Prediction of Bake Hardening Behavior of Selected Advanced High Strength Automotive Steels and Hailstone Failure Discussion

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is three-fold. Firstly, it attempts to describe the bake hardening (BH) behavior of selected interstitial free (IF) and dual phase (DP) steels. Secondly, it predicts the BH behavior of the IF DX 51D and DP 500 HCT 590X plates of steel, and thirdly studies material failure prevention in scholarly sources. The research is aimed at investigating the increasing steel strength during the BH of these two high-strength sheets of steel used for outer vehicle body parts. Samples of steel were pre-strained to 1%, 2%, and 5% and then baked at 140–220 °C for 10 to 30 min. The BH effect was determined from three factors: pre-strain, baking temperature, and baking time. Research has shown that increasing the yield strength by the BH effect is predictable. Therefore, the number of experiments could be reduced for the investigation of BH effect for other kinds of IF and DP steels. The literature study of the hailstone failure reveals that the knowledge of BH steels behavior helps to calculate the steel supplier´s failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) risk priority number.