EP3625049A1

EP3625049A1 - Method for producing steel composite materials

Info

Publication number: EP3625049A1
Application number: EP18730228.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christoph Etzlstorfer; Alois Leitner; Reinhard Hackl
Original assignee: Voestalpine Stahl GmbH
Current assignee: Voestalpine Stahl GmbH
Priority date: 2017-05-18
Filing date: 2018-05-17
Publication date: 2020-03-25
Also published as: DE102017110851B3; US11801663B2; US20200094524A1; WO2018211039A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a steel composite, according to which at least two steel sheets consisting of different steel stocks are placed one on top of the other and hot-rolled together and subsequently optionally cold-rolled. Following the rolling, the composite material produced thereby, consisting of at least two layers with different steel compositions, is diffusion-annealed, the annealing temperature being controlled such that the chemical potential of the steel materials is selected such that the following equation is true: μ_{C, material 1} > μ_{C,material 2}, material 1 having a lower carbon content than material 2, such that a carbon uphill diffusion takes place between material 1 and material 2.

Description

Method for producing steel composite materials

The invention relates to a method for producing steel composite materials. Hardened steel components have the advantage, in particular in the body construction of motor vehicles, that their outstanding mechanical properties make it possible to create a particularly stable passenger compartment without the need to use components that would be much more solid and therefore heavier with normal strengths.

To produce such hardened steel components, steel grades which are curable by quench hardening are used. Such steels are, for example, boron-alloyed manganese carbon steels, with the most widely used, here 22MnB5. But other boron-alloyed manganese carbon steels are used for this purpose.

In order to produce the components hardened from these steel grades, the steel material must be heated to the austenitizing temperature (> Ac ₃ ) and allowed to wait until the steel material is austenitized. Depending on the desired degree of hardness partial or full austenitisings can be achieved here.

When such a steel material is cooled after austenitizing at a rate above the critical hardening speed, the austenitic structure transforms into a martensitic, very hard structure. In this way, tensile strengths R _m to over 1500 MPa can be achieved.

For the production of steel components currently two ways are common.

When so-called form hardening a steel plate is separated from a steel strip bsp. cut or punched and then deep-drawn in a conventional, for example, five-stage deep drawing process to the finished component. This finished component is hereby a little smaller dimensioned to compensate for a subsequent thermal expansion during austenitizing.

The component produced in this way is subsequently austenitized and then placed in a mold hardening tool in which it is pressed but not or only very slightly shaped and the heat flows from the component into the pressing tool as a result of the pressing, and at a pressure above the critical hardening speed Speed.

The further method is the so-called press hardening, in which a board is separated from a sheet steel strip, for example, cut or punched, then austenitisiert the board and the hot board is formed in a preferably single-stage step and cooled simultaneously with a speed lying above the critical speed , In both cases, with metallic anti-corrosion layers, e.g. used with zinc or a zinc-based alloy. Form hardening is also referred to as an indirect process and press hardening as a direct process. The advantage of the indirect process is that more complex workpiece geometries can be realized. The advantage of the direct process is that a higher degree of material utilization can be achieved. However, the achievable component complexity is lower, especially in the single-stage forming process.

Thus, in the case of mold-hardening, prefabricated and usually also finished perforated components are passed through an oven and heated to austenitizing temperature. For transport, these components are sold on oven carriers.

In press hardening, the blanks must be conveyed through the furnace by means of chain conveyors or lifting bars.

Furthermore, it is known to produce such shape-hardened or press-hardened components with zones of different properties. It is customary, for example, not to heat certain areas of the board or of the component up to the austenitizing temperature, so that these areas are not cured during the subsequent quenching. As a result, zones with a lower hardness and higher ductility can be produced. It It is known to achieve such softer zones by the application of absorption masses, the shielding of these areas from heat radiation or the non-exposure of these areas of additional heat radiation. These are so-called Tailored Property Parts (TPP).

Moreover, it is known to produce components with different regions by using different grades of steel, i. For example, steel grades that are curable by a molding or press hardening process can be combined with steel grades that are, for example, not or not so high curable.

Such components, which are also referred to as Tailor Welded Parts (TWP), for example, consist of a form or press hardening boron-manganese steel, such as a 22MnB5 and additionally a microalloyed steel and other steels, which are related to the curing show different behavior to the high-hardening steels.

In addition, it is known to realize different properties also by different sheet thicknesses, so that a press- or form-hardened component has zones of different sheet thicknesses and thus also different properties. Areas of different sheet thickness can also be made of different grades of steel, so that a thinner area consists of a first grade of steel and a thicker area consists of a second grade of steel, moreover, both areas can consist of one and the same grade of steel.

As previously stated, there are many ways to influence the ductility across the width or extent of a component.

In the past, however, considerations were also made on how to set different properties in the thickness of a component.

In particular, it is desirable to influence the outer margins of steel sheets while leaving the core in the usual characteristics. In conventional steel processing methods, this is achieved, for example, by the fact that an edge carburization is carried out in which carbon diffuses into a workpiece from the outside, so that gig the carbon content, the edges can be hardened harder or by a processing, especially a thermal treatment, took place edge decarburization is thereby compensated again. In order not to make such edge zones harder for subsequent forming processes, but rather softer, ie more ductile, edge decarburization may be provided. In these carburizing and decarburization, however, the corresponding temperature control and the corresponding gas flow must be ensured in a relatively complex manner.

Of course, this is also possible with steel sheets or steel strips, but then the surfaces of the steel strip would have to be treated accordingly in a continuous process. Moreover, it is known to form a steel sheet as a composite, wherein the outer surfaces of a different steel grade than the core. For this purpose, three sheets, for example, a sequence A-B-A rolled on each other, where the A stands for steel grades, which are located on the outer surface of the finished steel strip and the B for a steel grade, which is embedded between the two outer steel grades.

The company Thyssen Krupp has published under the title BP3 metal-metal composites corresponding sandwich structures, the outer sheets are high carbon steels, while the inner steel sheet is a so-called low carbon steel. This product is also known in reverse composition under the brand name Tribond®.

It could be observed that the carbon diffuses from the higher carbon material into the lower carbonaceous material. Of course, such a diffusion behavior is unfavorable because it would cause the carbon contents and thus the hardness to equalize during a heat treatment and a subsequent rolling treatment.

In addition, the high carbon content in one of the layers leads to a more difficult processing in the production, in particular during cold rolling. The object of the invention is to provide a method by means of which a steel composite material suitable in particular for press and shape hardening is created, in which the properties of the different layers do not equalize and are adjusted only after a comparison of simple production.

The object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1.

Advantageous further developments are marked in the dependent claims dependent thereon.

It has been found that, under very particular circumstances, diffusion from the lower carbon material to the higher carbonaceous material can take place, and thus a lower carbon outer layer can be made even more ductile, while an inner layer can be made harder in the peripheral zones. This diffusion contrary to the concentration gradient is also referred to below as uphill diffusion. By suitable material combinations and heat treatments, a composite material with significantly different properties can be produced in this way. According to the invention, it has been found that the behavior which is to be exploited here depends considerably on the chemical potential for carbon p _{c of} the respective steel grade. The chemical potential μ is a thermodynamic state variable introduced by Josiah Gibbs with the unit J / mol, ie the work per molar amount.

The potential or chemical potential between materials strives to be balanced, so that a diffusion process is voluntary if the initial chemical potential is greater than the final chemical potential (M _A nfan _g > End) -

According to the invention, the steel compositions are chosen independently of the carbon content so that a carbon uphill diffusion, ie contrary to the concentration range, is made possible. The total potential and element is determined by the structure of the steel, additional materials and temperature. The biggest influence on the potential, however, is the diffusing element itself, so that uphill diffusion is generally difficult. In the present case, the potential for carbon is increased by manganese, titanium and chromium, while it is lowered by silicon. Practice other elements depending on the temperature (eg aluminum, molybdenum, nickel) and alloy content (boron, molybdenum) different influence on the chemical potential for carbon.

The chemical potential of a steel alloy can be calculated using modern software for alloy compositions (e.g., MatCalc® or Thermocalc®).

Accordingly, it has been found according to the invention that the possible edge materials should have a relatively low carbon content in order to improve the processability, ie the ductility in the edge region. These should contain little manganese and chromium and the loss of carbon should have little effect on the strength of the material. Furthermore, it makes sense if the edge material contains few alloying elements and thus is a so-called microalloyed steel. Suitable materials have been found to be steels of the following grades: 340LA; 420LA and conditionally 500LA. Not suitable for this purpose are IF and ULC steels, austenitic steels and stainless steels.

In particular, steels having the following compositions or elemental ranges are suitable:

Highly curable manganese-containing steels of this alloy composition are therefore suitable for the invention (all figures in% by mass):

C Si Mn P S Al Cr Ti B N

[%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%]

0.20 0.18 2.01 0.0062 0.001 0.054 0.03 0.032 0.0030 0.0041

The remainder iron and melting-related impurities, being used as a transformation retarder in such steels in particular the alloying elements boron, manganese, carbon and optionally chromium and molybdenum. In particular steels of the general Legierungszusammenset ^¬ Zung suitable (all figures in% by mass) of the invention:

Carbon (C) 0.08-0.6

Manganese (Mn) 0.8-3.0

Aluminum (AI) 0.01-0.07

Silicon (Si) 0.01-0.5

Chromium (Cr) 0.02-0.6

Titanium (Ti) 0.01-0.08

Nitrogen (N) <0.02

Boron (B) 0.002-0.02

Phosphorus (P) <0.01

Sulfur (S) <0.01

Molybdenum (Mo) <1

Remaining iron and impurities caused by melting.

To steel compositions in particular have proven to be suitable as follows (all on ^¬ gave in mass%):

Carbon (C) 0.08-0.30

Manganese (Mn) 1.00-3.00

Aluminum (AI) 0.03-0.06

Silicon (Si) 0.01-0.20

Chromium (Cr) 0.02-0.3

Titanium (Ti) 0.03-0.04

Nitrogen (N) <0.007

Boron (B) 0.002-0.006

Phosphorus (P) <0.01

Sulfur (S) <0.01

Molybdenum (Mo) <1

Remaining iron and impurities caused by melting. So-called microalloyed steels are suitable as the partner material for the abovementioned highly curable boron-manganese steels; an exemplary alloy window for these microalloyed steels is as follows (in each case also percent by mass):

Carbon (C) 0.02-0.12

Manganese (Mn) 0.2-1.2

Aluminum (AI) 0.01-0.07

Silicon (Si) <0.5

Chromium (Cr) <0.3

Titanium (Ti) + niobium (Nb) 0.01-0.15

Nitrogen (N) <0.02

Boron (B) <0.02

Phosphorus (P) <0.01

Sulfur (S) <0.01

Molybdenum (Mo) <1

With regard to the combinability of the steel materials and the annealing temperatures, only one combination of materials is used according to the invention, in which the desired potential difference between the materials used at the edge and the material used in the core are present.

The annealing temperature must be chosen so that comparable diffusion lengths are generated. For this it is necessary to have similar structures. It has been found that it makes sense to set high diffusion values for carbon, but not for the lattice atoms. Thus, the annealing temperatures are particularly suitable if they are so high that the material is still ferritic, that is, just below Aci of the respective steel alloy. For common boron-alloyed steels and microalloyed steels, these are temperatures between 670 and 700 ° C.

With such an annealing temperature and the corresponding potential gradient, a very clear limit in the carbon distribution is achieved between the steel grades used, ie the outer material depletes very strongly of carbon to the inner material, while directly at the interface between the outer and the inner material inner material has a very high carbon content. Is this not desired or should the Carbon distribution be more harmonious or continuous, a higher temperature can be selected, or be annealed longer. The temperature treatment can also be adjusted to a more continuous transition via AC1, but it has been found that the chemical potential for C mostly reverses before AC3 and thus no uphill diffusion takes place. Thus, depending on the exact alloy composition of both starting materials, an upper limit of about 850 ° C. results

At the temperatures mentioned, it is generally useful to select a potential difference of at least 500 J / mol, preferably 1000 J / mol, more preferably 2000 J / mol, in order to achieve a noticeable diffusion.

With regard to the thickness ratios and thickness ranges, the two outer sheets should each have a maximum of 25% of the total composite thickness, preferably less than 10%, particularly preferably less than 5%. The effect of the decarburization or carburizing is in the outer region of the composite most and is preferably characterized by the fact that the entire thickness of the outer sheets is consistently decarburized or carburized accordingly.

Here, the annealing time for complete diffusion correlates with the thickness of the composite, it being noted that only the fully rolled composite is accordingly diffusion-annealed.

The entire composite has a thickness between 0.5 and 5 mm, preferably 0.5 to 3 mm. Here, a decarburizing layer is 0.7 to 2 mm outside, and a carburizing layer is 0.5 to 1.5 mm outside.

In the invention, it is advantageous that by adjusting the chemical potential of the outer layer and a core layer or inner layer on the one hand and the appropriate annealing temperatures on the other hand uphill diffusion is achieved, which causes the edge layers are decarburized in favor of the central layer. Of course, the structure described ABA is also reversible in BAB.

This means that, under the conditions mentioned above, the edges are carburized, ie hardened, and a material is used in the middle that is more likely to release its carbon to the outer layers. Thus, this would achieve a more ductile material in the core, which is harder in outdoor areas.

The invention will be explained by way of example with reference to a drawing. It shows:

Fig. 1 shows the chemical potentials for different materials;

FIGS. 2a-2p the carbon distribution in composite materials according to the invention in

Initial state and after the annealing treatment according to the invention;

FIGS. 3a-3c, a three-layer sheet structure according to the prior art with the corresponding carbon distribution.

From FIGS. 3 a to 3 c it can be seen that a material has been produced in the prior art which has thin outer regions consisting of a high-carbon steel material, while the inner region consists of a so-called low carbon steel.

In this case, the edge areas make up about 10% of the thickness, while the central area makes up about 80% of the thickness.

The carbon diffusion to be expected between the high-carbon steel in the edge region and the low carbon steel in the inner region can be seen in FIG. 3a, with a drop in carbon over a width of 60 micrometers, and thus also a drop in hardness.

In embodiments according to the invention (FIGS. 2a-2p), it can be seen that the carbon content in the initial state (dotted lines) is sharply delimited, for example with a material pairing 340LA outside and 29MnB6 inside, the carbon content in the core region being about three times as high as in FIG border area. After this material has been rolled and annealed in the coil at 680 ° C for 10 hours, the values follow the solid lines. It can be seen that the edge regions are almost completely decarburized, while the carbon content in the edge region of the central material has been almost doubled, and then falls to the inside. Thus, the carbon from the lower carbon material is diffused uphill into the carbon rich material. In the same way, if necessary slightly attenuated, the diffusion behaves in different combinations of materials (Figures 2c, 2b), in which also was annealed in the same way, but the inner material was varied to 34MnB5 (Figure 2b) and 22 MnB5 (Figure 2c). The effects are equally visible, although the absolute carbon contents may vary somewhat.

An extreme case is shown in FIG. 2d, in which the chemical potential between the edge material 500LA and the core material 22MnB5 is insufficient to achieve the effect according to the invention at a predetermined annealing temperature. This is even more extreme with the pairing of materials in Figure 2E where a 340LA has been used in the periphery and a 29MnB6 in the core area and after the annealing of an alignment the carbon content has taken place, the opposite of what is desired. Also in the material pairing in Figure 2f is not achieved the effect of the invention.

This also applies to the material pairing in FIGS. 2g and 2h, in which IF steels and boron-manganese steels have been combined in which the desired effects do not occur.

At somewhat higher annealing temperatures and the combination of materials 500LA 22MnB5, there is even a carbon depletion of the carbon-rich material and a marginal carburisation. If, however, the chemical potential is further spread further, for example when using a 500LA in the edge region and a 39MnCrB6-2, the effect according to the invention is again obtained.

This also applies to the combination 340LA 22MnB5 and 340 LA 22MnB5 at 800 and 680 ° C annealing temperature. FIG. 2o shows a material combination of 22MnB5 in the edge region and 340LA in the core region, ie a combination of hardenable steel on the outside and softer steel on the inside. This shows the carbon difference between the outer and the inner material in the initial state (dotted line) and after 20 hours of annealing at 680 ° C. Here, the central material is almost completely decarburized in the outer regions, while the carbon-rich material was carburized in the edge regions almost to three times. The different chemical potentials for different materials and at different temperatures are shown in FIG. 1, whereby it can be seen that there should be a potential difference up to the corresponding annealing temperatures and in particular materials in which the potential drops very sharply with increasing temperatures or others Crossing lines is not suitable because, as it were, it changes its potential properties during annealing.

According to the invention, the differences in the carbon content between two adjoining steel materials can thus be further enhanced by a suitable material selection and suitable annealing temperatures, so that a targeted influence on the materials can be taken by uphill diffusion and thus a steel composite can be produced which has very different properties.

The composite produced according to the invention can be press-hardened or shape-hardened, wherein the component produced thereby is in particular a body component for motor vehicles and in particular a structural component such as an A-, B- or C-pillar, a longitudinal or transverse beam or the like.

Claims

claims

1. A method for producing a steel composite, wherein at least two steel sheets, which consist of different steel grades are stacked and hot rolled together and are subsequently optionally cold-rolled, after which the resulting composite material from at least two layers with different steel composition is diffusion annealed , characterized in that the annealing temperature is adjusted so that the chemical potential of the steel materials is selected such that the following equation applies: c, material 1> c, material 2 wherein the material 1 has a lower carbon content than the material 2, so that carbon uphill diffusion between material 1 and material 2 takes place.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the diffusion annealing takes place at the lowest Acl temperature of the steel materials used, at temperatures of 650 to 720 ° C, preferably 670 to 700 ° C.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the chemical potential difference of the two materials at the annealing temperature greater than 500 J / mol, preferably 1000 J / mol, more preferably greater than 2000 J / mol.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that three steel sheets are rolled together, wherein the central steel material has a different carbon content to the outer steel materials and a different chemical potential.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer regions make up a total thickness of 25%, preferably less than 10%, more preferably 5% of the thickness of the entire steel sheet.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one side of the composite comprises a metallic coating with aluminum or an alloy containing essentially aluminum or an alloy of aluminum and zinc and / or another zinc alloy containing essentially zinc and / or zinc and / or other coating metals undergoes.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the steel composite of two, three or four or more different steel materials is rolled, wherein the steel composite is formed with three, four, five or more layers.

8. Sheet steel composite produced in particular according to one of the methods according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the composite is press-hardened or form-hardened, wherein the softer sheet metal layers after the press or form hardening of the composite has a tensile strength R _m of 0.3 to 0.7 GPa develop and the harder metal layers develop a tensile strength R _m between 1 GPa and 2.5 GPa.

9. Sheet steel composite according to claim 8, characterized in that the steel composite has softer steel types outside and a harder steel grade in between or vice versa.

10. Use of a steel sheet composite according to claim 8 or 9 for the manufacture parti- eil with respect to the thickness of press-hardened or form-hardened components in which the component cold-formed austenitized and then quench hardened or austenitized, reshaped and quench hardened.

11. Hardened component made of a steel sheet composite according to claim 8 or 9, produced by a method according to one of claims 1 to 7.