A Study Of The Drawability of Tailored Welded Blanks

Abstract

Demand for lightweight vehicles is growing in a rapid swiftness primarily because of economical and environmental reasons. By reducing the weight of the vehicles, the fuel consumption and emissions are considerably reduced as well. For weight and cost reduction, the technology of tailor-welded blanks (TWBs) is a promising technology for both automotive and aerospace sectors. In this technology, some pieces of sheet metals are welded together prior to the forming. Since the tailored blank is composed from different sheet metal having different sheet thickness as well as its properties, the forming of tailored blanks then creates a lot of technical problems especially in the scheme of deformation. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the drawability of Tailored Blanks. In order to assess forming behaviour of tailor-welded blanks under the influence of weld orientation, the uniaxial tension tests have been conducted for welded specimens with the weld line oriented at different angles with respect to the direction of load. The specimens were cut from a tailor-welded blank made from the same material. The result of experiment has shown that a weld is characterised by higher strength and lower plasticity in comparison to base material. Hence, the weld influences the strain distribution in tailor-welded specimens. This phenomenon depends strongly on the direction of the weld against the direction of tensile load. The lowest strains occur in the specimen with a longitudinal weld.