Hot forming of boron steels is becoming increasingly popular in the automotive industry due to the demands for weight reduction and increased safety requirements for new vehicles. Hot formed components offer a significant increase in strength over conventional cold-formed steels, which has allowed for reductions in material thickness (and thus weight) while maintaining the same strength. Hot formed components are typically used in structural applications to improve the integrity of the vehicle’s cabin in the event of a collision. It has been suggested, however, that the crash performance of certain hot formed parts may be increased by locally tailoring their mechanical properties to improve their energy absorption. The final microstructure of a hot formed part is driven by the rate at which it is cooled within the tooling during the forming and quenching process. By controlling the cooling rate of the part, it is possible to control the final microstructure, and thus the final mechanical properties. This thesis outlines the experimental and numerical studies that were performed for the hot forming of a lab-scale B-pillar. A hot forming die set was developed which has both heating and cooling capabilities to control the local cooling rate of the blank as it is formed and quenched. The first aspect of this research is to produce a hot formed part which is representative of an industrial component, and then to numerically model the process to predict the final mechanical properties. The second aspect is to produce a hot formed part with tailored mechanical properties, such that there are regions of the part with very high strength (very hard) and other regions with increased ductility (softer). By tailoring the microstructure to meet the performance requirement of a hot formed part, it may be possible to optimize its crash behavior and also reduce the overall weight. Cartridge heaters were installed into sections of the tooling allowing it to reach a maximum temperature of 400°C. Cooling channels are used in other sections to maintain it at approximately room temperature. Experiments were performed on 1.2 mm Usibor® 1500P steel at heated die temperatures ranging from 25°C to 400°C. In the fully cooled region, the Vickers hardness of the blank was measured to be 450 – 475 HV, on average. As the temperature of the heated region was increased, a significant softening trend was observed in the areas of the blank that were in contact with the heated tool. The greatest levels of softening occurred in the 400°C heated die trial. Hardness measurements as low as 234 HV were recorded, which represents a reduction in hardness of 49% compared to the fully cooled trials. Numerical models of the experiments were developed using LS-DYNA and use of its advanced hot forming material model which allows for microstructure and hardness prediction within the final part. The numerical models have shown promising results in terms of predicting the hardness trends as the temperature of the die increases. Thermal expansion of the tooling resulted in local changes in the geometry of the tooling which proved to be problematic during the forming and quenching stages of the process. The expansion caused unexpected changes in the part-die contact, and the resulting microstructures were altered. These thermal expansion issues were addressed in the current work by shimming the tooling; however, in future work the tooling should be designed to account for this expansion at the desired operating temperature.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; and, (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1978. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Abolghaasem Fadaai. / Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; and, (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1978.

The diploma thesis examines the influence of setting welding parameters and welding process on the resulting structure and strength of the welded joint of harvester chains. The theoretical part discusses the problem of weldability of pine steels by using method “135” with the possibility of destructive or non-destructive testing of welded joints. In the practical part, this matter is examined on a specific weldment, the harvester chain. Cross member with a cube welded in two ways by method 135, followed by an assessment of the performance of welds. The results of the evaluation are written down in the manual.

The automotive industry of today faces ever harder requirements from regulatory bodies to increase the fuel efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint and increase the safety of their vehicles. The problem is being tackled in different ways; one of them being the use of innovative materials to reduce the overall weight while improving the crash safety of the vehicle. One such material is 22MnB5, an ultra-high strength (UHS) boron-alloyed steel, capable of reaching tensile strength of 1900 MPa. The weldability is a vital factor for applying boron steel in an efficient way into a vehicle construction. Resistance spot welding (RSW) is, among the different welding methods, the primary joining methods used within the automotive industry. The main challenges with RSW of UHS boron steel is the narrow welding window and increased risk of expulsion compared to conventional automotive steel. The aim of this thesis was evaluating how the weldability of three-sheet UHS boron steel combinations could be improved by applying different innovative welding methods. The methods investigated where; three-pulsed welding, two-pulsed welding with force profile and using hollow-cone electrodes instead of regular electrodes. The different methods where evaluated with welding experiments and analysis of the nugget diameter, vicker hardness comparison and tensile strength test of welding nugget. The results from this thesis shows that the current window of three-sheet combinations with UHS boron steel can be significantly improved by using hollow-cone electrodes in RSW. The results also showed that the width of the current window varied depending on the depth of the hole in the electrode, a deeper hole improved the current window but also increased the oxide build-up. Applying a force profile with lowered electrode force during the welding sequence provided an improved process window compared to the constant electrode force when welding a three-sheet combination containing AlSi-coated boron steel. A three-pulse welding sequence performed better than the reference two-pulse welding schedule but still not good enough to meet VCC acceptance criteria. / Bilindustrin står idag inför allt hårdare krav från tillsynsmyndigheter förbättra bränsleeffektiviteten, minska koldioxidavtrycket och öka säkerheten på deras fordon. Problemet angrips från ett flertal olika vinklar. varav en ökad användning av innovativa material för att minska den totala vikten samtidigt som fordonets kraschsäkerhet bibehålls eller ens förbättras. Ett sådant material är 22MnB5, ett höghållfast (UHS) borstål, kapabelt att uppnå brottgränser på 1900 MPa.  Svetsbarheten är en vital faktor för att kunna applicera borstål på ett effektivt sätt i en fordonskonstruktion. Inom bilindustrin är motståndspunksvetsning (RSW) den dominanta svetsmetoden. De största utmaningarna med att punktsvetsa höghållfast AlSi-belagt borstål är det har ett generellt smalare svetsfönstren, samt den ökade risken för sprut under svetsprocessen, jämfört med konventionella stål. Målet med denna avhandling var att utvärdera hur svetsbarheten av tre-plåtskombinationer med höghållfast AlSi-belagt borstål kunde förbättras genom att applicera innovativa svetsmetoder. De utvärderade metoderna var; tre-pulsad svetsning, två-pulsad svetsning med applicerad kraftprofil, samt användning av ihåliga elektroder istället för vanliga elektroder. Metoderna utvärderades genom svetsexperiment och analys av svetslobens storlek, vicker hårdhets mätning samt brottgränsmätning av svetsloben. Resultaten från denna avhandling visar att svetsbarheten för tre-plåts kombinationer med UHS borstål kan förbättras avsevärt genom att använda ihåliga elektroder för punktsvetsning. Resultaten pekar också på att förbättringen beroende på hålets djup i elektroden. Ett djupare hål gav större förbättringar men ökade också uppbyggnaden av oxid och restmetall i elektroden.  Genom att applicera en kraftprofil, där elektrodkraften sänktes under svetsprocessen kunde svetsbarheten förbättras för två-puls svetsning, jämfört med att ha konstant elektrodkraft, vid svetsning av en tre-plåtskombination innehållande höghållfast AlSi-belagt borstål. En tre-puls svetssekvens utförde bättre än referenspulssvetsschemat men fortfarande inte tillräckligt bra för att uppfylla VCC-acceptkriterierna.

Laser beam welding has gained a significant interest during the last two decades. The suitability of the process for high volume production has the possibility to give a strong advantage compared to several other welding methods. However, it is important to have the process in full control since various quality issues may otherwise occur. During laser welding of boron steels quality issues such as imperfections, changes in local and global geometry as well as strength reduction can occur. The aspects that need to be considered are strongly depending on alloy content, process parameters etc. These problems that can occur could be fatal for the construction and the lowest level of occurrence is wanted, independent of industry. The focus of this study has been to investigate the properties of laser welded boron steel. The study includes laser welding of boron alloyed steels with strengths of 1500 MPa and a recently introduced 1900 MPa grade. Focus has been to investigate weldability and the occurrence of cracks, porosity and strength reducing microstructure that can occur during laser welding, as well as distortion studies for tolerances in geometry. The results show that both conventional and 1900 MPa boron alloyed steel are suitable for laser welding. Due to the martensitic structure of welds the material tends to behave brittle. Cracking and porosity do not seem to be an issue limiting the use of these steels. For tolerances in geometry for larger structures tests has been done simulating laser welding of A-pillars and B-pillars. Measurements have been done with Vernier caliper as well as a more advanced optical method capturing the movements during the welding sequence. Results from the tests done on Ushaped beams indicates that depending on the geometry of the structure and heat input distortions can be controlled to give distortions from 1 to 8 mm, at a welding length of 700 mm. This means that important geometry points can be distorted several millimeters if the laser welding process not is controlled.

Vid framställning av olika material är introduceringen av legeringselement ett betydelsefullt område. Vid framställning av stål kan egenskaperna för stålet optimeras genom att styra de kemiska reaktionerna som sker i samband med att stålet legeras. För legeringar av stål är låga halter av grundämnet bor av intresse. Tillsatser av bor vid ståltillverkningen har visats ge betydande förbättringar av olika materialegenskaper för stål. Ett känt problem är att bor uppvisar hög affinitet till flera andra grundämnen. Detta leder till att bor vid materialtillverkningen bildar ej önskvärda kemiska föreningar med dessa ämnen vilket leder till att borets bidrag till stålets egenskaper förloras i hög utsträckning.Med hjälp av termodynamiska beräkningsmodeller, såsom CALPHAD-metoden, går det att beräkna olika termodynamiska beskrivningar av kemiska föreningar. Dessa kan därefter sammanställas i databaser för framtida beräkningar. Genom att utföra utvärderingar och beräkningar på system av lägre grad, t.ex. binära system, kan i förlängningen mer komplexa beräkningar utföras på multikomponenta system som innehåller flera olika grundämnen. Databasen i detta projekt saknar en uppdaterad beskrivning av tillgänglig termodynamisk informationen för vissa borkarbider. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att utföra en utvärdering av stål mikrolegerat med bor och utföra en uppdatering av en databas med avseende på utvalda kemiska föreningar. Med programvaran Thermo-Calc har en termodynamisk utvärdering skett av Fe-B-C-systemet med avseende på de tidigare ej beskrivna borkarbiderna Fe3(B,C) och Fe23(B,C)6. Deframtagna beskrivningarna av föreningarna implementerades i databasen på ekvationsform och beräkningar utfördes för att påvisa pålitligheten i beskrivningarna. Resultaten från beräkningarna visades överensstämma väl med referenser i litteraturen. / When studying the production of different materials, the introduction of alloying elements is of great importance. The material properties of steels can be optimized through control of the different chemical reactions taking place in the production process. For different steel alloys, alloying with the element boron has shown an increased hardenability for the end products. One problem with boron is that it shows high affinity to several other elements. This can lead to boron forming different chemical compounds that are not desired and thus losing the contribution of boron to the hardenability effect. With the help of thermodynamic calculation models, such as the CALPHAD-method, it is now possible to calculate different kinds of thermodynamic descriptions for chemical compounds. These descriptions can be used in databases for future calculations. By making evaluations of thermodynamic systems of lower degrees, for example a binary system, one could perform more complex calculations of systems involving many elements and compounds. The database used in this project lacked an updated thermodynamic description of selected boron carbides. The purpose of this Master’s Thesis was to perform a thermodynamic evaluation of steel alloyed with small amounts of boron. Using the updated descriptions, the database was updated with the latest thermodynamic information regarding the chemical compounds of Fe3(C,B) and Fe23(C,B)6.A thermodynamic evaluation has been performed using the software Thermo-Calc for the boron carbides Fe3(C,B) and Fe23(C,B)6 in the ternary system Fe-B-C. These new descriptions were implemented in the database and through calculations validated against published articles and journals. The results from the calculations were shown to be satisfactory when comparing to other published results.

As distorções de forma e variações dimensionais, em muitos casos, manifestam-se de maneira mais expressiva após a têmpera por indução ocasionando o chamado empenamento. Tais efeitos usualmente trazem despesas em reparos e restauração de peças, equipamentos e estruturas. Assim, a análise de tensões residuais é uma etapa obrigatória na produção de peças e elementos estruturais para a estimativa da sua confiabilidade sob condições reais de serviço. No presente trabalho foram realizadas medições de tensões residuais em semi-eixos automotivos fabricados com o aço DIN 38B3 temperados por indução. Estes eixos apresentaram diferenças quanto ao comportamento em distorção, com um eixo tendo sido endireitado e outro não. Devido a estas diferenças também se esperam diferenças em termos de distribuição de tensões residuais e propriedades dos eixos. As tensões residuais foram medidas através do método de difração de raios-X com dois equipamentos de medição (difratômetro portátil e difratômetro fixo). Complementando o trabalho foram feitas análises químicas, metalográficas, perfil de microdureza e profundidade de camada efetiva para verificar eventuais diferenças ou semelhanças entre os eixos analisados. Com os resultados de tensões obtidos foi possível obter uma visão geral da variação do perfil de tensões residuais superficiais após a têmpera por indução e a grande influência da etapa de endireitamento na redistribuição de tensões no material. / The distortions of form and dimensional variations, in many cases, appear after induction hardening causing the often called warping. These effects usually usually increase the costs of maintenance and restoration of parts, equipment and structures. Thus, the residual stress analysis is an important step in the production of parts and structural elements to estimate of its reliability under actual service conditions. In this study, measurements of residual stresses were carried out for a driveshafts manufactured from the DIN 38B3 steel after induction-hardening and straightening, if necessary. These shafts showed different behavior in distortion, with a shaft has been straightened and the other not. Due to these differences also are expected differences in the distribution of residual stresses and properties of the shafts.The residual stresses were measured by the X-ray diffraction method with two measuring equipment (a portable and a fixed diffractometers). Complementing this work chemical analysis, metallographic, of the microhardness profile and of effective case depth were accessed to eventually find differences or similarities between the analyzed driveshafts. With the residual stress results obtained it was possible to get an overview of the variation of the surface profile of residual stresses after induction hardening and the influence of straightening steps on the redistribution of residual stresses in the material.

As distorções de forma e variações dimensionais, em muitos casos, manifestam-se de maneira mais expressiva após a têmpera por indução ocasionando o chamado empenamento. Tais efeitos usualmente trazem despesas em reparos e restauração de peças, equipamentos e estruturas. Assim, a análise de tensões residuais é uma etapa obrigatória na produção de peças e elementos estruturais para a estimativa da sua confiabilidade sob condições reais de serviço. No presente trabalho foram realizadas medições de tensões residuais em semi-eixos automotivos fabricados com o aço DIN 38B3 temperados por indução. Estes eixos apresentaram diferenças quanto ao comportamento em distorção, com um eixo tendo sido endireitado e outro não. Devido a estas diferenças também se esperam diferenças em termos de distribuição de tensões residuais e propriedades dos eixos. As tensões residuais foram medidas através do método de difração de raios-X com dois equipamentos de medição (difratômetro portátil e difratômetro fixo). Complementando o trabalho foram feitas análises químicas, metalográficas, perfil de microdureza e profundidade de camada efetiva para verificar eventuais diferenças ou semelhanças entre os eixos analisados. Com os resultados de tensões obtidos foi possível obter uma visão geral da variação do perfil de tensões residuais superficiais após a têmpera por indução e a grande influência da etapa de endireitamento na redistribuição de tensões no material. / The distortions of form and dimensional variations, in many cases, appear after induction hardening causing the often called warping. These effects usually usually increase the costs of maintenance and restoration of parts, equipment and structures. Thus, the residual stress analysis is an important step in the production of parts and structural elements to estimate of its reliability under actual service conditions. In this study, measurements of residual stresses were carried out for a driveshafts manufactured from the DIN 38B3 steel after induction-hardening and straightening, if necessary. These shafts showed different behavior in distortion, with a shaft has been straightened and the other not. Due to these differences also are expected differences in the distribution of residual stresses and properties of the shafts.The residual stresses were measured by the X-ray diffraction method with two measuring equipment (a portable and a fixed diffractometers). Complementing this work chemical analysis, metallographic, of the microhardness profile and of effective case depth were accessed to eventually find differences or similarities between the analyzed driveshafts. With the residual stress results obtained it was possible to get an overview of the variation of the surface profile of residual stresses after induction hardening and the influence of straightening steps on the redistribution of residual stresses in the material.

As distorções de forma e variações dimensionais, em muitos casos, manifestam-se de maneira mais expressiva após a têmpera por indução ocasionando o chamado empenamento. Tais efeitos usualmente trazem despesas em reparos e restauração de peças, equipamentos e estruturas. Assim, a análise de tensões residuais é uma etapa obrigatória na produção de peças e elementos estruturais para a estimativa da sua confiabilidade sob condições reais de serviço. No presente trabalho foram realizadas medições de tensões residuais em semi-eixos automotivos fabricados com o aço DIN 38B3 temperados por indução. Estes eixos apresentaram diferenças quanto ao comportamento em distorção, com um eixo tendo sido endireitado e outro não. Devido a estas diferenças também se esperam diferenças em termos de distribuição de tensões residuais e propriedades dos eixos. As tensões residuais foram medidas através do método de difração de raios-X com dois equipamentos de medição (difratômetro portátil e difratômetro fixo). Complementando o trabalho foram feitas análises químicas, metalográficas, perfil de microdureza e profundidade de camada efetiva para verificar eventuais diferenças ou semelhanças entre os eixos analisados. Com os resultados de tensões obtidos foi possível obter uma visão geral da variação do perfil de tensões residuais superficiais após a têmpera por indução e a grande influência da etapa de endireitamento na redistribuição de tensões no material. / The distortions of form and dimensional variations, in many cases, appear after induction hardening causing the often called warping. These effects usually usually increase the costs of maintenance and restoration of parts, equipment and structures. Thus, the residual stress analysis is an important step in the production of parts and structural elements to estimate of its reliability under actual service conditions. In this study, measurements of residual stresses were carried out for a driveshafts manufactured from the DIN 38B3 steel after induction-hardening and straightening, if necessary. These shafts showed different behavior in distortion, with a shaft has been straightened and the other not. Due to these differences also are expected differences in the distribution of residual stresses and properties of the shafts.The residual stresses were measured by the X-ray diffraction method with two measuring equipment (a portable and a fixed diffractometers). Complementing this work chemical analysis, metallographic, of the microhardness profile and of effective case depth were accessed to eventually find differences or similarities between the analyzed driveshafts. With the residual stress results obtained it was possible to get an overview of the variation of the surface profile of residual stresses after induction hardening and the influence of straightening steps on the redistribution of residual stresses in the material.

Hot-pressed aluminium and silicon coated boron steel is used in the car industry where high tensile strength is of great importance, such as in the safety cage of a car where deformation has to be kept to a minimum in case of a collision. After hot-pressing the AlSi-boron steel shows excellent properties with high tensile strength, minimal spring back and also shows good protection against corrosion. A thickness of the AlSi coating of 150 [g/m2] for AlSi coated boron steel is typically used by the car industry today. However the coating thickness would be desirable to be minimized to 80 [g/m2]. Welding of this boron steel with 80 [g/m2]have shown difficulties; and it’s not clear why this occurs. In this report the metallurgical properties of the different coating layers will be investigated, simulations with Thermocalc module Dictra will be used, SEM/EDS will be used to characterize phases in coating layers and correlate to weldability. Resistance spot welding tests will also be performed where the welding parameters of pre-pulse, pulse time, time in between pulses and current will be varied to achieve desirable weld plug diameter without expulsion. Hardness testing in form of micro Vickers will executed. The Materials used will be USIBOR® 1500, AS80 with four different annealing times and one sample of AS150.