Effect of welding and heat treatment on the properties of UHSS used in automotive industry

Abstract

This paper deals with the undesired effects of the heat treatments on the mechanical properties of (UHSS) Ultra High Strength Steel used nowadays in automotive industry to improve crashworthiness performance of vehicles. The UHSS specimens were extracted from certain parts of the car body and subjected to different heat treatments. Four types of specimens were tested: untreated, welded with metal inert gas welding, heat treated at 800 °C, and heat treated at 1250 °C. All heat-treated specimens showed dramatically reduced values of strength. The results suggest that it is important to follow the official repair manuals avoiding unnecessary welding and improper heat treatments of UHSS. The experiments provide the data necessary for constructing a constitutive model and performing a finite-element analysis of improperly repaired UHSS parts.