Patent Application
20250033147
Laser welded blanks are a widely used solution in the steel sheet metal forming industry, in particular in the automotive industry. It allows to combine in a same blank, several sub-blanks of different grades and thicknesses. This has many advantages: the optimal material properties and thickness are used in each area of the blank leading to optimized performance of the final part in terms of safety, weight, environmental footprint, etc. Furthermore, it allows designers to combine several parts into one. It also allows to maximize material use thereby reducing scrap, costs and environmental footprint. Overall, laser welded blanks simplify the production process, improve the performance of the parts and lead to increased passenger safety, productivity gains, cost savings and CO2 emissions reduction.
The emergence of new grades having very high strength and also very high formability presents new challenges to manufacture laser welded blanks. Indeed, higher strength higher formability grades come with more alloying elements, which lead to new properties, new phenomena and failure risks in the weld seam. It is particularly critical in the case of galvanized, i.e. zinc coated steel sheets. Indeed, the zinc coating used for corrosion protection can cause liquid metal embrittlement (LME) during the welding operation.
The current invention aims to address the issue of manufacturing laser welded blanks using zinc coated steels having a high strength in such a way that the resulting laser welded blanks have a reliable resistance and formability and in such a way that the weld seam will not present a structural weakness of the ensuing part.
The present invention provides a method for butt-welding two steel sheets (1, 2) each comprising a substrate (12) and at least one said steel sheet (1, 2) having a zinc based metallic coating (5) on at least one side with a thickness Znth, at least one said steel sheet having a chemical composition of the substrate (12) expressed in weight % with a Carbon content above 0.15% or a Silicon content above 0.5% or both, said method comprising the steps of:
The invention will be further described, referring to the following figures:
In the following description, figures and claims, the orientations and spatial references are all made using an X, Y, Z coordinates referential, wherein Z is the elevation direction, perpendicular to the top and bottom faces of the steel sheets to be welded, X and Y define the plane of the steel sheets top and bottom faces. The referential is represented in each figure. When the figure is a 2D flat representation, the axis which is outside of the figure is represented by a dot in a circle when it is pointing towards the reader and by a cross in a circle when it is pointing away from the reader, following established conventions.
The directional terms “top”, “up”, “upper”, “above”, “bottom”, “low”, “lower”, “below” etc. are defined according to the Z elevation direction. The directional terms “front” and “back” are defined according to the X direction and more particularly according to the welding direction W parallel to the X axis as indicated in the figures. The terms “front” or “downstream” mean further along in the W direction, the terms “back” or “upstream” mean further along in the opposite of the W direction.
The “width” or “transverse” direction refers to the orientation parallel to the Y axis.
A steel sheet refers to a flat sheet of steel. It has a top and bottom face, which are also referred to as a top and bottom side or as a top and bottom surface. The distance between said faces is designated as the thickness of the sheet. The thickness can be measured for example using a micrometer, the spindle and anvil of which are placed on the top and bottom faces. In a similar way, the thickness can also be measured on a formed part. The thickness of the steel sheets in the current invention is for example from 0.5 to 5.0 mm, preferably from 0.5 to 4.0 mm, even more preferably from 0.5 to 3.5 mm.
Tailor welded blanks are made by assembling together, for example by laser welding together, several sheets or cut-out blanks of steel, known as sub-blanks, in order to optimize the performance of the part in its different areas, to reduce overall part weight and to reduce overall part cost.
The ultimate tensile strength, the yield strength, the elongation and the uniform elongation are measured according to ISO standard ISO 6892-1, published in October 2009. The tensile test specimens are cut-out from flat areas. If necessary, small size tensile test samples are taken to accommodate for the total available flat area on the part.
Hardness is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by mechanical indentation. It is well correlated to the mechanical properties of a material and is a useful local measurement method which does not require to cut out a sample for tensile testing. In the current invention, the hardness measurements are made using a Vickers indenter according to standard ISO 6507-1. The Vickers hardness is expressed using the unit Hv.
Referring to
Laser welding designates a welding operation in which at least a laser source is used to provide the necessary energy to melt the steel sheets. In particular embodiments, other energy sources such as electric arcs, infrared heating etc can be associated to the laser source to provide the welding energy.
Laser welding generates heat in the steel sheets to be welded 1, 2 in the vicinities of their edges E1, E2. The area of the steel sheets 1, 2 in which the heat generated by the welding process induces a temperature increase is known as the heat affected zone. Isotherms of a given temperature in the heat affected zone designate the points of the steel sheets in which the maximum temperature reached is said given temperature. For example, the 400° C. isotherm of the heat affected zone of sheet 1 designates all points of steel sheet 1 close to the edge E1 at which the maximum temperature reached during the welding operation was 400° C. Logically, any point closer to the edge E1 than the 400° C. isotherm will have reached a temperature higher than 400° C. during welding and conversely, any point further away from E1 will have reached a maximum temperature lower than 400° C. during welding.
The quality of the weld seam in terms of geometric defect is defined by the European standard EN 10359:2015 entitled “Laser welded tailored blanks—Technical delivery conditions”.
The current invention relates to the welding of steel sheets of which at least one has a zinc coating on at least one side. By zinc coating, it is meant a coating having a chemical composition comprising at least 80% in weight % of Zinc. For example, zinc coatings include the following type of known coatings (the list is not limitative):
In the following description and claims, the zinc coating is characterized by its thickness. The thickness of the zinc coating can be measured using standardized methods such as the one described in ISO standard 1463, “Metallic and oxide coatings—Measurement of coating thickness—Microscopical method”. In order to clearly differentiate the metallic coating from the substrate, it is possible to use Nital etching, as described in point 1 of annex C of the previously mentioned standard.
While the above described method gives a good evaluation of the pure mechanical strength of a weld seam, it does not in fact reflect the reality of the different deformation modes that a weld seam will undergo in real life conditions. When a laser welded blank is stamped, the weld seam undergoes deformations in all direction and not only in the transverse direction.
The inventors have found that when laser welding steel sheets, at least one of them having a high strength, for example a tensile strength above 590 MPa, small cracks can be initiated perpendicular to the weld seam in areas in which the weld is submitted to deformations having a longitudinal component. Surprisingly, this type of crack is only observed for high strength steels and not for lower grades. The risk that this type of crack occurs cannot be evaluated using the above described method, because the behavior of the weld when deformed in the longitudinal direction is not at all tested in the traditional testing method. Furthermore, there is a statistical element associated with this type of cracking. For the same part geometry involving the same steel grades and the same laser welding parameters, some parts can be free of cracks while small cracks occur on other parts. This is due to the naturally occurring variations in steel sheet composition, welding process, stamping process etc. These small cracks are therefore not fully predictable, which is a further problem in an industrial setting, because they will be difficultly detected through quality control. Even though these cracks can be of small scale on the formed part, they represent a fatal weakness of the part and will lead to part failure during the life of the part, possibly causing serious safety issues.
The inventors have therefore developed a new methodology to evaluate the risk of these small cracks to occur. The inventors have found that when placing the weld seam in the longitudinal direction of the tensile sample, parallel to the tensile strength, as indicated on
In the rest of the description, when Uweld is lower than (Usheet1*th1+Usheet2*th2)/(th1+th2), the test sample will be said to show a brittle failure—on the other hand if Uweld is higher than said weighted average, the test sample will be said to show a ductile failure.
Thanks to the above described newly developed statistical longitudinal testing of weld seams, the inventors were able to investigate the small crack issue on a large number of zinc coated steel sheets.
The inventors were able to establish that the risk of small cracks occurring on a welded assembly including at least one zinc coated steel sheet was present when the C content of said steel sheet, in weight %, is above 0.15% and/or when the Si content is above 0.5%. The current invention applies to laser welding of zinc coated steel sheets of which at least one of the steel sheets has a chemical composition comprising at least 0.15 wt % of C or 0.5 wt % of Si, or both. For simplicity sake, we will consider that at least steel sheet 1 has such a chemical composition in the rest of the description.
The small cracks appear in the vicinity of the weld seam, in the heat affected zone, or in the weld seam itself. This points out to a problem of LME related to the combination of the specific metallurgies and microstructures of high strength steels associated with the presence of zinc, which becomes liquid under the influence of the heat of the welding operation. In fact, the occurrence of LME in laser butt welding is surprising because LME is known to result from the combination of three factors, one of which is not meant to occur in the case of laser butt welding:
It was therefore surprising to the inventors to see LME type cracks occurring on laser welded assemblies of zinc coated high strength steels. It is possible that the residual stress necessary to induce LME comes from the thermal strain and strain induced by phase transformation of the blanks following the welding operation.
Knowing that LME can indeed occur when laser welding zinc coated high strength steels, the inventors sought to apply the newly developed statistical longitudinal testing of weld seams to support the development of countermeasures against LME occurrence.
The inventors went about to remove the zinc coating in the vicinity of the weld seam in order to suppress LME induced cracking. Several possible methods can be applied to remove the zinc coating. It is possible to mechanically brush the surface of the sheets in order to brush off the zinc coating. It is also possible to use a pulsed laser beam to ablate the zinc coating. The inventors found that surprisingly it was not necessary to fully remove the zinc coating in the vicinity of the weld seam in order to fully suppress the occurrence of LME induced cracks. In fact, the authors found that once the zinc coating thickness is equal to or below 3.5 microns, there was no more risk of LME.
Referring to
The zinc coating 5 is at least partially removed over a width Wabini (the initial ablation width), thus creating an ablated area 6. The coating thickness in the ablated area 6 is Znab (thickness of the coating in the ablated area). It should be noted that the coating thickness in the ablated area refers to the maximum thickness in the ablated area. If the ablation process leaves an uneven coating thickness in the ablated area 6, Znab corresponds to the average amount of Zn in the ablated area, as measured through a microscopic investigation of the cross section.
As was previously explained, the inventors have found that in order to guarantee the absence of LME, it is necessary to control the ablation thickness Znab below 3.5 microns.
We now refer to
The ablated area after welding 8 has a smaller width Wabfin (final ablation width) than the width Wabini of the ablated area before welding 6. Indeed, part of the edge E1 of steel sheet 1 has been incorporated by melting into the weld seam 3 and as a consequence part of the ablated area before welding 6 has also been incorporated in the weld seam 3.
Given the fact that the melting point of zinc is 420° C. and that LME can only occur in the presence of liquid Zn, LME is a potential issue on the laser welded blank 7 over the heat affected zone in areas which reached a surface temperature higher than 420° C. The inventors have found that when applying laser welding, the location of the 420° C. isotherm at the surface of the steel sheets is always within a distance from the weld seam 3 of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. To prevent LME occurrence, it is therefore necessary that Wabfin is equal to or above 0.5 mm.
In conclusion, in order to prevent LME, it is necessary to reduce the Zn coating thickness in the vicinity of the edge to a thickness Znab below 3.5 microns over a width Wabini such that the width of the ablated area after welding Wabfin is equal to or higher than 0.5 mm. Knowing the amount of material which is melted from the edge E1, the skilled person will be able to determine the necessary ablation width Wabini on the steel sheet 1 before welding.
It will thus be possible to obtain a laser welded blank free of LME in the vicinity of the weld seam 3, comprising the first and a second steel sheet 1 and 2, each comprising a substrate 12 and at least one of them having a zinc based metallic coating 5 on at least one side, wherein all the faces having a zinc based metallic coating thickness Znth above 3.5 microns and a steel sheet substrate 12 with a Carbon content above 0.15% or a Silicon content above 0.5% or both, comprise an ablation area after welding 8 having a Zinc-based metallic coating thickness after ablation Znab which is equal to or lower than 3.5 microns and a width of the ablated area after welding Wabfin equal to or greater than 0.5 mm.
It will also be possible to manufacture parts by forming the above described laser welded blank and without risk of LME cracks in the vicinity of the weld. For example, the laser welded blank can be manufactured into a part by cold stamping or by hot forming.
In a particular embodiment, the zinc coating ablation is performed using abrasive brushes rotating on the steel sheet to remove at least part of the coating. For example, the brushes are made of a polymer web encapsulating hard ceramic particles such as for example aluminum oxides or silicon carbides. In this case, the critical parameters for brushing will be the abrasive power of the brush, the force exerted on the coating by the brush and the speed at which the brush travels at the surface. According to the material and zinc coating used, it will be necessary to adjust said parameters in order to obtain the desired ablated thickness Znab. It is also possible to perform several brushing passes in order to remove more of the coating.
In a particular embodiment, ablation is performed using a pulsed laser beam. The inventors have found that the interaction between the short laser pulses and the coating causes at least part of the coating to be evaporated and expulsed from the surface of the steel sheet. For example, a laser power of 400 W to 1500 W can be used with a pulse frequency of 5 to 15 kHz and a ablation speed between 2 and 15 m/min.
In a particular embodiment, as illustrated on
In a particular embodiment, a decarburisation step is applied to at least one of the steel sheets 1, 2, in order to lower the carbon content of said steel sheet close to the surface of said steel sheet. This decarburisation step is performed before applying the zinc coating. For example, the decarburisation step is performed in the furnace used to anneal the steel sheet before coating it. For example, the decarburisation step is performed by controlling the dew point in said annealing furnace to a value equal to or greater than −10° C. Advantageously, by using a steel sheet which has a lower carbon content close to the surface, the risk of LME is reduced. For example, the carbon content at a depth of 20 microns from the surface of the steel sheet on each side is below 0.15 wt %, preferably below 0.10 wt %, and the carbon content of the steel sheet at the center of said steel sheet (for example the carbon content measured in a strip of +/−100 microns from the mid-thickness of the steel sheet) is above 0.15 wt %.
In a particular embodiment, the ablation step is performed in such a way that the remaining zinc thickness Znab is above 0.5 microns, more preferably above 1.0 micron. As previously explained, the inventors have found that there is no risk of LME, even if there is a small amount of zinc remaining in the ablated area 6, as long as Znab is below 3.5 microns. Advantageously, by leaving some zinc in the ablated area 6, it is possible to ensure some amount of corrosion protection of the ablated steel sheet before welding. Thanks to the sacrificial nature of the zinc coating, this corrosion protection extends to the uncoated bare areas of the edges, on the sides of the steel sheets. Furthermore, applying an ablation process which leaves some zinc coating in the ablated area 6 means that there is no risk of removing (by brushing) or melting (by laser ablation) the underlying substrate 12 of the steel sheet below the ablated area 6. This is interesting because ablating the substrate 12 itself below the coating would weaken the laser welded blank by creating local geometric imperfections and a local under-thickness.
In a particular embodiment, the laser welding process is performed less than 1 minute after the ablation process has been performed, preferably even less than 30 seconds. For example, the ablation process and the welding process are performed on the same device, which comprises an equipment for the ablation step and for the welding step. For example, the ablation process and welding process are performed under the same clamping operation, meaning that the steel sheets 1, 2 are clamped to be held in place for the ablation step and the same clamping is held in place for the welding process. Advantageously, by ablating and welding in a rapid sequence, possibly even under the same clamping operation, it will be possible to increase productivity, reduce the amount of material handling steps and also to reduce risks of corrosion occurring due to the ablation step.
In a particular embodiment, the ablation process is not performed directly on the edge of the steel sheet, but in the middle of the steel sheet—said steel sheet being subsequently cut in the area in which the ablation process was performed so that the ablated area is located on the edge of the cut sample (possibly with an offset).
In a particular embodiment, the characteristics of at least one of the steel sheets to be welded in terms of chemical composition, microstructure and mechanical properties corresponds to one of the line of the following table (the chemical composition is expressed in weight % and the balance is Fe and unavoidable impurities coming from the elaboration process, the % residual austenite in the microstructure of the steel sheet is expressed in surface % of a cross section, YP stands for the Yield Point expressed in MPa, UTS stands for the Ultimate Tensile Strength expressed in MPa, EI % is the elongation as measured according to the above mentioned ISO 6892 standard):
The invention will now be illustrated by the following examples, which are by no way limitative.
Table 1 gives the chemical composition of the steel sheet used.
The Si content is above 0.5% and the carbon content is above 0.15%, meaning that the steel sheet is critical in terms of LME risk when welding with a zinc coating. The steel sheet was decarburized before applying a hot-dip pure zinc coating so that the carbon content measured at 20 microns from the steel sheet surface using glow discharge optical emission optical spectrometry (GDOES) is 0.05 wt %.
The initial coating thickness of the steel sheet is from 7 to 11 microns, depending on the sample (in fact there can be a variation of the coating thickness when using industrially produced steel sheets because of the naturally occurring process variations on the production lines).
The steel sheets have a thickness of 1.0 mm. Homogeneous assemblies of the same steel sheet and thickness are produced for the current trials (in other words, the characteristics of steel sheet 1 and steel sheet 2 are the same).
Table 2 lists the ablation process parameters that were used.
no ablation
The sample references start by I, for invention, in the case of samples produced according to the current invention and by R, for reference, in case of counter-examples, outside of the current invention. Zn coating ablation was performed either using a low power pulsed laser or using mechanical brushing.
Mechanical brushing was performed using robot mounted 3M scotch-brite “Deburr and Finish pro 4C MED+” brushes, a diameter of 76.2 mm, a width of 12.7 mm and rotating at 6000 rpm. The brushing speed corresponds to the speed at which the robotic arm travels along the sheet to be brushed.
Table 3 presents the results of the ablated area before welding 6 and after welding 8, as well as the result of mechanical testing of the welds.
9.7
0
7.6
9.1
8.3
The underlined values correspond to the characteristics which are outside of the invention in the case of the reference samples.
Sample R1 is not ablated and serves as the initial reference, representing the very poor mechanical performance of a welded assembly in which no countermeasure is taken to prevent LME. 40% of the longitudinally tested samples according to the above described innovative testing method failed due to LME cracks.
Samples R2 to R4 are cases in which ablation was performed but the remaining zinc thickness after ablation Znab is too high in order to prevent the occurrence of LME.
Samples I1 to I9 illustrate the technical effect of the invention. By removing the zinc coating to below 3.5 microns on a width which is equal to or higher than 0.5 mm after welding, LME is prevented and structurally sound assemblies are produced.
In the case of I2, ablation was performed leaving an offset area of 0.3 mm at the edge of the steel sheets. Despite the presence of this non ablated area at the edge of the steel sheets, the final assembly is free of LME because the entire offset area is absorbed in the weld seam and the ablated width after welding is higher than 0.5 mm.
In the case of samples I9, the remaining coating thickness after ablation Znab is 3.2 microns. No ablation is observed on the resulting assembly, despite the presence of the remaining zinc coating thickness.
As a conclusion, when the steel sheets are ablated before welding to produce an ablated area with a remaining thickness Znab equal to or lower than 3.5 microns over width which is higher than 0.5 mm on the final weld assembly, LME does not occur.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2021/061826 | Dec 2021 | WO | international |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2022/061032 | 11/16/2022 | WO |
