Experimental investigation on high strength steel (HSS) tailor-welded blanks (TWBs)

This paper aims to investigate mechanical characteristics of the new tailor-welded blank (TWB) components made of high strength steel (HSS). A series of HSS-TWB thin plates with different orientations of weld line are studied through three-point bending tests to evaluate the effects of different design parameters, such as weld line locations and material combinations, on the deformation behaviors. The experimental results exhibit good repeatability of tests. And the relative shift phenomenon between indenter and specimen is observed and analyzed for the TWB steel sheets with different weld line orientations at parallel and 45° to the bending moment, respectively. The results from the experiment include the force versus displacement curves and some detailed photographical images throughout the loading process. It is found that the discrepancy of different combinations is quite noteworthy. In this paper, the peak force, absorbed energy and bending strength are presented to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of HSS-TWB thin plates with different weld line orientations and material combinations. The comparison demonstrates that the TWB structures with the weld orientation at 45° angle to the bending moment have the greatest advantages of different TWB steel sheets.