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Advanced high strength steels used in automotive body and structure applications are exposed to hydrogen during several steps of their processing. For galvanized sheet steel, one of these is the continuous galvanizing process, during which the sheet is prepared for coating in a H2-N2 furnace. This paper shows the relationship between hydrogen uptake in DP600 and DP980 grades, together with an IF steel control composition, and galvanizing process conditions. Hydrogen uptake is strongly dependent on the furnace atmosphere and the amount of martensite in the steel but has little dependence on the soaking time, the humidity of the furnace atmosphere, or the temperature within the usual intercritical annealing range. Rapid outgassing was observed during overageing prior to the zinc dipping. Slow strain rate tests showed that there was no loss of ductility in galvanized samples that had been treated in a 5% H2 atmosphere or that had been overaged before the galvanizing.

Advanced high strength steels (AHSS) such as dual phase (DP) steels are now being extensively used to achieve light weighting goals of vehicles because of their attractive combination of formability and high strength. High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels are also used in lightweight bodies-in-white; DP and HSLA steels are therefore often laser butt-welded together into tailor welded blanks and to create other joints. Among the laser welding processes, fiber laser welding (FLW) has been shown to provide excellent quality welds, including superior weld mechanical properties, at higher speeds than those possible with other laser welding processes. Using dissimilarly welded DP980-HSLA blanks made with different welding parameters, the tensile properties were found to not change in spite of the HSLA being weaker than the soft zone on the DP980 side of the weld.

Most creep studies are conducted to determine steady state creep rate and time to failure. However, the priority for the designer is to predict the amount of total creep, being the sum of primary and secondary creep elongations, for a given service life under given loads and temperatures, for example 0.5% elongation after 3000h. An assessment of total creep behavior of industrially important zinc alloys has been conducted, and correlation/prediction curves produced. Another important property, related to creep, is stability after ageing, both for unloaded and also loaded castings. Recently developed relationships between natural and artificial ageing, and the correlation of mechanical property changes for different periods of artificial ageing with natural ageing will be presented.

Alloy 3, Alloy 5, ACuZinc 5, and ZA-8 were tested at five temperatures between −40 C and room temperature to determine impact properties. Izod impact energy data was obtained in accordance with ASTM D256. Unlike ASTM E23, these samples were tested with a milled notch in order to compare with plastic samples. In addition, flexural data was obtained for design use. Fatigue stress-life (S-N) curves and fatigue limits of die cast zinc Alloy 2, Alloy 3, Alloy 5, ACuZinc 5, and ZA-8 were determined using the rotating bend test. Fatigue limits for Alloy 3, Alloy 5, and ACuZinc 5 appeared to be higher and the fatigue limit for ZA-8 appeared to be lower than the values reported in the literature. The improvement in properties for Alloy 3, Alloy 5 and ACuZinc 5 is related to the presence of the die cast skin.

Improving performance and reduction of cost are principal concerns for vehicle manufacturers. In addition to shape, the exterior finish is the first thing a consumer sees when looking at a vehicle. The quality and durability of the finish is a reflection of the quality and durability of the vehicle itself. In this work, the behavior of two finish coat systems was studied. Finish coat system 1 included a powder coat, a waterborne base coat and a clear coat. Finish coat system 2 included the same powder coat, a solvent based base coat and a clear coat. These finish coats were applied on unprimed and pre-primed electrogalvanized, hot dip galvanized and galvannealed steel. Before application, for each finish coat two activation treatments were considered: a conventional zinc phosphate for automotive industry and an experimental pretreatment. Three primers were considered.

The main driving forces concerning the use of pre-primed automotive sheet are corrosion protection increase and cost reduction during vehicle manufacturing. In this work, the behaviour of two conductive primers, codified by 1 and 2, was studied and compared with that of a conventional electrophoretic primer. Primer 1 is an organic zinc rich silicate with a low thickness (near 4 μm) and primer 2 is a very thin (near 2 μm) solvent based primer filled with graphite. These primers were applied on electrogalvanized, hot dip galvanized and galvannealed steel sheets. Formability capabilities of pre-primed galvanized steel sheets were evaluated, through cupping and stone chipping tests, according to EN ISO 1520 and ASTM D3170, respectively. To evaluate corrosion protection, the samples were submitted to a corrosion cyclic test according to VDA procedure 621-415 contained in the SEP 1160.

Notched bar Izod impact testing of zinc die cast Alloy 3, Alloy 5, ZA-8, and AcuZinc 5 was performed at five temperatures between -40 °C and room temperature in accordance with ASTM E23 for impact testing of metallic materials. A direct comparison between ASTM D256 for impact testing of plastics and ASTM E23 was performed using continuously cast zinc specimens of Alloy 5 and ZA-8 at -40 °C and room temperature. There are differences in sample sizes, impact velocity, and striker geometry between the two tests. Bulk zinc tested according to ASTM E23 resulted in higher impact energies at -40 °C and lower impact energies at room temperature then did the same alloys when tested according to ASTM D256.

A hot rolled C-Mn-Si TRIP steel was subjected to three different heat treatment schedules compatible with continuous galvanizing line capabilities and the effect of the heat treatment schedules on the microstructure and mechanical properties was determined. It was found that for heat treatment schedules employing relatively high cooling rates (6 - 9°C/s) from the intercritical annealing temperature (800°C) and short overaging times at the galvanizing bath temperature (455 - 470°C), the desired microstructure of ferrite, bainitic ferrite and high volume fraction of C-rich retained austenite was produced and the desired mechanical properties achieved.

Craters in galvannealed coatings on steel sheet are depressions caused by non-uniform diffusive growth. Correlations have been sought between “crater” densities in galvannealed sheet steel and friction, powdering, and paint adherence, as relevant to the appearance, corrosion resistance and processing of auto body panels. Crater densities were established on a series of samplings from major producers, and related to frictional measurements from a binder-radius simulator, powdering levels from bend testing, and paint adherence assessments from a stone-chipping test. Results suggest that increased crater density decreases powdering, but does not aid in lubrication. In fact, decreased powdering could be correlated with increased friction levels. A strong correlation was found between increased crater density and increased paint adherence.