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With the increasing demand for safety, energy saving and emission reduction, Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) have become very attractive steels for automobile makers. The usage of AHSS steels is projected to grow significantly in the next 5-10 years with new safety and fuel economy regulations. These new steels have significant manufacturing challenges, particularly for welding and stamping. Welding of AHSS remains one of the technical challenges in the successful application of AHSS in automobile structures due to heat-affected zones (HAZ) at the weld joint. In this study Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) of a lap joint configuration consisting of 1.0 mm Usibor® 1500 steel to uncoated Dual Phase 780 (DP780) steel was investigated. The objective of the study was to understand the wire feed rate (WFR) and torch (or robot) travel speed (TTS) influence on lap joint tensile strength.

There has been a substantial increase in the use of advanced high strength steel in automotive structures in the last few years. The usage of these materials is projected to grow significantly in the next 5–10 years with new safety and fuel economy regulations. These new materials have significant manufacturing challenges, particularly for welding and stamping. Proper understanding of the weldability of these materials is critical for successful application in future vehicle programs. This paper presents our production experience in use of DP600. Development work on the effect of weld tips on button size, and shrinkage voids due to different welding variables is discussed. The paper also provides recommendations from the current experimental knowledge base for applications on higher grades of steel (DP780 and beyond).