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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).

Advanced High Strength Steels such as Dual Phase 600 (DP600) are gaining popularity in automotive body structure applications. Given their higher strength, the efficacy of Advanced High Strength Steels for intrusion resistance applications is relatively well accepted. On the other hand, use of Advanced High Strength Steels for energy absorption applications needs to be studied and understood on a case-by-case basis. Based on stress-strain characteristics, one would expect DP600 as a material to have better energy absorbing characteristics than conventional High Strength Steel such as HSLA350 (High Strength Low Alloy Steel) that has comparable yield strength. However, as the energy absorption at the component and system level, in addition to material properties, depends on geometry, as well as manufacturing and assembly related factors, a study was conducted to compare the component level energy absorption characteristics of DP600 and HSLA350 parts.