Determining material data for welding simulation of presshardened steel

In automotive body-in-white production, presshardened 22MnB5 steel is the most widely used ultra-high-strength steel grade. Welding is the most important faying technique for this steel type, as other faying technologies often cannot deliver the same strength-to-cost ratio. In order to conduct precise numerical simulations of the welding process, flow stress curves and thermophysical properties from room temperature up to the melting point are required. Sheet metal parts made out of 22MnB5 are welded in a presshardened, that is, martensitic state. On the contrary, only flow stress curves for soft annealed or austenitized 22MnB5 are available in the literature. Available physical material data does not cover the required temperature range or is not available at all. This work provides experimentally determined hot-flow stress curves for rapid heating of 22MnB5 from the martensitic state. The data is complemented by a comprehensive set of thermophysical data of 22MnB5 between room temperature and melting. Materials simulation methods as well as a critical literature review were employed to obtain sound thermophysical data. A comparison of the numerically computed nugget growth curve in spot welding with experimental welding results ensures the validity of the hot-flow stress curves and thermophysical data presented.