Numerical and experimental investigation of tensile behavior of laser beam welded TRIP700 steel

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate and simulate the mechanical behavior of laser beam welded TRIP700 steel sheet under uniaxial tensile loading. In this work TRIP700 steel sheets with thickness of 1.2 mm were butt welded by CO2 laser beam welding using 4.5 kW as a laser beam power and 0 mm as a focus position. The welding speed was ranged from 2.1 to 3.9 m/min. Microhardness measurements and transverse tensile testing were carried out to characterize the welds. Numerical simulation with the finite element analysis code ABAQUS/CAE v6.9-1 was used to describe the elastoplastic behavior of the welded sheets. In a perpendicular tensile test to the weld line, all specimens were fractured at the base metal and the strengths were somewhat higher than those of base metal. The numerical results of the tensile testing had a good agreement with the experimental results. © 2011 ISIJ.