Patent Description:
Recently, hot press formed parts having ultra-high strength have been widely applied to structural members of automobiles to improve fuel efficiency through reductions in the weight of automobiles and to protect automobile passengers. Furthermore, technologies for performing hot press forming using a tailor welded blank (TWB) having a combination of different materials or different thicknesses to absorb energy in collision have been proposed, and thus, various related studies have been conducted.

Patent Document <NUM> discloses such a typical technology related to hot press forming. According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document <NUM>, an Al-Si plating steel sheet is heated to a temperature of <NUM> or more, and then a hot press forming process and a cooling process are performed such that a part having a martensite phase is formed to secure ultra-high strength, within the range of <NUM> MPa or more, in tensile strength.

In Patent Document <NUM>, a plating layer having aluminum (Al) as a main phase is formed. Since a plating layer and a base material are non-uniformly mixed during TWB welding, a portion having locally decreased hardness is present in a melted portion. Therefore, when a welding zone is deformed due to poor hardness thereof, fracturing may occur in the welding zone.

Patent Document <NUM> discloses a technology for addressing the above issue. To address such an issue occurring during TWB welding of an Al-plated steel sheet, Patent Document <NUM> is characterized in performing TWB welding after removing a portion of an Al plating layer in a welding zone before the TWB welding.

Patent documents <CIT> and <CIT> disclose aluminium coated steel blanks and their corresponding methods of manufacturing them for producing coated steels for hot forming that have good corrosion and weldability properties. Tailor welded blanks made of coated steel and having improved quality and mechanical resistance are disclosed in the patent document <CIT>.

However, to commercially apply the technology disclosed in Patent Document <NUM>, additional equipment is required to remove a portion of an Al plating layer before TWB welding. In addition, since the plating layer having a larger area than an actual welding zone is removed, a risk such as poor corrosion resistance is ultimately increased in the portion in which the plating layer is removed.

Accordingly, there is increasing demand for development of a plated steel sheet for hot press forming having excellent TWB welding characteristics without removal of a plating layer, a hot press formed part, and methods for manufacturing the same.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming having excellent TWB welding characteristics, and method of manufacturing the same.

According to the invention it is disclosed an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming having excellent TWB welding characteristics according to the claim <NUM> and includes a base steel sheet including, by weight percentage (wt%), carbon (C): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, manganese (Mn): <NUM> to <NUM>%, phosphorus (P): <NUM> to <NUM>%, sulfur (S): <NUM> to <NUM>%, aluminum (Al): <NUM> to <NUM>%, nitrogen (N): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities, and an Al-Fe alloy layer disposed on the base steel sheet. The Al-Fe alloy layer includes, by wt%, aluminum (Al): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities, and a fraction of an unalloyed phase is <NUM> area% or less.

According to another aspect of the present invention it is disclosed a method for making an Al-Fe plated steel according to claim <NUM>, the method comprising heating a slab within a temperature range of <NUM> to <NUM>, the slab including, by weight percentage (wt%), carbon (C): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, manganese (Mn): <NUM> to <NUM>%, phosphorus (P): <NUM> to <NUM>%, sulfur (S): <NUM> to <NUM>%, aluminum (Al): <NUM> to <NUM>%, nitrogen (N): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities, finishing hot rolling the heated slab within a temperature range of Ar3 to <NUM> to obtain a hot-rolled steel sheet, cooling the hot-rolled steel sheet and coiling the cooled hot-rolled steel sheet at a temperature higher than Ms and less than <NUM>, dipping and plating the coiled hot-rolled steel sheet in a plating bath including, by wt%, Si: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Fe: <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of Al, and unavoidable impurities, and batch-annealing the plated hot-rolled steel sheet to satisfy the following Equation <NUM>, <MAT> where T denotes a heating temperature (°C), t denotes maintenance time at a heating temperature (hours), and HR denotes a heating rate (°C/hour).

According to another aspect outside the scope of the present invention a hot press formed part having excellent TWB welding characteristics, manufactured by hot press-forming a tailor welded blank (TWB) manufactured by welding an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet of the present disclosure to a steel sheet having a thickness or strength different from a thickness or strength of the Al-Fe alloyed plate steel sheet, and a method of manufacturing the hot press formed part are provided.

The technical solutions to the above-mentioned problems do not fully enumerate all features of the present disclosure. Various features of the present disclosure and the resulting advantages and effects will be understood in more detail with reference to the following detailed examples.

As set forth above, example embodiments may provide a plating steel sheet for hot press forming having excellent tailor welded blank (TWB) welding characteristics of a welding zone due to uniform hardness of the welding zone when a TWB is formed, a hot press formed part, and methods for manufacturing the same.

The present invention relates to a Al-Fe alloy -based plated steel sheet having excellent room-temperature aging resistance and bake hardenability and a method of manufacturing the same. Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present is defined by the appended claims.

The present inventors have found that, when a tailor welded blank (TWB) is manufactured using an Al-plated steel sheet, TWB welding characteristics are deteriorated because hardness of a welding zone is not uniform and, when TWB is manufactured after removal of an Al plating layer to prevent the deterioration in TWB welding characteristics, introduction of additional equipment for removing a portion of the Al plating layer is required, and the plating layer having a larger area than an actual welding zone is removed to deteriorate corrosion resistance in a portion the plating layer is finally removed. Accordingly, the present inventors have made extensive and intensive studies to address the above issues.

As a result of the studies, the present inventors found that, after Al plating, an Al-Fe alloy layer may be formed by appropriately controlling batch annealing conditions, and thus, excellent hardness uniformity of a TWB welding zone may be achieved to improve TWB welding characteristics, and completed the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming, having excellent TWB welding characteristics, according to an aspect of the present invention will be described in detail.

An Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming, having excellent TWB welding characteristics, according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a base steel sheet including, by weight percentage (wt%), carbon (C): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, manganese (Mn): <NUM> to <NUM>%, phosphorus (P): <NUM> to <NUM>%, sulfur (S): <NUM> to <NUM>%, aluminum (Al): <NUM> to <NUM>%, nitrogen (N): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities, and an Al-Fe alloy layer disposed on the base steel sheet. The Al-Fe alloy layer includes, by wt%, aluminum (Al): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities, and a fraction of an unalloyed phase is <NUM> area% or less.

First, an alloy composition of a base steel sheet according to the present invention will be described in detail. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the content of each element means weight percentage (wt%).

Carbon (C) may be an essential element for increasing strength of a heat treatment member. When the content of C is less than <NUM>%, it may be difficult to secure sufficient strength. When the content of C is greater than <NUM>%, strength of a hot-rolled material is so high that cold rollability is may be significantly deteriorated when the hot-rolled material is cold-rolled and spot weldability may be significantly deteriorated.

Therefore, the content of C content is <NUM> to <NUM>%. A more detailed upper limit of the content of C may be <NUM>%. An even more detailed upper limit may be <NUM>%.

Si may be added as a deoxidizer in steelmaking. Si may be added not only to suppress formation of a carbide, most affecting the strength of the hot press formed part, but also to enrich carbon to grain boundaries of martensite lath after formation of martensite to secure retained austenite in hot press forming.

When the content of Si is less than <NUM>%, the above effect may not be expected to be obtained and steel cleanness may not be secured. In addition, excessive costs may be incurred. On the other hand, when the content of Si is greater than <NUM>%, Al platability may be significantly deteriorated. Therefore, an upper limit of the content of Si is <NUM>% and, in more detail, <NUM>%.

Mn needs to be added not only to ensure a solid solution strengthening effect, but also to decrease a critical cooling rate for securing martensite in the hot press formed part.

When the content of Mn is less than <NUM>%, there may be a limitation in obtaining the above effect. On the other hand, when the content of Mn is greater than <NUM>%, the strength of a steel sheet is significantly increased, before a hot press forming process, to cause an increase in costs and to deteriorate spot weldability. Therefore, an upper limit of the content of Mn is <NUM>%, in more detail, <NUM>%, and in even more detail, <NUM>%.

P is present as an impurity. Excessive costs may be incurred to control the content of P to be less than <NUM>%. When the content of P is greater than <NUM>%, weldability of a hot press formed part may be significantly reduced. Therefore, an upper limit of the content of P is <NUM>% and, in more detail, <NUM>%.

S is present as an impurity. Excessive costs may be incurred to control the content of S to be less than <NUM>%. When the content of S is greater than <NUM>%, the ductility, impact characteristics, and weldability of the hot press formed part may be deteriorated. Therefore, an upper limit of the content of Sis <NUM>% and, in more detail, <NUM>%.

Al is an element serves as a deoxidizer during steelmaking, together with Al, to increase cleanness of steel.

When the content Al is less than <NUM>%, it may be difficult to obtain the above effect. When the content of Al is greater than <NUM>%, a heating temperature needs to be further increased due to an excessive increase in temperature of Ac3.

N is present as an impurity. Excessive manufacturing costs may be incurred to control the content of N to be less than <NUM>%. When the content of N is greater than <NUM>%, cracking may occur in a slab continuous casting process and impact characteristics may be deteriorated.

A balance of the present invention is iron (Fe).

However, unintentional impurities may be inevitably incorporated from raw materials or the surrounding environment in a general manufacturing process. Thus, the inclusion of such impurities cannot be ruled out. Since these impurities will be apparent to those skilled in the general manufacturing process, descriptions thereof will not be specifically provided in the present disclosure.

The base steel sheet according to the present invention may further include at least one of chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo) in total of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%, other than the above-described elements.

Cr and Mo are elements contributing to improvement of hardenability through a precipitation strengthening effect and refinement of grains. When the sum of the content of at least one of Cr and Mo is less than <NUM>%, it may be difficult to obtain the above effect. When the sum of at least one of Cr and Mo is greater than <NUM>%, the above effect may be saturated, and deterioration in weldability and an increase in costs may occur.

In addition, the base steel sheet according to the present invention may further include at least one of titanium (Ti), niobium (Nb), and vanadium (V) in total of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%.

Ti, Nb, and V are elements forming fine precipitates to contribute to improvement of strength of the hot press formed part, stability of retained austenite resulting from the refinement of grains, and improvement of impact toughness. When the sum of one at least one of Ti, Nb, and V is less than <NUM>%, not only the above effect may be saturated, but also an increase in costs may occur.

In addition, boron (B) may be further included in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM>%.

B is an element which may improve hardenability even when added in a small amount and may segregate to prior austenite grain boundaries to inhibit brittleness of the hot press formed part caused by grain boundary segregation of P and/or S. When the content of B is less than <NUM>%, it may be difficult to obtain the above effect. When the content of B is greater than <NUM>%, the effect may be saturated and brittleness may occur in hot rolling. Therefore, an upper limit of the content of B may be, in detail, <NUM>% and, in more detail, <NUM>%.

A microstructure of the base steel sheet is not necessarily limited but may include, by an area fraction, for example, <NUM>% or less of pearlite, <NUM>% or less of martensite, <NUM>% or less of spheroidized carbide <NUM>% or less, and a balance of ferrite.

Hereinafter, the Al-Fe alloy layer formed on a surface of the base steel sheet according to the present invention will be described in detail.

The Al-Fe alloy layer includes, by wt%, Al: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Si: <NUM> to <NUM>%, and a balance of Fe and inevitable impurities, and a fraction of an unalloyed phase is <NUM> area% or less.

When the fraction of the unalloyed phase is greater than <NUM> area%, it refers to the presence of a low-melting-point Al phase. Such a low-melting-point Al phase may remain as an Al-enriched phase in a welding zone during TWB welding, and may form a low-hardness phase after hot press forming, and thus, may increase a hardness deviation of the TWB welding zone of the hot press formed part to deteriorate welding zone characteristics.

When the content of Al in the Al-Fe alloy layer is greater than <NUM>%, an Al-enriched phase may remains in the TWB welding zone. When the content of Al in the Al-Fe alloy layer is less than <NUM>%, corrosion resistance of a final hot press formed part may be deteriorated.

The content of Si of the plating layer may be, in detail, <NUM> to <NUM>%. An Al-Fe plating layer may have various phases depending on the contents of Al, Si, and Fe. A Si-containing phase may have an effect to inhibit delamination of the plating layer, but may deteriorate spot weldability. When the content of Si is less than <NUM>%, formation of the Si-containing phase may be insufficient, and thus, delamination may easily occur in the plating layer. When the content of Si is greater than <NUM>%, resistance of the plating layer may be significantly increased to deteriorate the spot weldability.

In this case, the Al-Fe alloy layer includes a diffusion layer, disposed on the base steel sheet and constituting a layer while including Si in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%, and an intermediate layer disposed in the Al-Fe alloy layer and constituting a layer while including Si in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%. A sum of average thicknesses of the diffusion layer and the intermediate layer is <NUM> to <NUM>.

When the sum of the thicknesses of the diffusion layer and the intermediate layer is less than <NUM>, delamination may easily occur in the plating layer. When the sum of the thickness of the diffusion layer and the intermediate layer is greater than <NUM>, resistance of the plating layer may be increased to deteriorate spot weldability. Therefore, the sum of the thicknesses of the diffusion layer and the intermediate layer is, in detail, <NUM> to <NUM> and, in more detail, <NUM> to <NUM>.

For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, a schematic view of the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet of the present disclosure, the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet may include a diffusion layer, a layer in which Fe<NUM>Al<NUM> is mainly contained, an intermediate layer, and a layer in which Fe<NUM>Al<NUM> is mainly contained, which are sequentially formed from a surface of the base steel sheet. The diffusion layer may include FeAl(Si) and αFe as main components, and Si may be included therein in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%. The intermediate layer may include FeAl(Si) as a main component, and Si may be included therein in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%. Since FeAl(Si) has lower hardness than other phases, FeAl(Si) may inhibit delamination of the plating layer but may deteriorate spot weldability.

In addition, an oxide layer having a thickness of <NUM> or less is formed on the Al-Fe alloy layer. When the thickness of the oxide layer is greater than <NUM>, spot weldability may be deteriorated. The thickness of the oxide layer refers to a thickness a point in which a concentration of oxygen is <NUM>% in the glow discharge spectrometer (GDS) analysis.

The Al-Fe alloy layer may have a thickness of <NUM> to <NUM>.

When the Al-Fe alloying layer has a thickness less than <NUM>, it may be difficult to secure corrosion resistance. When the Al-Fe alloying layer has a thickness greater than <NUM>, spot weldability may be deteriorated and manufacturing costs may be increased.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming, having excellent TWB welding characteristics, according to claim <NUM> of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

A method of manufacturing an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming, having excellent TWB welding characteristics, includes heating a slab satisfying the above-mentioned alloy composition within a temperature range of <NUM> to <NUM>, finishing hot rolling the heated slab within a temperature range of Ar3 to <NUM> to obtain a hot-rolled steel sheet, cooling the hot-rolled steel sheet and coiling the cooled hot-rolled steel sheet at a temperature higher than Ms and less than <NUM>, dipping and plating the coiled hot-rolled steel sheet in a plating bath including, by wt%, Si: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Fe: <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of Al, and unavoidable impurities, and batch-annealing the plated hot-rolled steel sheet to satisfy the following Equation <NUM>, <MAT> where T denotes a heating temperature (°C), t denotes maintenance time at a heating temperature (hours), and HR denotes a heating rate (°C/hour).

Hereinafter, a detail description of each operation will be provided.

The slab, satisfying the above-described alloy composition, is heated to a temperature within the range of <NUM> to <NUM>.

When the slab heating temperature is lower than <NUM>, it may be difficult to homogenize a structure of the slab. When the slab heating temperature is higher than <NUM>, an oxide layer may be excessively formed and manufacturing costs may be increased.

The heated slab may be finishing hot-rolled at temperature of Ar3 to <NUM> to obtain a hot-rolled steel sheet.

When the finishing hot-rolling temperature is lower than Ar3, two-phase region rolling is likely to be performed. Therefore, a mixed grain structure may be formed on a surface layer and it may be difficult to control a plate shape. On the other hand, when the finishing hot-rolling temperature is higher than <NUM>, crystal grains may be coarsened.

The hot-rolled steel sheet is cooled and coiled at temperature higher than Ms and less than <NUM>.

When the coiling temperature is lower than or equal to a martensite transformation initiation temperature (Ms temperature), strength of a hot-rolled material may be increased to be so high that it may be difficult to perform cold rolling. When the coiling temperature is higher than <NUM>, a thickness of the oxide layer may be excessively increased to make it difficult to perform surface pickling.

The coiled hot-rolled steel sheet is plated by dipping in a plating bath including, by wt%, Si: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Fe: <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of Al, and unavoidable impurities.

When the content of Si is less than <NUM>%, fluidity of the plating bath may be reduced to make it difficult to form a uniform plating layer. When the content of Si is greater than <NUM>%, a melting temperature of the plating bath may be increased, so that it is necessary to increase a management temperature of the plating bath. Fe may be dissolved in the plating bath from the steel sheet during the plating to be present in the plating bath. To maintain the content of Fe in the plating bath at less than <NUM>%, excessive manufacturing costs may be incurred to dilute the dissolved Fe. When the content of Fe is greater than <NUM>%, a FeAl compound called dross in the plating bath may be easily formed to deteriorate plating quality. Therefore, the content of Fe needs to be managed to be <NUM>% or less.

In this case, the plating may be performed such that plating amount is <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM> based on one surface.

The above amount of plating is set for the following reasons. When the amount of plating is less than <NUM>/m<NUM> based on one surface, it may be difficult to secure the corrosion resistance of the hot press formed part. When the amount of plating is less than <NUM>/m<NUM> based on one surface, manufacturing costs may be increased due to an excessive coating amount and it may be difficult to achieve uniform coating amount in entire width and length directions of a coil.

In this case, the plating may further include cold rolling the coiled hot-rolled steel sheet, before the plating, to obtain a cold-rolled steel sheet before the plating.

The plating may be performed without performing cold rolling, but cold rolling may be performed to precisely control a thickness of the steel sheet. For example, cold rolling may be performed at a reduction ratio of <NUM> to <NUM>% to obtain a predetermined target thickness.

The method may further include heating the coiled hot-rolled steel sheet to a temperature within the range of <NUM> to <NUM> to be maintained for an hour to <NUM> hours, before the cold rolling.

The method may further include continuously annealing the cold-rolled steel sheet at a temperature within the range of <NUM> to <NUM>, after the cold rolling. This is aimed at, after cold rolling, recrystallizing a work-hardened structure to secure strength and physical properties appropriate to a subsequent manufacturing process.

The plated hot-rolled steel sheet is batch-annealed to satisfy the following equation <NUM>. <MAT> where T denotes a heating temperature (°C), t denotes maintenance time at a heating temperature (hours), and HR denotes a heating rate (°C/hour).

In a state in which only Al is plated before the batch annealing, the plating layer has a structure in which Al is a main phase and Al-Si eutectic phases are distributed. However, various phases, in which the content of Fe in the plating layer is gradually increased through alloying with Fe during the batch annealing, may be formed. Due to the formation of the various phases, it may be difficult to find an accurate phase. However, as described above and as illustrated in <FIG>, the plating layer may include a diffusion layer, a layer in which Fe<NUM>Al<NUM> is mainly contained, an intermediate layer, and a layer in which Fe<NUM>Al<NUM> is mainly contained, which are sequentially formed from a surface of the base steel sheet. The diffusion layer may include FeAl(Si) and αFe as main components, and Si may be included therein in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%. The intermediate layer may include FeAl(Si) as a main component, and Si may be included therein in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%.

When a value of Equation <NUM> is less than <NUM>, only an Al layer may remain on an outermost layer due to deficiency of the batch annealing. After hot press forming, the Al layer may non-uniformly remain in a welding zone during TWB welding because a low-melting-point Al phase is present in the plating layer. Accordingly, after finishing hot press forming, the Al layer may remain as a low-hardness phase in the welding zone, resulting in poor hardness of the welding zone.

On the other hand, when the value of Equation <NUM> is greater than <NUM>, spot weldability may be deteriorated after the hot press forming as the sum of the average thicknesses of the diffusion layer and the intermediate layer are increased.

In the method of the invention, a heating rate during the batch annealing ranges from <NUM> to <NUM>/hour, a heating temperature ranges from <NUM> to <NUM>, and maintenance time ranges from <NUM> to <NUM> hours.

When the heating rate is less than <NUM>/hour, oxides may be excessively formed on a surface of the plating layer due to oxygen present in an atmosphere of a heating furnace as an impurity. Accordingly, it may be difficult to secure spot weldability after the hot press forming, and productivity may be significantly reduced. On the other hand, when the heating rate is greater <NUM>/hour, a partially unalloyed Al layer may remain on the surface of the plating layer. The unalloyed Al layer may non-uniformly remains as a low-melting-point phase in the weld zone during the TWB welding. After the hot press forming, the Al layer may remain as a low-hardness phase in the welding zone, resulting in poor hardness of the welding zone.

When the heating temperature is lower than <NUM>, alloying may be insufficiently performed on a surface layer of the plating layer, resulting in poor hardness of the welding zone, as described above. On the other hand, when the heating temperature is higher than <NUM>, oxides may be excessively formed on the surface layer during the batch annealing to deteriorate spot weldability after the hot press forming.

When the maintenance time at the heating temperature is less than an hour, it may be difficult for the plating layer to be sufficiently alloyed. When the maintenance time at the heating temperature is greater than <NUM> hours, productivity may be reduced.

Cooling after the batch annealing is not necessarily limited, and may be furnace cooling, air cooling, or the like.

In this case, the batch annealing may be performed in a non-oxidation atmosphere. For example, the batch annealing may be performed in a hydrogen atmosphere or a hydrogen-nitrogen mixed atmosphere.

The non-oxidation atmosphere may be maintained during the batch annealing to prevent spot weldability from being deteriorated by excessive formation of oxides on a coil surface. In addition, a batch annealing facility may be oxidized in the oxidation atmosphere to increase facility maintenance costs and to reduce lifespan of the batch annealing facility.

According to another aspect not part of the present invention, a hot press formed part having excellent TWB welding characteristics may be manufactured by hot press-forming a tailor welded blank, manufactured by welding an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet of the present disclosure to a steel sheet having a thickness or strength different from a thickness or strength of the Al-Fe alloyed plate steel sheet. The hot press formed part may have tensile strength of <NUM> MPa or more and a welding zone hardness deviation of 100Hv or less.

When the hardness deviation of the welding zone is greater than 100Hv, fracture may occur in the welding zone to deteriorate TWB welding characteristics.

In this case, a microstructure of the hot press formed part is not necessarily limited when tensile strength of the hot press formed part is greater than <NUM> MPa. However, in the hot press formed part, a microstructure of an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet may include martensite or bainite as a main phase and retained austenite in an amount of <NUM> area% or less to increase ductility of the hot press formed part, and may include ferrite in an amount of <NUM> area% or less. When the amount of ferrite is greater than <NUM> area%, strength may be decreased, and impact resistance and impact toughness may be decreased because cracking easily propagates along a ferrite network.

According to another aspect that is not part of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a hot press formed part having excellent welding characteristics may include a TWB manufacturing step in which a tailor welded blank is manufactured by welding an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet, manufactured by the above-described method of manufacturing an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet, to a steel sheet having a thickness or strength different from a thickness or strength of the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet, a heating step in which the tailor welded blank is heated to a temperate within the range of (Ae3+<NUM>) to (Ae3+<NUM>) at a heating rate of <NUM> to <NUM>/sec and then maintained for <NUM> to <NUM> seconds, and a hot press forming step in which the heated tailor welded blank is press-formed and, simultaneously, cooled at a cooling rate of <NUM> to <NUM>/sec.

A tailor welded blank is manufactured by welding an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet, manufactured by the above-described method of manufacturing an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet, to a steel sheet having a thickness or strength different from a thickness or strength of the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet.

In this case, since the effects of the present disclosure are achieved as long as a difference in thicknesses between steel sheets is a conventional thickness difference applied to manufacturing of a tailor welded blank, the steel sheets having different thicknesses are not necessarily limited. For example, steel sheets having a thickness difference of <NUM> to <NUM> may be used.

In addition, since the effects of the present disclosure are achieved when steel sheets having different strengths are conventional steel sheets used to manufacture a tailor welded blank, the steel sheets having different strengths are not necessarily limited.

As an example, HSLA steel, DP steel, or the like, may be used in a conventional steel sheet for manufacturing a tailor welded blank.

As a more detailed example, a 6Mn6 steel material may be used as a conventional steel sheet for manufacturing a tailor welded blank. The 6Mn6 steel material refers to a steel sheet including, by weight percentage (wt%), C: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Si: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Mn: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Al: <NUM> to <NUM>%, Ti: <NUM>% or less, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities.

Furthermore, a welding method is not necessarily limited and may be laser welding, electric arc welding, plasma welding, metal inert gas (MIG) welding, or the like.

The tailor welded blank is heated to a temperate within the range of (Ae3+<NUM>) to (Ae3+<NUM>) at a heating rate of <NUM> to <NUM>/sec and then maintained for <NUM> to <NUM> seconds.

When the heating temperature is lower than Ae3+<NUM>, there is a high possibility that ferrite will be generated during transfer from a heating furnace to a mold, and thus, it may be difficult to secure predetermined strength. When the heating temperature is higher than Ae3+<NUM>, excessive oxides may be formed on a surface of the hot press formed part to make it difficult to secure spot weldability.

When the heating rate is less than <NUM>/sec, it may be difficult to ensure sufficient productivity and excessive heating time may be required. Therefore, a grain size of the steel sheet is so large that impact toughness may be reduced, and excessive oxides may be formed on the surface of the hot press formed part to reduce spot weldability. On the other hand, when the heating rate is greater than <NUM>/sec, expensive equipment may be required to increases manufacturing costs.

When the maintenance time is less than <NUM> second, a uniform temperature may not be achieved, and some carbides may be insufficiently redissolved to cause a material difference for each portion. When the maintenance time is greater than <NUM> seconds, excessive oxides may be formed on the surface of the hot press formed part to make it difficult to secure spot weldability, similarly to the excessive heating temperature.

The heated tailor welded blank may be press-formed and, simultaneously, cooled at a cooling rate of <NUM> to <NUM>/sec.

When a cooling rate is less than <NUM>/sec, ferrite may be generated to make it difficult to secure high strength. Relatively expensive special cooling equipment may be required to control the cooling rate to be greater than <NUM>/sec, which causes manufacturing costs to be increased.

Therefore, according to an example embodiment, a plated steel sheet for hot press forming having excellent TWB welding characteristics due to uninform hardness of a welding zone without removal of a plating layer when a tailor welded blank is manufactured, a hot press formed part, and methods of manufacturing the same may be provided.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically by way of examples.

The scope of the present disclosure may be determined by the matters described in the claims.

A slab having a component composition, illustrated in the following table <NUM>, was heated to a temperature of <NUM>, and then finishing hot-rolled at temperature of <NUM> and coiled at a temperature of <NUM>. The coiled slab was dipped in a plating bath including, by weight percentage (wt%), Si: <NUM>%, Fe: <NUM>%, a balance of Al, and unavoidable impurities, and then batch-annealed under conditions listed in the following table <NUM>. Thus, an Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet was manufactured.

An Al-Fe alloy layer of the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet was analyzed and listed in the following table <NUM>.

In addition, an experiment was conducted as to whether delamination occurred in a plating layer of the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet, and results thereof were listed in the following table <NUM>. The delamination of the plating layer was determined by performing V-shaped bending on the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet at a radius of curvature of <NUM> to have an internal angle of <NUM>°, attaching a transparent tape to the bent portion, and detaching the transparent tape from the plated layer to observe whether delamination occurred in the plating layer, with naked eye.

A tailor welded blank was manufactured by laser-welding the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet to a 6Mn6 steel material (a steel sheet including, by wt%, C: <NUM>%, Si: <NUM>%, Mn: <NUM>%, Al: <NUM>%, Ti: <NUM>%, a balance of Fe, and unavoidable impurities), and then heated to a temperature of <NUM> and maintained for <NUM> minutes. Then, the tailor welded blank was hot-press formed with a flat mold to manufacture a hot press formed part.

A tensile test, a welding zone tensile test, and a welding zone hardness test of the hot press formed part were performed. In the case of the hardness test, <NUM> points were analyzed in a <NUM>/4t region at a plate thickness of <NUM>/4t of the welding zone part by performing a micro Vickers test at a load of <NUM>.

A hardness deviation of the welding zone was measured as a value obtained by subtracting minimum hardness of the welding zone from average hardness of the welding zone.

Spot weldability was expressed as O when a welding current range, measured by an ISO <NUM>-<NUM> method, was <NUM> kA or more and expressed as X when the welding current range was less than <NUM> kA.

In Table <NUM>, Equation <NUM> is expressed as follows: <MAT>.

In Table <NUM> and Equation <NUM>, T denotes a heating temperature (°C), t denotes maintenance time at a heating temperature (hours), and HR denotes a heating rate (°C/hour).

In Table <NUM>, a thickness of a surface oxide layer refers to a thickness to a point, in which oxygen concentration is <NUM> wt%, in an oxygen concentration profile obtained through glow discharge spectrometer (GDS) analysis.

An average thickness value of each of a diffusion layer, formed on a surface of a base steel sheet and constituting a layer while including Si in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%, and an intermediate layer, formed in the Al-Fe alloy layer and constituting a layer while including Si in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%, were obtained, and the average thickness values were summed and listed in Table <NUM>.

In Table <NUM>, regarding whether delamination occurred in the plating layer, "○" means that delamination occurred in the plating layer, and "X" means that delamination did not occur in the plating layer.

In the case of inventive examples satisfying the conditions of the present disclosure, tensile strength of <NUM> MPa or more may be secured after hot press forming, a fraction of an unalloyed phase of the Al-Fe alloy layer was <NUM> area% or less, and the content of Al included in the Al-Fe alloy layer was <NUM> to <NUM>% and an Al-rich phase was not formed in the welding zone during TWB welding, so that a hardness deviation of a TWB welding zone after the hot press forming was 100Hv or less. According to a result of a tensile test of the welding zone, it was confirmed that TWB welding characteristics were excellent because fracture occurred in a 6Mn6 base material portion without fracture of the welding zone. In the case of inventive examples satisfying the conditions of the present disclosure, it was also confirmed that delamination did not occur in the plating layer before hot press forming.

In the case of No. <NUM> (a comparative example), TWB welding characteristics were deteriorated because batch annealing was not performed.

In the cases of Nos. <NUM> to <NUM> (comparative examples), a value of Equation <NUM> was less than <NUM>, a fraction of an unalloyed phase was greater than <NUM> area%, an Al-rich phase remained in a welding zone during the TWB welding due to the presence of a low-melting-point Al phase to low-strength phase after the hot press forming. Accordingly, a hardness deviation of the TWB welding zone was greater than 100Hv and a result of a tensile test of the welding zone was that fracture occurred in the welding zone.

In the cases of Nos. <NUM> to <NUM> (comparative examples), delamination occurred in a plating layer before hot press forming because a sum of average thicknesses of a diffusion layer and an intermediate layer was <NUM> or less.

In the case of No. <NUM> (a comparative example), batch annealing was performed in an air atmosphere, and thus, a thickness of a surface oxide layer formed during batch annealing was increased to deteriorate spot weldability of a hot press formed part.

In the cases of Nos. <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> (comparative examples), value of Equation <NUM> was greater than <NUM>, and thus, thicknesses of a diffusion layer and an intermediate layer having poor weldability was increased to deteriorate spot weldability of a hot press formed part.

In the cases of Nos. <NUM> and <NUM>, TWB welding characteristics and spot weldability were excellent. However, the content of C or Mn was less than the range of the present disclosure, so that tensile strength of a hot press formed part was less than <NUM> MPa.

<FIG> is a graph illustrating a relationship between Equation <NUM> and a hardness deviation of a TWB welding zone. As can be seen from <FIG>, TWB welding characteristics were excellent when Equation <NUM> satisfied the range of the present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates results of Al-distribution EPMA analysis for TWB welding zones of hot press formed parts of Test Nos. <NUM> and <NUM>. In the case of No. <NUM> (a comparative example), it was confirmed that phases (red) with high content of Al are non-uniformly distributed in a TWB welding zone. In the case of No. <NUM>, the content of Al was uniform in a welding zone.

<FIG> is an image obtained by capturing a fracture shape of a tensile test on hot press formed parts of Test Nos. <NUM> and <NUM>. In the case of No. <NUM> (a comparative example), a facture position was a welding zone. In the case of No. <NUM> (comparative example), a fracture position was a base material and TWB welding characteristics were excellent.

Claim 1:
An Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet for hot press forming having excellent TWB welding characteristics, the Al-Fe alloy plated steel sheet comprising:
a base steel sheet comprising, by weight percentage (wt%), carbon (C): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, manganese (Mn): <NUM> to <NUM>%, phosphorus (P): <NUM> to <NUM>%, sulfur (S): <NUM> to <NUM>%, aluminum (AI): <NUM> to <NUM>%, nitrogen (N): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities;
an Al-Fe alloy layer disposed on the base steel sheet, and
an oxide layer having a thickness of <NUM> or less and disposed on the Al-Fe alloy layer,
wherein the Al-Fe alloy layer comprises, by wt%, aluminum (AI): <NUM> to <NUM>%, silicon (Si): <NUM> to <NUM>%, a balance of iron (Fe), and unavoidable impurities, and a fraction of an unalloyed phase is <NUM> area% or less,
wherein the Al-Fe alloy layer comprises: a diffusion layer disposed on the base steel sheet and constituting a layer while including Si in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%; and an intermediate layer disposed in the Al-Fe alloy layer and constituting a layer while including Si in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%, and wherein a sum of average thicknesses of the diffusion layer and the intermediate layer may be <NUM> to <NUM>, and
wherein the base steel sheet optionally further comprises, by weight percentage (wt%), one or more of chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo) in total amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%; one or more of titanium (Ti), niobium (Nb), and vanadium (V) in total amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%; and boron (B) in amount of <NUM> to <NUM> wt%.