Protecting steel sheets during automotive Hot-

Forming process

A viable solution to avoid problems of oxidation and surface decarburisation

during hot forming without using Al-Si coating.

Anmol Kumar Mishra

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MESRA

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CONTENT
PAGE NO.
1. Abstract and introduction…………………….……………………3

2. Theoretical study….…………………………………………….....4

3. Comparison of properties……………………………………….....4

4. Methodology ……………………………………………………...5

5. Experimental facility and material required……………………….5

6. References…………………………………………………………6
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Abstract-
The challenge was to find out suitable alternative material as protective coating in hot
forming process. The research was carried out keeping in mind the properties and protection
offered by Al-Si coating. The selection of alternative coating was based on its effect on
formability, corrosion resistance, weldability, paintability, tool wear, economical and
environmental factors with side by side comparison with widely accepted Al-Si coated hot
formed steel. There are various coating on which research is going on such as galvanizing,
galvannealing, Zn-Ni, X-tec+, hybrid coating ( organic and inorganic metal matrix
compounds), out of these the research is focused on those which have been tested for various
above mentioned criteria and ample literature is present to conclude. The properties and
outcomes of Galvanized, Galvannealed and Zn-Ni alloy coating were thoroughly studied and
compared with Al-Si coating in the hot forming of UHSS steel. Galvannealed steel coating
was found out to be the most feasible alternative which can be applied in hot forming with
pre-cooling to produce UHSS (Ultra High Strength steel) without noticeable liquid metal
embrittlement, acceptable yield strength, cathodic corrosion protection, lesser tool wear and
at par paintability and weldability. The properties of Zn-Ni alloy coating were at par with
Galvannealed coating but it was ruled out due to economical factor and environmental factors
as use of nickel and its electrolyte.

1. Introduction-
High-strength steel sheets are used in automobile components in recent years to
reduce the weight of an automobile, which helps to reduce environmental emissions and also
ensure the safety of the passengers. Many car components and structural members can be
made significantly lighter by using high-strength steel sheets and reducing their thickness.
To produce the UHSS hot forming process is widely used in which the steel sheet is
first dipped in a protective coating followed by heating it to austenitizing temperature(900ºC).
Then the heated sheet is formed and quenched simultaneously under a controlled cooling rate.
By this process, the part produce has very high yield strength up to 1500 MPa. Although the
process is quite old but there is only one type of steel present, which is suitable for the hot
forming process which is manganese boron steel (approx. 0.0001% boron) 22MnB5.To
protect the metal sheet during hot forming coating is preferably done. Al-Si coating is a
widely accepted coating technique due to its overall satisfying properties, but it also has some
drawbacks such as it doesn't provide cathodic protection and result in excessive tool wear and
galling. The demand for cathodic protection and to reduce the tool wear lead the researchers
to develop a hot forming process for zinc-coated metal sheets. This report brings out the
benefit of using a zinc-coated galvannealed steel sheet over Al-Si Coating and also the
process for producing galvannealed hot-formed sheets.
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2. Zinc coating
When the steel sheet is coated by dipping the sheet in a zinc bath and then is heated to
austenitizing temperature (900ºC), it leads to a problem known as liquid metal embrittlement.
Zinc is liquid above 700ºC so when the sheet is heated above austenitizing temperature liquid
zinc is present on the surface which seeps into the metal sheets and further reduces the
strength of the sheet. Hence to avoid that the temperature of hot forming should be less than
the melting temperature of Zinc coating or peritectic temperature, but by doing that the
desired strength cannot be achieved.
The coating contains Fe-Zn intermetallic layer in which Fe content is less in starting
and it increases with time. As the Fe content increases the melting temperature of the coating
increases and the metal sheet can be heated to a higher temperature in the hot forming
process, hence to facilitate that annealing(at elevated temperature) of the zinc-coated sheet is
done before the hot forming process to increase the Fe content in the coating.
3. Galvannealed steel coating (hot forming with pre-cooling)
To produce galvannealed steel coating the steel sheet is dipped into a zinc bath at
460ºC containing 0.13% Al. Al presence helps the formation of Fe-Zn intermetallic layer,
hinder Zn evaporation and oxidation of coating at elevated temperature. By a wiping knife of
air extra Zn is blown away. Then the coated sheet is heated to annealing temperature (around
500ºC) and is kept at that temperature for 5 to 15 sec, then the metal sheet is cooled at the rate
of 10ºC/sec till room temperature. Now the galvannealed coated steel sheet is transferred to
furnace where it is heated to austenitizing temperature of 900ºC as soon as it comes out of
furnace the sheet is pre-cooled to 780ºC mainly by radiation, the cooling rate should be at
least 50ºC/sec. It should be noted that the metal should not be deformed till peritectic
temperature or while precooling to avoid liquid metal embrittlement. It is to be noted that the
steel is still above martensitic temperature and is then deformed by the forming process. The
pre-cooling process also helps to reduce crack formation after the forming process.
The part produced has comparable strength with Al-Si hot-formed part. The rest of the
properties are discussed in detail in the preceding sections.
1.1. Tribology
As we know the Al-Si coated steel has very high friction when in contact with the tool
and it leads to excessive tool wear and galling of the tool surface. Whereas the Zn coated
steel has lesser friction due to flacking of the coating and powdery appearence, hence greater
tool life can be expected when compared with Al-Si.
1.2. Corrosion resistance
Al-Si has no cathodic corrosion resistance properties hence there is a chance of
corrosion of the base metal if the coating breaks or cracks. Whereas despite cracks present in
the galvannealed Zn coating it provides cathodic corrosion protection properties and saves the
base metal from corrosion and increase the life of the component.
1.3. Weldability
The Al-Si coated hot-formed steel has descent spot weldability characteristics and can
be welded by normal spot welding. Galvannealed Zn coated hot-formed steel has the same
performance in spot weldability but requires two pulse welding process to ensure proper
nugget size and weld strength.
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1.4. Paintability
Al-Si has descent pain adhesion properties after oxide removal and phosphating but
galvannealed steel has higher paint adhesin compared to Al-Si and can be directly painted
after phosphating and there is no need for oxide removal as compared to Al-Si. Phosphating
the surface increases the microroughness and improves paint adhesion.
4. Conclusion
After comparing the properties of Al-Si coated hot-formed steel and zinc coated
Galvannealed hot-formed steel we can conclude that
1. The steel produced in both the process has the same strength.
2. Galvannealed steel has better corrosion resistance than Al-Si coated steel due to
cathodic protection.
3. Weldability of Galvannealed and Al-Si coated are almost identical whereas dual
pulse spot welding is required for galvannealed steel sheets to produce same strength
weld nuggets.
4. Galvannealed steel has greater paint adhesion properties and paint can be done
without oxide removal when compared with Al-Si coated steel.
5. Galvannealed coated steel are less harsh on tools and leads to lesser tool wear and
galling as compared to Al-Si coated hot formed steel.
5. Methodology
To validate the study the steps which has to be followed are as follows
1. The steel sheet is dipped into a zinc bath at 460ºC containing 0.13%Al by wt.
2. By a wiping knife of air extra Zn is blown away.
3. Then the coated sheet is heated to annealing temperature (around 500ºC) and is kept
at that temperature for 10 sec.
4. The metal sheet is cooled at the rate of 10ºC/sec till room temperature.
5. Steel sheet is transferred to furnace where it is heated to austenitizing temperature of
900ºC.
6. The sheet is pre-cooled to 780ºC mainly by radiation.
7. Then the sheet is transferred into the tool to perform the normal hot forming process.
6. Materials required
To perform the experiments the material required are as follows
1. 22MnB5 steel sheets
2. Zinc Metal
3. Aluminium Metal
7. Experimental facility required
To validate the experiment the equipment required are
1. UTM Machine- To test the ultimate yield strength of hot formed steel
2. 3 Point bend test- to check the ductility and loss of strength due to LMIE.
3. Single and dual pulse spot welding machine to check for the strength of weld nuggets
in UTM machine
4. Conventional Hot forming setup.
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REFERENCES
1. Thomas Kurz1 | Harald Schwinghammer1 | Gerald Luckeneder1 Thomas
Manzenreiter1 | Andreas Sommer2 Zinc Coated Press-hardening Steel Challenges and
Solutions
2. Properties of Aluminum-coated Steels for Hot-forming UDC 669 . 718 . 5 : 669 . 14 .
018 . 295 – 415
3. Influence of heating parameters on properties of the Al-Si coating applied to hot stamping
LIANG WeiKang1,2, TAO WenJie1,2, ZHU Bin1,2 & ZHANG YiSheng1,2*
4. Numerical and Experimental Investigation into Hot Forming of Ultra High Strength
Steel Sheet
5. T. Manzenreiter, „Widerstandspunktschweißen als Methode zur Charakterisierung
verzinkter presshärtender Stähle für dendirekten Prozess“, proceedings of 22. DVS-
Sondertagung Widerstandsschweißen 05 (2013)
6. R. Grigorieva, P. Drillet, J.-M. Mataigne, 8th Internaional conference on zinc and
zinc alloy coated steel sheet, Genova, Italy, 2011, 353–362.
7. R. Schwartz, H. Lehmann, 2nd International confer-ence on hot sheet metal forming
of high-perform-ance steel, Lulea, Sweden, 2009, 323–330
8. G. Berglund, 1st International conference on hot sheet metal forming of high-
performance steel, Kassel, Germany, 2008.
9. H. G. Kim, E. R. Beak, T. H. Kim, H. S. Son, B. K. Choi, J. K. Oh, Y. R. Cho, 1st
international seminar on hot sheet metal forming of high-performance steel,
Hanover, Germany 2010.
10. K. Steinhoff, 1st International seminar on hot sheet metal forming of high-
performance steel, Hanover, Germany, 2010