Springback evaluation of friction stir welded TWB automotive sheets

Springback behavior of automotive friction stir welded TWB (tailor welded blank) sheets was experimentally investigated and the springback prediction capability of the constitutive law was numerically validated. Four automotive sheets, aluminum alloy 6111-T4, 5083-H18, 5083-O and dual-phase DP590 steel sheets, each having one or two different thicknesses, were considered. To represent mechanical properties, the modified Chaboche type combined isotropic-kinematic hardening law was utilized along with the non-quadratic orthogonal anisotropic yield function, Yld2000-2d, while the anisotropy of the weld zone was ignored for simplicity. For numerical simulations, mechanical properties previously characterized [1] were applied. For validation purposes, three springback tests including the unconstrained cylindrical bending, 2-D draw bending and OSU draw-bend tests were carried out. The numerical method performed reasonably well in analyzing all verification tests and it was confirmed that the springback of TWB as well as of base samples is significantly affected by the ratio of the yield stress with respect to Young’s modulus and thickness.