Papers by Author: Thomas Dupuy

Abstract: This study characterizes the mechanical behavior of an advanced multiphase high strength steel by means of high temperature tensile testing. The results show a drastic reduction of the maximum tensile elongation from around 700 °C up to 950°C. Scanning electron microscopy investigations show that the temperature range for embrittlement is correlated with the total wetting of steel grain boundaries. Under external strain, crack propagates along the grain boundaries according to a mechanism that leads to the presence of nanometer-thick films of Zn at the crack tip, as shown by fine X-ray spectroscopy analyses. The effective temperature range for embrittlement is discussed. Mechanisms of i) external stress-free wetting, and ii) atomic-scale crack propagation, are today under discussion in the light of the literature, regarding in particular recent experimental results and theory about grain boundary wetting, intergranular penetration, and the correlation between surface energy and crack propagation rate.

Abstract: Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) are key materials in the conception of car body structures, permitting to reduce their weight while increasing their behavior in crash conditions. Nevertheless, the weldability of AHSS presents some particular aspects, in that complex failure types involving partial or full interfacial failure can be encountered more often than with conventional mild steels during destructive testing, despite high spot weld strength levels. This paper aims at characterizing the behavior of different AHSS spot welds under two quasi-static loading conditions, tensile shear and cross tension, often used in the automotive industry for the determination of their weldability. Interrupted cross tension and tensile shear tests were performed and spot welds failure was investigated with optical micrographs, SEM fractography and 3D-tomography in order to follow the three-dimensional crack paths due to the complex loading modes. A limited number of failure zones and damage mechanisms could be distinguished for all steel grades investigated. Moreover, numerical simulation of the tests was used to better understand the stress state in the weld and the influence of geometrical features such as weld size on the occurrence of the different failure types.