Patent Grant
10654134
The invention relates to a method for the preparation of aluminized steel sheets intended to be welded.
The invention further relates to a method for the fabrication of welded blanks from the aluminized steel sheets described above.
The invention further relates to a method for the fabrication of press-hardened parts from the above welded blanks, to be used as structural or safety parts in automotive vehicles.
It is known that welded steel parts can be fabricated from steel blanks that have different compositions and/or thicknesses, which are continuously butt-welded. In one known method of fabrication, these welded blanks are cold worked, for example by cold stamping. According to a second known fabrication method, these welded blanks are heated to a temperature that makes possible the austenitization of the steel followed by hot forming and rapid cooling in a forming die. The invention relates to this second mode of fabrication.
The composition of the steel is selected to make it possible to carry out the heating and hot forming steps and to confer a high mechanical strength, high impact strength as well as good resistance to corrosion to the final welded part. Thanks to their ability to absorb impacts, steel parts of this type have applications in particular in the automobile industry and more particularly for the fabrication of anti-intrusion parts, structural parts or parts that contribute to the safety of automotive vehicles.
Among the steels that exhibit the characteristics required for the applications mentioned above, coated steel sheet as described in publication EP 971044 includes in particular a pre-coating of an aluminum alloy or an aluminum-based alloy. The sheet is coated, for example by hot dip coating, in a bath having silicon and iron in controlled quantities, in addition to aluminum. After the hot forming and cooling, it is possible to obtain a mainly martensite microstructure, and the mechanical tensile strength can exceed 1500 MPa.
A known method for the fabrication of welded steel parts includes procuring at least two steel sheets as described in publication EP971044 to be butt welded to obtain a welded blank, optionally to cut this welded blank, then to heat the welded blank before carrying out a hot forming operation, for example by hot stamping, to confer on the steel part the form required for its application.
One known welding technique is laser beam welding. This technique has advantages in terms of flexibility, quality and productivity compared to other welding techniques such as seam welding or arc welding. However, in the assembly methods that include a melting step, the aluminum-based pre-coating made up of a layer of intermetallic alloy in contact with the steel substrate, topped by a metal alloy layer, is diluted during the welding operation with the steel substrate within the molten zone, which is the zone that is liquefied during the welding operation and solidifies after this welding operation, forming the bond between the two sheets.
Two phenomena can then occur:
To prevent the first phenomenon described above, publication EP 2007545 describes a method that includes removing the superficial layer of metal alloy on the periphery of the sheets to be subjected to the welding operation, leaving the intermetallic alloy layer. This removal can be carried out by brushing, machining or by the application of a laser beam. In the latter case, the width of the removal zone is defined thanks to the longitudinal movement of a laser beam of a certain width, or even by the oscillation of a laser beam smaller than this width, using the edge of the sheet as a reference point. The intermetallic alloy layer is retained to guarantee satisfactory corrosion resistance and to prevent the phenomena of decarburization and oxidation during the heat treatment that precedes the forming operation.
To prevent the second phenomenon mentioned above, publication WO2013014512 describes a method that includes, in addition to removing the metal layer described above, the elimination of the aluminum present on the cut edge of the sheets before welding, the presence of which, can result from a cutting operation, and to create a welded joint with a filler metal wire to increase the carbon content of the melted zone in specific proportions.
In the methods described in the above referenced publications, when the removal of the layer of metal alloy is the result of a phenomenon including a melting, such as a removal by laser beam, there is a more or less significant amount of aluminum that has run over the cut edge (which is also called the secondary face) of the sheet. A subsequent welding leads to incorporation of this aluminum by dilution in the molten zone and results in welded joints, the mechanical strength and/or toughness of which are less than those of the base metal.
The different methods for removing the aluminum that has flowed over the cut edge by machining, scraping or ablation by pulsed laser are tricky to carry out due to the difficulty of positioning the blank in relation to the die or to the beam, the rapid wear of the tools when the removal is carried out by mechanical means, or the potential splashing of aluminum on the prepared faces in the case of a laser ablation on the cut edge.
In addition, after the removal of the layer of aluminum metal on the periphery of the sheets, the underlying material has a duller and darker appearance. It is known that laser welding requires a very accurate positioning of the beam in relation to the plane of the joint formed by the sheets to be assembled. This positioning and guidance of the beam, or “seam tracking”, is conventionally controlled by sensors that are capable of detecting the variation, in a direction at a right angle to the welded joint, of a reflected light beam, whereby the joint plane appears significantly darker. However, the side-to-side placement before welding of the two plates from which the metallic layer has been removed from the periphery results in only a small variation in contrast at the level of the mating plane, which is difficult to detect, and the guidance of the laser beam is then controlled with significantly less accuracy.
It is therefore desirable to develop a method for the preparation of the peripheral zones of sheets pre-coated with aluminum that does not have the disadvantages described above.
It is desirable to have an economical preparation method that makes it possible to eliminate the expensive, time-consuming and complex operation of cleaning the aluminum or the aluminum alloy that has run over the secondary face following removal by melting and vaporization.
It is also desirable to have a preparation method that guarantees an aluminum content less than 0.3% in the welded joint fabricated from sheets pre-coated with aluminum or aluminum alloy.
It is also desirable to have a method that improves the accuracy of seam tracking during the welding of sheets pre-coated with aluminum or aluminum alloy, the metal layer of which has been removed over the periphery.
An object of the present invention is to resolve the problems described above.
An object of the invention provides a method for the preparation of sheets for the fabrication of a welded steel blank including the following steps in succession:
Preferably, the simultaneous removal by melting and vaporization is carried out by a laser beam that spans this median plane 51.
The width of the peripheral zone 61 and the width of the peripheral zone 62 are preferably between 0.25 and 2.5 mm.
In one particular mode, the width of the peripheral zone 61 and the width of the peripheral zone 62 are equal.
In another mode, the width of the peripheral zone 61 and the width of the peripheral zone 62 are different.
Preferably, the removal by melting and vaporization occurs simultaneously on the principal faces 111, 121 and 112, 122.
In one particular mode, the metal alloy layers 19, 20 are removed from the peripheral zones 61, 62 of each of the first 11 and second 12 steel sheets, leaving their respective intermetallic alloy layers 17, 18 in place.
In one mode of the invention, the substrates 25, 26 have different steel compositions.
In one particular mode, the pre-coatings 15, 16 have different thicknesses.
Advantageously, the metal alloy layer 19, 20 of the pre-coating 15, 16 includes, with concentrations expressed by weight, between 8 and 11% silicon, between 2 and 4% iron, the balance of the composition being aluminum and unavoidable impurities.
The gap 31 between the secondary faces 71 and 72 is advantageously greater than 0.04 mm and very advantageously greater than 0.06 mm.
An additional object of the invention provides a method for the fabrication of a welded blank characterized in that at least a first 11 and a second 12 sheet prepared by a method according to any of the claims 1 through 10 is procured, and in that a welding operation of the first sheet 11 and second sheet 12 is carried out in the removal zone by melting and vaporization, along a plane defined by the above-mentioned median plane 51, less than one minute after the operation of removal by melting and vaporization on the first sheet 11 and the second sheet 12.
Preferably, the welding operation is carried out by at least one laser beam 95.
Preferably, the welding operation is carried out simultaneously by two laser beams, one of which carries out a welding of the side of the principal faces 111 and 121, the other of which carries out a welding of the side of the opposite principal faces 112 and 122.
The removal by melting and vaporization is advantageously carried out by a laser beam 80, and the devices that make it possible to carry out the removal and welding operation are combined in a single piece of equipment, the relative speed of displacement of which in relation to the first sheet 11 and the second sheet 12 is identical.
Preferably, the welding operation is carried out by simultaneously using at least one laser beam 95 and a filler rod 82.
In one particular mode, the removal step is guided by a device that tracks the median plane 51, the coordinates (x-y) defining the location of the plane 51 at an instant t, are recorded by computerized means, and are used to guide the welding operation that will subsequently take place.
In one mode of the invention, the removal step is guided by a first device that tracks the median plane 51, and the welding is guided by a second device that tracks the median plane and is separate from the first device.
In an additional mode of the invention, the sheets 11 and 12 are clamped by a clamping device 98 during the removal operation by melting and vaporization, the clamping being kept constant by the device 98 until the welding operation and at least during the welding operation.
An additional object of the invention is a method for the fabrication of a press-hardened piece from a welded blank including the following steps in succession:
Preferably, the hot forming of the welded blank is carried out by a hot stamping operation.
An additional object of the invention is a welded blank constructed by assembling at least one first 11 and one second 12 pre-coated steel sheet, made up of a steel substrate 25, 26 and a pre-coating 15, 16 made up of an intermetallic alloy layer 17, 18 in contact with the steel substrate, topped by a layer of aluminum metal, aluminum alloy or aluminum-based alloy 19, 20, the first sheet 11 having a principal face 111 and an opposite principal face 112, the second sheet 12 having a principal face 121 and an opposite principal face 122, the metallic alloy layer 19 being removed by melting and vaporization in a peripheral zone 61 of the sheet 11 and the layer of metal alloy 20 in a peripheral zone 62 from the sheet 12, the welded blank having at least one welded joint 52 that defines a median plane 51 perpendicular to the principal faces of the first sheet 11 and the second sheet 12, and cross sections 52a, 52b . . . 52n perpendicular to the median plane 51, characterized in that the morphological characteristics of the layers 17 and 18 resulting from solidification after melting and vaporization of the pre-coating in the peripheral zones 61 and 62 are identical in the sections 52a, 52b, . . . 52n on either side of the median plane 51.
The sum of the widths of the peripheral zones 61 and 62 preferably varies by less than 10% along the welded joint.
Preferably, the layer of metal alloy 19, 20 of the pre-coating 15, 16 includes, with concentrations expressed by weight, between 8 and 11% silicon and between 2 and 4% iron, the balance of the composition made up of aluminum and unavoidable impurities.
An additional object of the invention is a device for the fabrication of welded blanks including:
Preferably, the distance 64 between the laser beams 80 and 95 is between 0.5 mm and 2 m. The distance 64 is advantageously less than 600 mm. In one particular mode, the distance 64 is less than 5 mm.
In one advantageous mode, the laser beam 80 is emitted from an ablation head and the beam 95 is emitted from a welding head, the heads forming a compact element with a common focusing device for the laser beams 80 and 95.
Advantageously, the guidance device 94 also makes it possible to position the laser beam 95 with reference to the median plane 51.
In one particular mode, the device further includes a filler rod device 82 for the construction of the above-mentioned welded joint.
The device advantageously further includes a laser beam that makes it possible to carry out welding on the face opposite to the face where the beam 95 operates.
An additional object of the invention is the use of a press-hardened part according to the characteristics described above for the fabrication of structural parts, anti-intrusion or impact absorption parts in vehicles, in particular automobiles.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, which is presented by way of example and refers to the accompanying figures listed below, in which:
It will be noted that the diagrams do not attempt to reproduce the relative dimensions of the different elements among one another, but are intended merely to facilitate the description of the different constituent parts of the invention.
In the methods of the prior art, where the removal of the metallic alloy layer is the result of melting, more or less significant quantities of aluminum that flow over the secondary face are present. This situation is illustrated in
The inventors have shown that this phenomenon of flow along the secondary face can be prevented by the following method. As illustrated in
These sheets are made up of a steel substrate 25 and 26, which can be in particular in the form of a hot-rolled sheet or cold-rolled sheet, depending on the desired thickness. The composition of the substrates can be identical or different, depending on the desired distribution of the mechanical characteristics over the final part. These steels are heat-treatable steels, which are capable of undergoing a martensitic or bainitic quenching after an austenitization treatment. The thickness of the sheets is preferably between approximately 0.5 and 4 mm, the thickness range used in particular in the fabrication of structural or reinforcement parts for the automobile industry.
The sheets 11 and 12 respectively include principal faces 111, 112 and 121, 122. On the surface of each of these faces, there is a pre-coating 15 and 16, the thickness and composition of which can be identical or different in the sheets 1 and 2. These pre-coatings 15 and 16 are both obtained by dipping in an aluminizing bath.
The pre-coating 15 is itself composed:
of a layer of inter-metallic alloy 17 in contact with the substrate 25. This is an alloy layer of the type FexAly formed by reaction between the substrate 25 and the molten metal of the aluminizing bath during the continuous passage of the sheets through the aluminizing bath. This layer typically has a thickness of 3 to 10 μm. The aluminizing bath is a bath of aluminum or aluminum alloy in which aluminum is present in a percentage by weight greater than 50%, or an aluminum-based alloy. In this latter case, the aluminum is the main component of the alloy.
of a metallic alloy layer 19, the composition of which is practically the same as that of the bath of aluminum, aluminum alloy or aluminum-based alloy.
Likewise, in the sheet 12, the pre-coating 16 is constituted by an intermetallic alloy layer in contact with the substrate 26 and a surface metallic layer.
Preferably, the metallic alloy 19, 20 of the pre-coating can contain from 8 to 11% by weight silicon and from 2 to 4% iron, the balance of the composition made up of aluminum and unavoidable impurities. The addition of silicon makes it possible in particular to reduce the thickness of the intermetallic layer 17.
The two sheets 11 and 12 can be positioned so that their principal faces 111 and 112 are in the same plane 41. In this manner, a laser beam placed simultaneously over these two sheets will interact with them identically. However, the two sheets 11 and 12 can also be positioned not exactly in the same plane, i.e. the focal point of the laser beam is not positioned exactly on the same level in relation to the surface of the two sheets with an identical pre-coating. This situation can be encountered, for example, in the case of a difference of thickness between the two sheets 11 and 12. Even in this case, the inventors have verified that the desired results, in particular the absence of a flow of the pre-coating along the secondary faces, are obtained when the method is according to the invention is used.
The two sheets 11 and 12 are positioned to place with their secondary faces 71 and 72 end to end. This positioning therefore defines a median plane 51 between the sheets 11 and 12, perpendicular to their principal faces, and a gap 31 between the sheets.
According to the invention, the respective metallic alloy layers 19 and 29 are then removed simultaneously, by a method including a melting and a vaporization, over a peripheral portion 61 of the sheet 11 and a peripheral portion 62 of the sheet 12. As a general rule, the majority of this removal is due to a melting phenomenon. This rules out methods where the layers 19 and 20 are removed purely by vaporization. This removal, which is also called an ablation, is preferably carried out by a pulsed laser beam. The impact of the high power and high energy density laser on the pre-coating causes a liquefaction and vaporization of the surface of the latter. On account of the plasma pressure, the liquefied pre-coating is expelled toward the periphery of the zone where the ablation is taking place. A succession of short laser pulses with appropriate parameters results in an ablation of the metallic layer 19 and 20, leaving the intermetallic alloy layer 17 and 18 in place. However, depending on the degree of corrosion resistance desired on the finished part, it is also possible to remove a more or less large portion of the intermetallic layer 17 and 18, for example more than 50% of this layer. The interaction of a pulsed laser beam directed toward the periphery 61 and 62 of pre-coated sheets, in relative translation with reference to these sheets, therefore results in a removal of the metallic layer 19 and 20.
The ablation is carried out simultaneously on the sheets 11 and 12, i.e. the means of melting and vaporization are applied simultaneously to the peripheral zones 61 and 62 facing each other. In particular, when the ablation is carried out using a laser beam, the laser beam impacts zones 61 and 62, spanning the median plane 51. In one preferred mode, a pulsed laser beam with a rectangular shape is used. A smaller laser beam can also be used, which is made to oscillate so that it covers the width to be processed. The method can also be carried out using a principal beam divided into two rectangular sub-beams, each spanning the median plane 51. These two sub-beams can be positioned symmetrically with reference to the plane 51, or can be longitudinally offset in relation to each other in the direction of welding. These two sub-beams can be of identical or different sizes.
In these different simultaneous ablation modes, it would then be expected that the aluminum resulting from the melting due to the impact of the laser beam would flow over the secondary phases 71 and 72 under the influence of gravity and the plasma pressure generated by the beam.
Surprisingly, the inventors have shown that the secondary faces 71 and 72 do not experience a flow of aluminum when the gap 31 is between 0.02 and 2 mm. Without being bound by a theory, it is thought that the secondary faces 71 and 72 are covered by a very thin layer of iron and/or aluminum oxide originating from the cutting of the sheets 11 and 12. Taking into consideration the interfacial tension between this thin layer of oxides and liquid aluminum on one hand and the specific gap 31 on the other, the surface free of liquid aluminum between the sheets 11 and 12 bends to form a wetting angle, without the liquid flowing into the space 31. A minimal gap of 0.02 mm makes it possible for the beam to pass between the sheets 11 and 12, removing potential traces of aluminum that may have been on the secondary face. Moreover, as will be explained below, in one variant of the method, the welding is carried out immediately after this ablation operation.
The gap 31 is advantageously greater than 0.04 mm, which makes it possible to use mechanical cutting methods, the tolerance of which does not have to be controlled with extreme precision, which in turn makes it possible to reduce the costs of production.
In addition, as explained above, the guidance of the welding laser beam is more difficult in the case of sheets from which the coating has been removed on the periphery on account of their darker appearance. The inventors have shown that a width of the gap 31 greater than 0.06 mm makes it possible to increase significantly the optical contrast of the joint plane, which appears differentiated in relation to the peripheral ablation zones, and therefore ensures that the weld is properly positioned with respect to the median plane 51.
In addition, the inventors have found that when the gap 31 is greater than 2 mm, the mechanism explained above is no longer operative to prevent the flow of liquid aluminum, as the experimental results illustrated in
The gap can advantageously be between 0.02 and 0.2 mm.
For the ablation process, a Q-switched type laser with a nominal power of several hundred watts can advantageously be used, which delivers pulses of a duration on the order of 1/50 of a nanosecond with a maximum power of 1-20 megawatts. This type of laser makes it possible, for example, to obtain an impact zone of the rectangular beam of 2 mm (in a direction perpendicular to the median plane 51) and 1 mm, or less than 1 mm (for example 0.5 mm) in the direction of the length of this median plane. The displacement of the beam then makes it possible to create ablation zones 61 and 62 on either side of the plane 51 without the occurrence of a flow along the faces 71 and 72.
The morphology of the ablation zones 61 and 62 will naturally be adapted to the welding conditions that follow, in particular to the width of the welded zone. It is thus possible, depending on the nature and the power of the welding process that will follow, for the width of each of the ablation zones 61 and 62 to be between 0.25 and 2.5 mm or, for example, in the case of hybrid laser arc or plasma welding, between 0.25 and 3 mm. The ablation conditions will be selected so that the sum of the widths of the ablation zones 61 and 62 is greater than the width of the welded zone.
If the sheets 11 and 12 are identical, it is possible to specify that the widths of the ablation zones 61 and 62 are also identical. But it is also possible to specify, for example using a horizontal shift of the laser beam in the lateral direction with reference to the median plane 51, for the widths of these ablation zones to be different.
According to the invention, the ablation can be carried out only one side of the principal faces.
However, to minimize, as far as possible, the introduction of aluminum during welding to be carried out on the sheets, it is also possible to preferably carry out this simultaneous peripheral ablation on all of the faces, i.e. 111, 121, 112, 122. For this purpose, in the case of an ablation by laser welding, a device of the “power switch” type can be advantageously used, which divides the power of the beam, one part being used for the simultaneous ablation of the phases 111 and 121, and the other part for the simultaneous ablation of the faces 112 a 122. It is also possible to use a second laser which is separate from the first.
After this simultaneous ablation operation, there will be two sheets, from the periphery of which the metallic alloy layer has been removed, that are suitable for welding. This welding can be done later and the sheets can be either kept facing each other or separated. They can be separated easily because the method according to the invention makes it possible to limit the flow of liquid aluminum between the sheets so that a solidified flow does not create any undesirable mechanical bond.
But the inventors have also discovered that an in-line welding operation can be advantageously carried out on the sheets prepared in the manner described above. On account of the absence of a flow of aluminum over the secondary face, the prepared sheets can be welded immediately without the need to remove the sheets from the line and then reposition them after cleaning. The interval of time that elapses between the simultaneous ablation operation and the welding operation is less than one minute, which minimizes oxidation on the faces 71 and 72 and achieves higher productivity. In addition, when this interval of time is short, the welding is done on the sheets that have been preheated by the ablation operation so that the quantity of energy to be applied for the welding can be reduced.
It is also possible to use any continuous welding method appropriate to the thicknesses and productivity and quality conditions required for the welded joints, and in particular:
Laser welding is one method that can be used advantageously on account of the high energy density inherent to this method, which makes it possible to obtain a narrow molten zone which varies within small proportions. This method can be used by itself or in combination with a filler rod 82, as illustrated in
According to one variant of the invention, the devices that carry out the simultaneous ablation and welding operations are combined into a single piece of equipment. This equipment is driven at a single rate of relative displacement with reference to the sheets. In this equipment, the rate of simultaneous ablation is identical to the welding speed, which makes it possible to conduct fabrication under optimal conditions of productivity and efficiency.
At a certain distance 64 from this first ablation zone, a laser beam 95 carries out the welding of the sheets 11 and 12 to create a welded zone 63. The distance between the ablation and welding devices is kept constant using a device, which is itself known and is represented schematically as 96. The sheets 11 and 12 are displaced with reference to this assembly 96 along to the path indicated by 97.
The sheets 11 and 12 are advantageously clamped using a clamping device, which is not shown in
The maximum distance between the points of impact of the beams 80, 81 on one hand and 95 on the other hand depends in particular on the welding speed. As described above, the welding speed will be determined in particular so that the time that elapses between the impacts of the beams (80, 81) and 95 is less than one minute. This maximum distance can be preferably less than 2 m so that the equipment is particularly compact.
The minimum distance 64 between these points of impact can be reduced to 0.5 mm. A distance smaller than 0.5 mm would result in an undesirable interaction between the ablation beams 80, 81 on one hand and the “keyhole” which is inherently present during welding by the beam 95 on the other hand.
A short distance 64 can also be obtained by combining the two ablation and welding heads (the heads being defined as the devices from which the laser beams are emitted) into a single more compact head, whereby the latter can use, for example, the same focusing element for the ablation and welding operation.
A very small distance 64 makes it possible to implement the method using a particularly compact unit and to proceed so that a certain quantity of the thermal energy delivered by the laser beams 80 and 81 is added to the linear welding energy delivered by the beam 95, thereby increasing the total energy efficiency of the method. A very small distance makes it possible to shorten the cycle time necessary for the unit production of a welded blank, and thus to increase productivity. These effects are obtained in particular when the distance 64 is less than 600 mm or even less than 5 mm.
Optionally, a second laser beam, of a type similar to 95, can be applied in the lower portion, i.e. on the opposite face. This arrangement makes it possible to increase the welding speed and/or to reduce the unit power of the source 95.
This beam 95 can be guided either by its own guidance device which is separate from 94 (case not illustrated in
Optionally, the assembly can include a filler rod device 82 to modify the composition of the molten zone thanks to a composition of the filler rod that is different from the compositions of the sheets 25 and 26.
The sheets 11 and 12 are moved from the station A toward the station D to obtain a relative displacement of the sheets with reference to the laser beams 80 and 95, the latter being positioned on the same line with reference to the median plane 51, and at a fixed distance 64 from each other.
As noted above, this distance 64 is preferably between 0.5 mm and 2 m, preferably between 0.5 mm and 600 mm, or between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.
The welded blank obtained by the method according to the invention has the following specific characteristics:
In summary,
In the case of the conventional method (
In the case of the method according to the invention (
It is therefore apparent that the welded joints constructed according to the conventional method and according to the invention differ in terms of the morphological characteristics in the solidification zones in immediate proximity to the molten metal created by welding.
By way of non-limiting examples, the following embodiments illustrate the advantages achieved by the invention.
Steel sheets 1.2 mm thick having the following composition by weight: 0.23% C, 1.19% Mn, 0.014% P, 0.001% S, 0.27% Si, 0.028% Al, 0.034% Ti, 0.003% B and 0.18% Cr, with the balance made up of iron and impurities resulting from processing, are procured. These blanks include a pre-coating 30 μm thick on each face. This pre-coating is made up of an intermetallic layer 5 μm thick in contact with the steel substrate containing 50% by weight aluminum, 40% by weight iron and 10% by weight silicon. This intermetallic alloy layer results from the reaction between the steel substrate and the aluminum alloy bath.
The intermetallic layer is topped by a metallic layer 25 μm thick, containing, by weight, 9% silicon, 3% iron and the balance made up of aluminum and unavoidable impurities.
The dimensions of these sheets are 400 mm×800 mm. The welding is to be carried out on the edges 400 mm long.
Two of these sheets are positioned so that the gap between their facing edges is 0.1 mm. The metallic layer on the periphery of these sheets is then removed using a pulsed laser with an average power of 800 W.
This ablation is carried out simultaneously by two beams on each of the opposite faces of the sheet. The sheets are placed in motion with reference to the beam at a constant speed V=6 m/min. Each of the beams is focused to obtain a rectangular focal spot 2 mm×0.5 mm, the distance of 2 mm extending in the transverse direction with reference to the median plane of the two sheets. In this manner, two sheets are created simultaneously, from the periphery of which the metallic layer is removed over a width of practically 1 mm on each of the sheets. This ablation operation is guided by a sensor that detects the position of the median plane between the two sheets, located immediately upstream with reference to the two pulsed ablation laser beams, in a position identified as x0. The sensor is located at a distance d1 approximately 100 mm from the ablation beams. At the level of the sensor, the coordinates (x0, y0) of the position of the median plane are recorded at an instant to by computerized means. As the sheets move at a speed v, this plane position reaches the level of the pulsed ablation beams at an instant t1=t0+d1/V. Thanks to a guidance device of the laser beams, the exact position of the impact of the laser beams on the sheets that occurs at the instant t1 is adapted so that it corresponds exactly to the ablation zone defined on the basis of the position of the median plane.
After ablation, a laser beam located at a fixed distance d2 of 200 mm from the pulsed laser beams makes it possible to create a welded joint between these sheets. The welding is carried out with a linear power of 0.6 kJ/cm, under the protection of helium, to prevent decarburization, oxidation and hydrogen absorption phenomena. The length of time that elapses between the ablation operation and the welding is 2 seconds.
The welding laser beam is guided here again using the sensor located upstream of the ablation operation. The position of the median plane recorded at the instant to arrives at the level of the welding laser beam at the instant t2=t0+(d1+d2)/V. The precise position of the impact of the welding laser beam is then adjusted using the optical guidance device of the laser beam, so that it is centered on the position of the previously defined median plane.
In addition, a Castaing microprobe was used to analyze the aluminum content of the welded zone thus created. The aluminum content remains below 0.3%, which clearly indicates that the quantity of aluminum on the secondary faces, after the ablation step and before welding, is practically zero.
A welded blank assembled under the conditions of the invention was then heated in a furnace to a temperature of 900° C. and held at this temperature, whereby the total hold time in the furnace was 6 minutes. The heated blank was then hot stamped to form a part, which was held in the stamping press tool to cool the part at a rate greater than the critical martensitic tempering rate of the steel.
It was then found that the welded zone on the hot stamped piece did not contain any brittle Fe-A1 intermetallic compounds, and that the hardness of the melted zone was practically identical to that of the base metal.
The invention therefore makes it possible to economically produce structural and safety parts for the automobile industry from aluminized sheets having a welded joint.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2014/000612 | Apr 2014 | WO | international |
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/306,735, filed Oct. 25, 2016 which is a National Stage of International Application PCT/IB2015/000508, filed Apr. 17, 2015 which claims priority to International Application PCT/IB2014/000612, filed Apr. 25, 2014, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15306735 | US | |
| Child | 16569267 | US |
