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To reduce the weight of automobile bodies, application of high-strength steel sheets is expanding. Furthermore, middle and high carbon steels are expected to be used to lower the environmental impact and cost in the automobile steel sheet industry. However, it is necessary to enhance the joint strength of the steel sheets. In this study, hat-shaped components were made using resistance spot (RS) welding or arc spot (AS) welding on S45C steel sheets (including 0.44% carbon), 1.4 mm thickness and strength of 1180 MPa grade. A dynamic three-point bending test was conducted on the components and their crashworthiness was compared. Some RS welds fractured (separated) during the three-point bending test even though the diameter of the weld metal was increased to 5√t (t means thickness of the sheet); however, AS welds did not fracture.

This paper describes the lap welding of Zinc-coated steel sheet using a high power continuous wave YAG laser. The well-known problem of welding the Zinc-coated sheet is related to the low boiling point of zinc compared with the melting point of steel. During lap welding, zinc coating at the interface vaporize rapidly and causes defects1)2). In this study, therefore, lap welding was performed by YAG laser. The effects of type of coating layer, welding conditions, tensile strength and corrosion resistance after electro-deposition was examined. It was found that the weldability of coated steel is different by type of coating. Zn-Ni coated steel showed good weldability, but galvanealed steel inevitably pore pits with no gap set up. These defects not only lower the strength of joint, but also produce irregular bead where easily corroded after electro-deposition.