ICME-W Softening of heat-affected zone

Professor Wei Zhang's group developed a 3D fully coupled electro-thermo-mechanical model for resistance spot welding of aluminum silicon coated hot-stamped boron steel. A non-isothermal Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equation is coupled with the process model to accurately predict local softening of subcritical heat-affected zone (SCHAZ). This model is essential for computer-aided engineering (CAE) based design of light-weight and impact resistant structures. Detailed description of their results can be found in their recent paper published in Materials & Design.