Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 37 (2001) 117 } 130

Finite element analysis of tailor-welded blanks

K.M. Zhao*, B.K. Chun, J.K. Lee
The Ohio State University, 155 W Woodruw Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

Abstract A typical tailor-welded blank (TWB) is composed of several base metals, which might have di!erent mechanical properties as well as thickness. Moreover, a TWB contains a heat-a!ected zone (HAZ) which has quite di!erent mechanical properties from base materials. The forming behaviors of TWBs have been widely studied since they were "rst developed as a way of using collectible o!al. They are often modeled by shell elements assuming the midsurfaces are in the same plane. Base materials are tied together along the weld lines so that the HAZ is neglected. In this paper, various "nite element models for TWB including HAZ are presented. An appropriate model based on the considerations of accuracy and computing e$ciency is suggested. Free-bend test (three-point bend test), stretch-bend test (OSU formability test) and limit dome height (LDH) test are performed to verify the proposed numerical modeling technique for TWBs. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Sheet metal forming; Tailor-welded blanks; Stamping; Springback; Numerical modeling

1. Introduction A tailor-welded blank consists of two or more sheets that have been welded together in a single plane prior to forming. The sheets can be identical, or they can have di!erent thickness, mechanical properties or surface coatings. Various welding processes, i.e. laser welding, mash welding, electron-beam welding or induction welding, can join them. Radlymayr and Szinyur [1] measured the mechanical properties of the weld bead after wire eroding away the base material. In order to determine the stress}strain relationship of the much narrower laser weld bead, Saunders [2] developed an analytical procedure to extract the properties of weld bead from the combination of the base and weld bead materials. By assuming iso-strain in both weld and base materials,

* Corresponding author. Present address: General Motors Corp., 6600 E. 12 Mile Road, MC: 480-400-111, Warren, MI 48092, USA. E-mail address: kzrgnt@hqs.mid.gmeds.com (K.M. Zhao). 0168-874X/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 8 7 4 X ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 2 6 - 3

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a portion of the load supported by weld bead can be calculated from the known base material hardening laws and known total load of TWB. However, the iso-strain assumption in tensile test cannot be achieved easily for the combination of two base materials with di!erent load carrying capacities. As can be seen later, the iso-strain assumption can be available only when eccentric load is applied. Saunders [2] employed laboratory sheet forming tests to compare the formability of laser and mash seam welded blanks of steel sheets with di!erent strength and thickness and conducted a stretch draw experimental analysis of a scaled down automotive fender to investigate the forming behavior of a tailored blank under realistic conditions. They pointed out that "nite element modeling is an accurate predictor of deformation pattern and weld line displacement when draw restraining forces and material properties are known accurately. Mustafa et al. [3] controlled the weld line movement by adjusting the blank holder forces during deep drawing of a round cup. These studies presented a wide range of information about the formability and failure patterns of welded metal blanks. A wide range of information about the formability and failure patterns of tailor-welded blanks and information about the springback of non-welded sheet metal parts have been presented. However, published results on the springback of tailor-welded blanks have hardly been found. In this paper, tensile tests with the eccentric load are employed for the determination of the mechanical properties of base materials and HAZ. Di!erent "nite element models for TWB, i.e. 3-D shell element without HAZ, 3-D shell element with HAZ and 3-D solid element with HAZ, are compared in terms of accuracy and cost e!ectiveness. Based on these comparisons, the suggested modeling for TWB is used to simulate two typical sheet metal forming processes, namely, free bend and stretch bend. The corresponding tests are performed to verify the modeling technique. 2. Base materials and welding process The chemical compositions of sheet steels SPCEN (0.8 mm thick) and SPRC (1.4 mm thick) reported by the materials supplier (Hwashin Automotive Company) are listed in Table 1. Highpower CO laser welds are made at 3 kW with shielding gas of 75% Ar and 25% He, lens focal  length of 190.5 mm, and traveling speed of 2.54 m/min. A schematic TWB tensile test specimen is shown in Fig. 1, where t , t and t are the thickness of   U base materials and HAZ, respectively. The total width of the specimen is b and the width of the HAZ is b . In this study, b is found to be 1.2 mm, approximately, by measuring microhardness U U across the HAZ, with typical results presented in Fig. 2. For testing various thickness TWB, the thinner part is shimmed by using a (t !t ) thickness steel sheet.  
Table 1 Chemical compositions of SPCEN and SPRC Steel grade Chemical compositions (wt.%) C SPCEN SPRC35 (0.005 0.022 Si 0.013 0.022 Mn 0.130 0.140 P 0.009 0.070 S 0.012 * T}Al 0.035 0.019 S}Al 0.032 0.017 Ti 0.050 Tr Nb (0.005 (0.005

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Fig. 1. Tailor-welded blank for tension test.

Fig. 2. Micro-hardness plots traversing the weld lines.

Fig. 3. Free body diagrams of tailored blank in tension test with eccentric load. Table 2 Specimen characteristics and hardening law coe$cients SPCEN 0.8 mm Type b b U K n Standard 12 mm N/A 51.68 0.2161 SPRC 1.4 mm Standard 12 mm N/A 60.858 0.1966 TWB/10 R "10  Standard 12 mm 1.2 mm 59.87 0.1737 TWB/5 R "5  Subsize 6 mm 1.2 mm 63.791 0.1497 TWB/2.5 R "2.5  Miniature 3 mm 1.2 mm 72.144 0.1155 Weld bead

N/A N/A 1.2 mm 98.859 0.0629

The mechanical properties of HAZ (see Table 2) can be extracted from the tensile test by assuming iso-strain in both of weld and base materials. Zhao et al. [4] pointed out that an eccentric load is needed in order to meet the iso-strain requirement and the eccentric distance b (as shown in C

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Fig. 3) can be approximated by b + C t ! t     t # t     b#b U . 4 (1)

3. Finite element modeling for TWB As the accuracy of numerical simulation concerned, only 3-D solid "nite element model is able to describe exactly the geometry of typical TWBs, namely, the middle layers of base metals are not in the same plane after welding. On the other hand, 3-D shell element model is popular in simulation of sheet metal forming due to its cost e!ectiveness. In the current numerical experiments three "nite element models are employed to simulate the forming and springback of TWBs with weld orientations perpendicular and parallel to bending moment, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively. In the simplest model, Figs. 4(a) and 5(a), the base metals are tied together along the weld line and the HAZ is neglected. The HAZ is taken into account and modeled as shell elements like the base

Fig. 4. FEA models for specimen with weld line perpendicular to bending moment: (a) 3D shell element w/o weld; (b) 3D shell element w/ weld; (c) 3D solid element w/ weld.

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Fig. 5. FEA models for specimen with weld line parallel to bending moment: (a) 3D shell element w/o weld; (b) 3D shell element w/ weld; (c) 3D solid element w/ weld.

materials in Figs. 4(b) and 5(b). The exact geometry of TWBs is modeled by 3-D solid elements as shown in Figs. 4(c) and 5(c), where the #at surfaces face down. The accuracy of plastic bending problem with shell element depends on the number of integration points through thickness. In this study, 31 integration points through thickness are used for shell element and 15 layers through thickness are used for solid element. As boundary conditions concerned, the left edges are "xed and the right ones are displacement controlled in vertical direction. They move upward 10 mm and return to their original positions. All simulations in this paper are performed by ABAQUS/Standard 5.7 on a personal computer with processor of Pentium, clock speed of 333 MHz, memory of 130 Mb, hard drive of 9 Gb and operating system of Windows NT 4.0. Simulation results are plotted as load versus displacement curves in Fig. 6. In the case of weld line parallel to bending moment, the weaker metal experiences large deformation while the stronger metal deforms elastically. More detailed results are presented in Table 3. 3-D solid element model increases the computing time and problem size dramatically. The CPU time for solid elements is almost 15 times as that for shell elements. Compared to shell model without HAZ, solid model with HAZ and shell model with HAZ increase the reaction forces by 25% and 7%, respectively, when the bending moment is applied perpendicular to the weld line, while 10% and 11% when bending moment parallel to the weld line. However, these three di!erent

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Fig. 6. Simulation results for specimens with di!erent orientation of weld line: (a) Weld line perpendicular to bending moment; (b) Weld line parallel to bending moment.

element models predict similar springback. HAZ has little in#uence on the springback because that increasing yield strength will increase springback and on the contrary increasing elastic modulus will decrease springback. These numerical experiments show that 3-D shell element model has advantages of cost e!ectiveness and accuracy in simulation of TWBs. HAZ can be neglected safely in real applications when blank size is large enough compared to the size of HAZ.

4. Free bend test and simulation The principle of free bending, also called three-point bending, is illustrated in Fig. 7. The punch is simply made of two rollers. Each bearing of the die consists of four rollers. The upper rollers in both

K.M. Zhao et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 37 (2001) 117 } 130 Table 3 Comparison of simulation results with di!erent element models Weld line orientation Perpendicular to bending moment FEM simulation element models 3D shell w/o weld 3D shell w/ weld 3D solid w/ weld Parallel to bending moment 3D shell w/o weld 3D shell w/ weld 3D solid w/ weld DOF (no.) CPU (h) Mem (Mb) Size (Mb) Max load (N) 143.86 153.76 179.438 109.96 121.03 120.64

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Springback (mm) 1.63808 1.68885 1.66843 1.22494 1.21748 1.28814

10086 10086 55473 10086 10086 55473

0.615 0.601 10.27 1.262 1.308 16.26

10 10 45 10 10 45

38.39 38.39 424.3 38.39 38.39 424.3

Fig. 7. Illustration of free-bend test (three-point bend test).

punch and bearings are "xed in their position and the positions of the lower ones can be adjusted so that various specimens with di!erent thickness are clamped appropriately. During the tests, the bending axis is perpendicular to the weld line. The specimen is clamped tightly between the two rollers of the punch in order to get stable and continuous unbending and reverse bending. Each bearing rotates about a "xed center as a rigid body and each roller rotates about its own center freely. The major advantages of this type of bending are small capacity requirement and ease of control. As can be seen in Fig. 8, Bauschinger e!ects of base materials and TWB are observed in the bend/reverse-bend test. The HAZ in TWB increases the springback to a small extend in this test. This e!ect can be neglected on numerical simulation when large welded blanks are concerned in real applications. Fig. 9 shows the simulation results of one base material with di!erent hardening models. In order to simulate Bauschinger e!ect accurately, combined kinematic/isotropic hardening model should be used [5,6]. In this study, a 3-D shell model without HAZ is used to simulate the free bend of TWB. A combined hardening law is used together with the isotropic yield criterion. The measured and simulated punch loads of one cycle bend/reverse bend are plotted in Fig. 10. The springback values

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Fig. 8. Measured punch loads and displacements for free-bend tests of base materials and TWB.

Fig. 9. Free-bend simulation results for base material (SPRC) with various hardening models.

are presented in Table 4. The good agreement between simulation and measurement proves the validity of this modeling technique.

5. Stretch-bend test and simulation Stretch-bend tests are performed on OSU Formability Test hydraulic simulator to investigate the springback under stretch and bend. The geometry of the stretch-bend test and the dimension of

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Fig. 10. Free-bend simulation results for TWB with combined hardening model.

Table 4 Simulation and test results for free-bend test Simulation TWB Springback (mm) Max stroke (mm) 3.2018 12.167 Free-bend test SPRC 3.5923 12.167 TWB 3.5967 12.167 SPCEN 3.8438 12.167

the tailor-welded blanks are shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The 178 mm dimension is parallel to major stretch axis and is perpendicular to the weld line. High-elongation large three-element rectangular planar rosette is installed on the weaker metal (SPCEN), and small three-element rectangular stacked rosette on the stronger one (SPRC). The maximum punch stroke for welded blank is less than that for non-welded one because the formability of tailor-welded blanks is degraded by the altered deformation patterns introduced by dissimilar material strength and thickness. The same model for TWB, i.e. shell elements without HAZ, is used for the simulation of this test. Instead of using real drawbead geometry, #at binder with su$cient normal pressure is used to represent the appropriate restraining. The coe$cient of friction between blank and tools is assumed to be 0.14 in the simulation. Measured and simulated punch loads are plotted in Fig. 13. Strain distributions along centerline are shown in Fig. 14. Strain histories at two locations are shown in Fig. 15. Springback values for stretch-bend test are presented in Table 5. Results show that the weaker metal dominates the plastic #ow. Punch load, strain distribution and strain histories are predicted correctly by using isotropic hardening model because of no reverse

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Fig. 11. Illustration of stretch-bend test (OSU formability test).

Fig. 12. Contour of thickness in simulation of stretch-bend test.

loading. Neglecting the e!ect of real drawbead shape causes the apparent discrepancy between simulation and test results for the stronger metal (Fig. 15a). Stretching is found helpful to reduce springback.

6. LDH test and simulation Fig. 16 illustrates the geometry of limit dome height (LDH) test and the dimension of the test blanks with length of 178 mm perpendicular to weld and varying width from 25.4 to 178 mm. One

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Fig. 13. Comparison of punch loads in stretch-bend test and numerical simulation.

Fig. 14. Strain distribution along symmetric line perpendicular to the weld in OSU formability test.

Table 5 Simulation and test results for stretch-bend test Simulation TWB Springback (mm) Max stroke (mm) 0.4671 15.051 Stretch-bend test SPRC 0.6139 20.092 TWB 0.3163 15.051 SPCEN 0.2977 20.092

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Fig. 15. Strains histories of TWB in stretch-bend test: (a) SPRC; (b) SPCEN.

way to compensate the thickness dissimilarity is to shim the die contact in the thinner material. Better clamping condition can be obtained by using split female die. Fig. 17 shows the simulated deformation pattern. Failure occurs away from HAZ and close to plane strain. Weaker base metal of the small size specimen buckles near the HAZ. Weld line movement is a signi"cant indicator of overall deformation pattern and determined primarily by the properties of the base metals and the boundary restraints.

7. Concluding remarks Six "nite element models are analyzed to simulate TWB. 3-D shell element model without HAZ is recommended in simulation of TWB. This modeling technique is implemented into three typical

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Fig. 16. Illustration of limit dome height (LDH) test.

Fig. 17. Simulation results of LDH tests: (a) 178;178; (b) 178;102.

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sheet metal forming processes, namely, free-bend test, stretch-bend test and LDH test. Corresponding test are performed to verify the simulation results. Some conclusions are as follows: (1) Mechanical properties of HAZ are obtained from hardness test and tensile test with eccentric load. (2) Shell element modeling of TWB has the advantage of much less computing time and fairly good accuracy compared to 3-D solid element. (3) Inclusion of HAZ (modeled by shell element as well) improves the forming results (load), but has little e!ect on springback. The reason is that higher yield strength and higher Young's modulus of weld zone have opposite e!ect on springback. (4) Proposed FEM model correctly predicts the failure pattern, buckling, and springback of tailor-welded blanks.

Acknowledgements Authors are grateful for "nancial supports provided by OSU CAMMAC and Hwashin Automotive Co. Generous computing services provided by the Ohio Supercomputer Center are also acknowledged.

References
[1] K.M. Radlmayr, J. Szinyur, IDDRG Working Groups Meeting, Associazione Italiana Di Metallurgia, I-20121 MILANO, Piazzale Rodolfo Morandi, 2, Italy. [2] F.I. Saunders, Forming of tailor-welded blanks, Ph.D. Dissertation, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1995. [3] A.A. Mustafa, D. Brouwers, L. Shulkin, et al., Deep drawing of round cups from tailor-welded blanks. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 53 (1995) 684}694. [4] K.M. Zhao, B.K. Chun, J.K. Lee, Numerical Modeling Technique for Tailor Welded Blanks, SAE Congress and Exposition, Detroit, 2000, Paper C 2000-01-0410. [5] K.M. Zhao, Cyclic stress}strain curve and springback simulation, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1999. [6] K.M. Zhao, J.K. Lee, On simulation of bending/reverse bending of sheet metals, Proceedings of International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, MED-10, Tennessee, USA, 1999, pp. 926}931.