Per: FABIO DE OLIVEIRA BRAGA (SENAI - DEPARTAMENTO REGIONAL rj - FACULDADE SENAI), TAMIRES REPOLÊS DOS ANJOS (SENAI - DEPARTAMENTO REGIONAL RJ - FACULDADE SENAI), Marcos Müller Lobato (SENAI - DEPARTAMENTO REGIONAL RJ - FACULDADE SENAI)
Abstract:
In the automotive industry, for the production of complex drawn components, there is the alternative of welding sheets (blanks) with different characteristics, such as mechanical strength, thickness or presence of anticorrosive layers, known as Tailor Welded Blanks (TWB). The laser welding is the main process to produce TWB, due to its high productivity and the ability of minimizing the heat affected zone of the weld. In some cases, it might be advantageous changing the rolling direction of the blanks, in order to use their texture and anisotropy characteristics. Therefore, the objective of this work is to investigate the influence of the rolling direction in the drawability of TWB obtained by laser welding. First, the blanks were characterized by their microstructure and mechanical properties, and then they were welded to obtain the TWB. The welded joints were then characterized by macrography, Erichsen test and Vickers microhardness. No difference in the TWB behavior due to the changing in the rolling direction orientation was observed, and so it is technically possible to use them to obtain special properties in the TWB.