus varied in accordance with the joint configuration; bead-on-plate, butt or lap welding. It was recommended that the position of focus for the lap welding be located at slightly inner part of the material to be welded. In this case, however, it was noticeable that the weld penetration ratio, d/t$_{0}$ dropped drastically at the critical region. Results also demonstrated that both the bead width and penetration reduced as the travel speed increased. The penetration ratio showed two distinct regions; stabilized zone at the lower range of the travel spped and sudden drop zone at the higher range of travel speed. Lower limit of the penetration for acceptable weld was proved to be about 90% of the parent metal thickness based on the physical properties of the weld. Mixed gas application for both the shielding of molten metal and laser induced plasma control was recommended as far as the penetration was concerned.d.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2001

For the Tailor Welded Blank sheet used fur automobile body panel, the characteristics of fatigue crack propagation behavior were studied. The thickness of specimen was machined to be same (0.9+0.9mm) and different (0.9+2.0mm). As a base test, mechanical properties around welding zone were examined. The results indicated that there were no significant decreases in mechanical properties, but hardness around welding bead is 2.3 times greater than base material. The crack propagation rate was noticeably decreased around welding line and rapidly increased as it passed by welding line. Reviewing the shape of the crack propagation, crack width around welding line was wide around the welding zone due to retardation of crack growth, but it became narrow passing welding line due to decreased toughness. Elasto-Plastic analysis was performed by finite element analysis fur explaining the test results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.22-30
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• 2000

The sub-frame of passenger car begins to be used widely for the safety of passengers. Conventional design of the sub-frame comprises 22parts, and it requires quite complicated production processes. In this papers, the sub-frame is designed with TWB(Tailor Welded Blanks) to improve stiffness, to reduce weight and to simplify the manufacturing process. To design the proper structure, structural analysis and crash analysis are executed about the conventional design and TWB applied design. A prototype TWB applied sub-frame is manufactured using mash-seam welded TB(Tailored Blanks). Comparing with the conventional sub-frame, the TWB applied sub-frame has 30% weight reduction and 17% increasement of structural stiffness in average.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.53-61
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• 2000

On the laser weld production line, a slight alteration of the welding condition produces many defects. The defects are monitored in real time, in order to prevent continuous occurrence of defects, reduce the loss of material, and guarantee good quality. The measurement system is produced by using three photo-diodes for detection of the plasma and spatter signal in CO$_2$ laser welding. For high speed CO$_2$ laser welding, laser tailored welded blanks for example, on-line weld quality monitoring system was developed by using fuzzy multi-feature pattern recognition. Weld qualities were classified optimal heat input, a little low heat input, low heat input, and focus misalignment, and final weld quality were classified good and bad.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2004

This work was attempted to join SCP sheet and STS304 sheet by using Nd:YAC laser beam. SCP sheet has good formability and low cost, while STS304 has excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties in high temp. In this experiment, butt joint type was used to develop the tailored blank welding for dissimilar steel. Sheets which have different thermal properties. Computer simulation was conducted to obtain the off-set position for efficient welding by considering laser power, scanning speed, focal length and basic properties. The result showed that the optimum thermal distribution was obtained when the laser beam was irradiated at $0.05{\sim}0.1$ mm off-set toward the SCP sheet side. The experiment was conducted based on the result of computer simulation to show the same optimum conditions. Optimum conditions were 3KW in laser beam power, 6m/min in scanning speed, -0.5mm in focal position, 0.1mm off-set toward SCP. Microhardness test, tensile test, bulge test, optical microscopy, EDS, and XRD were performed to observe the microstructure around fusion zone and to evaluate the mechanical properties of optimum conditions, The weld zone had high microhardness values by the formation of the martensitic structure. Tensile test measured the strength of welded region by vertical to strain direction and the elongation of welded region by parallel to strain direction. Bulge test showed $52\%$ formability of the original materials. Bead shape, grain size, and martensitic structure were observed by the optical microscopy in the weld zone. Detailed results of EDS, XRD confirmed that the welded region was connected of martensitic structure.