Development of Tailor Welded Blanks for Automotive Safety Components with High Fracture Toughness
Grant Data
Project Title
Development of Tailor Welded Blanks for Automotive Safety Components with High Fracture Toughness
Principal Investigator
Professor Huang, Mingxin
(Principal Investigator (PI))
Duration
24
Start Date
2023-07-01
Amount
1698358
Conference Title
Development of Tailor Welded Blanks for Automotive Safety Components with High Fracture Toughness
Keywords
Tailor Welded Blanks, Automotive Safety Components, High Fracture Toughness
Discipline
Engineering
HKU Project Code
ITP/024/23AP
Grant Type
Innovation and Technology Support Programme (ITSP) under Automotive Platforms and Application Systems R&D Centre (APAS)
Funding Year
2023
Status
On-going
Objectives
This project aims to study and optimize tailor welded blanks (TWB) for automobilecomponents to improve its fracture toughness and safety in real life application.Achievements of this project will promote the application of TWB in automobile industry.The fusion zone formed by tailor welding is a potential risk factor in practical application.Therefore, through systematic research on tailor welded materials, the influence ofwelding process on material properties can be explored, and then the industrialprocessing procedures can be upgraded to improve the fracture toughness and delaycracking resistance of laser welded blanks, so as to promote the lightweight ofautomobiles and to provide guarantee for the large-scale use of tailor welded ultra-highstrength steels in the future.This project collaborates with two partners, namely China Automotive LightweightTechnology and General Motors China Science Lab. They are responsible for providingtailor welded blanks and manufacturing automobile door rings. At the later stage of theproject, the industrial partner will use the upgraded industrial parameters provided tofabricate door rings for assessing the actual safety performance of the materials.The mechanical properties of TWB, such as strength, fracture toughness and resistanceto delayed cracking, will be evaluated by slow strain rate tensile test (SSRT), J-integralbased measurement with a compact tension (CTOD) specimen and constant load test(CLT). In the aspect of characterization, scanning electron microscope (SEM) andtransmission electron microscope (TEM) are applied to observe the melting zone, phasesand coating features. Meanwhile, a thermal desorption analyzer is provided to study thehydrogen embrittlement or delayed fracture of advanced high strength steels.