Effects of paint baking on the axial crash performance of advanced high strength steels

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Effects of paint baking on the axial crash performance of advanced high strength steels

Link, T.M.

Advanced high strength steels (AHSS) offer an attractive combination of strength and formability as well as the potential for improved automotive crashworthiness and weight reduction. AHSS exhibit significant hardening during a typical automotive paint baking cycle, and accurate constitutive behavior is needed for computer-aided vehicle design. Additionally, under severe impact loading conditions, spot weld and base metal failures can occur in some AHSS. For these reasons, the axial crash behavior of a range of steels including AHSS is studied by drop tower testing, and the effects of simulated paint baking on crash performance are examined. Local formability analyses are included to understand better the effects of paint baking on deformation and fracture. The results show that paint baking has a small effect on tensile properties and can improve slightly the local formability and fracture resistance of AHSS by martensite tempering. However, the effects of paint baking are generally too small to be manifested in the axial crash performance of these spot welded components produced with minimal forming strain.