Optimization of formability of tailor-welded blanks

Abstract

Nowadays tailor-welded blanks (TWBs) are used in the automotive industries to meet economic concerns, government regulations and design of vehicles with reduced weight and allow cost reduction. This technique is also employed while improving structural integrity and crash performance. Due to the raising environmental concerns about automotive emissions and the scarcity of natural resources, we need to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel economy. As a result, the automotive industries employ TWBs. In this work, three grades of aluminum sheets (5052, 6061 and 8011) with a 2-mm thickness were made thinner by cold rolling, obtaining three different thicknesses of (0.8, 1.0 and 1.2) mm. Sheets were then joined using the cold-metal-transfer (CMT) welding process. The Taguchi design of experiment (DOE) was carried out for the L27 orthogonal array with nine variables at three levels. Due to this optimization process, the welding decreased the formability of TWBs compared with the parent material and this was reflected in the forming behavior, represented by the strain-distribution profiles.