• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.66-73
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• 2022

Partial-hardened hot stamping has been well known to be very effective to absorb more energy in automotive lateral crash. Hardness distribution and dimensional change after partial-hardened hot stamping have been studied to find out effect of thermal deformation of the heated hot stamping die on dimensional accuracy of automotive center pillar. Soft zone of commercial center pillar showed 275~345 in Vickers hardness, indicating bigger non-uniformity which resulted from thermal deformation of heated die. Dimensional changes in soft zone of the commercial center pillar measured by three dimensional scanner were much bigger than that in hard zone. It has been found that hot stamping die compensation considering thermal deformation in soft zone causes a significant decrease in hardness deviation in the soft zone, corresponding to 20 percent of commercial center pillar and subsequently leads to much higher dimensional accuracy.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.354-360
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• 2015

AHSS (Advanced High Strength Steels) has been increasingly employed by global automotive OEMs in order to satisfy strengthened regulations and reduce weight for fuel efficiency. Hot stamping using boron steels in AHSS increases not only formability but also strength. The typical hot-stamped automotive part is the center pillar that is critical for vehicle side impact. However, the hot-stamped part can be risky for the passenger safety caused by brittle fracture under a vehicle collision. The high power diode laser is suitable for the heat treatment giving AHSS increased elongation that prevents brittle fracture in car crash. Therefore, local softening by laser heat treatment for energy absorption area on the hot-stamped part improves crash-worthiness.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.30-36
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• 2013

Recently the use of ultra high strength steels(UHSS) in structural and safety component is rapidly increasing in the automotive industry. Furthermore, it commonly use in tailor welded blank laser welding process before hot stamping to reduce lightweight vehicle. However TWB process is to be a problem about welded strength after hot stamping because it's welded before heat treatment. Therefore, in this study, laser welds of TWB after heat treatment were analyzed for changes in the characteristics, especially the impact on the oxidation and decarburization in order to prevent pre-coated Al-Si layer welds on the properties for intensive investigation. As a result, the degradation of the TWB weldments changes in the heat treatment conditions alone, without any pre-treatment of the coating layer has confirmed that there is a limitation on the improvement. Furthermore Al-Si elements are overall distributed on the weldment and it specially concentrated along the fusion line. Hardness value of Al-Si segregation area is less than 350Hv and tensile strength showed just 78~83% compared with substrate. Accordingly, we proved that both side Al-Si coating should be removed in order to ensure the strength of the substrate.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.319-324
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• 2012

The hot-stamping technique is a forming method for manufacturing high-strength parts, in which the part is cooled rapidly after press forming above the austenite transformation temperature. Boron steel, which contains a very small amount of boron, is one of the materials used for hot stamping. The purpose of this study is to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties according to the heat-treatment conditions. Die-quenching from various temperatures was conducted for different elapsed heat-treatment times. Laser-welded boron steel after quenching has a tensile strength of 1454 MPa and an elongation of 6 %. It has 94 % of the tensile strength of the base metal (1522 MPa). These properties can provide practical information for the use of boron steels for hot stamping.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.383-391
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• 2011

The hot-stamping technique is used to manufacture high-strength parts by press forming by heating at a temperature above the Austenite transformation temperature and then rapid cooling. Boron steel, which contains a very small amount of boron, is one of the materials used for hot stamping. The purpose of this study is to show the microstructures and to investigate the mechanical properties under different heat-treatment conditions. The heat treatment of water quenching was conducted at the various temperatures and different elapsed times. These can be practical data useful when boron steels are used for hot stamping. Furthermore, the microstructures and mechanical properties of the spot-welded specimen with coatings and counterpart materials (SPRC 340, SPRC 590) is investigated in order to determine the welding characteristics of boron steel at different welding condition.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.224-232
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• 2012

In this study, the effect of hot-stamping heat treatment on the microstructure and hardness of TWB(Tailor Welded Blank) laser joints in Al-Si-coated boron steel and Zn-coated DP(Dual Phase)590 steel was investigated. In the TWB joints without heat treatment, hardness profiles showed local hardness deviation near the fusion zone. However, there was no hardness deviation in the heat treated specimen and its hardness was higher than that of the one without the heat treatment, due to a fully martensite microstructure. In the TWB joints of both the boron and DP steels, the maximum hardnesses were observed at the HAZ(Heat Affected Zone) near the base metal, and the hardness decreased gradually to the base metal. In the heat treated joints, the hardnesses of the HAZ and the base metal of the boron steel side were similar to the maximum hardness of the weld, while those of the HAZ and the base metal of the DP steel side were higher than the maximum hardness.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1221-1226
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• 2012

The hot-stamping technique is a forming method used for manufacturing high-strength parts, in which a part is cooled rapidly after press forming above the austenite transformation temperature. Boron steel, which contains a very small amount of boron, is one of the materials used for hot stamping. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanical properties of boron steel according to the heat-treatment conditions and the formability by using an Erichsen cupping test. Die quenching from various temperatures was conducted for different elapsed heat-treatment times. Laser-welded boron steel after quenching at 1173 K-0 s has a tensile strength of 1203 MPa. This is 79% of the tensile strength of the base metal (1522 MPa). The formability of boron steel was not significantly different from that at the mold temperature. However, it decreased with increasing forming speed. These properties provide practical information for the use of boron steels for hot stamping.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.455-462
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• 2012

Al-Si coated boron steel and Zn coated DP steel plates were laser-welded to manufacture a Tailor Welded Blank (TWB) for a car body frame. Hot-stamping heat treatment ($900^{\circ}C$, 5 min) was applied to the TWB weld, and the microstructural change and transformation mechanism were investigated in the Al-rich area near the bond line of the Al-Si coated steel side. There was Al-rich area with a single phase, $Fe_3(Al,Si)$, which was transformed to ${\alpha}-Fe$ (Ferrite) after the heat treatment. It could be explained that the $Fe_3(Al,Si)$ phase was transformed to ${\alpha}-Fe$ during heat treatment at $900^{\circ}C$ for 5 min and the resultant ${\alpha}-Fe$ phase was not transformed by rapid cooling. Before the heat treatment, the microstructures around the $Fe_3(Al,Si)$ phase consisted of martensite, bainite and ${\alpha}-Fe$ while they were transformed to martensite and ${\delta}-Fe$ after the heat treatment. Due to the heat treatment, Al was diffused to the $Fe_3(Al,Si)$ and this resulted in an increase of Al content to 0.7 wt% around the Al-rich area. If the weld was held at $900^{\circ}C$ for 5 min it was transformed to a mixture of austenite (${\gamma}$) and ${\delta}-Fe$, and only ${\gamma}$ was transformed to the martensite by water cooling while the ${\delta}-Fe$ was remained unchanged.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1373-1377
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• 2014

Hot-stamping is a method of obtaining ultrahigh-strength steel by simultaneously forming and cooling boron steel in a press die after it has been heated at $900^{\circ}C$ or above. After heat treatment, boron steel has a strength of 1500 MPa or more. This material ensures a high level of quality because it overcomes the spring-back phenomenon, which is a problem associated with high-strength steel materials, and the degree of dimensional precision is improved by 90 or more because of the good formability compared with existing types of steel. In this study, the welding characteristics were identified through the butt and lap welding of hot-stamped steel using a disk laser. Full penetration was obtained at a faster speed with butt welding compared to lap welding, and a white band was observed in every specimen.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.107-115
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• 2021

Al-Si coated boron steel has been widely used as commercial hot stamping steel. When the steel is heated at 900~930℃ for 5 min in an electric furnace, thickness of the coating layer increases as a consequence of formation of intermetallic compounds and diffusion layer. The diffusion layer plays an important roll in blunting the propagation of crack from coating layer to base steel. Change in microstructure and coating layer of Al-Si coated boron steel after conductive heating with higher heating rate than electric furnace has been investigated in this study. Conductive-heated steel showed the martensitic structure with vickers hardness of 505~567. Both intermetallic compounds in coating layer and diffusion layer were not observed in conductive-heated steel due to rapid heating. It has been found that the conductive-heating consisting of rapid heating to 550℃ which is lower than melting point of Al-Si coating layer, slower heating to 900℃, and then 1 min holding at 900℃ is effective in forming intermetallic compound in coating layer and diffusion layer.