Characterization of Cold Rolled TRIP Steels for Structural Crash-Relevant Applications in the Automotive Industry

TRIP steels are known to combine both high strength and excellent formability being therefore an interesting candidate for high demanding applications such as structural and crash-relevant parts in the automotive industry. It is evident that for that purpose, not only the formability but also the impact energy absorption plays an important role. Besides, when thinking about applications in the automotive industry, joining is always an important topic. With the aim of characterizing cold rolled TRIP steels for those applications, the three above-mentioned topics are studied within this paper. The formability is investigated by means of Forming Limit Diagrams and springback testing. The high strain rate behavior is determined using a test bench based on the split Hopkinson bar method. Finally, the spot weldability (i.e. the strength of the weld) is optimized by means of in-situ pre- and post- heat treatments.