TY - CONF A1 - Rhode, Michael T1 - Numerical simulation of weld heat input effect on microstructure and hydrogen diffusion in thick-walled S690 submerged arc welded joints N2 - High-strength, low-alloy (HLSA) steels such as S690 are an attractive option for heavy industries such as offshore wind turbines and peripheral equipment due to their combination of excellent mechanical properties and weldability. The construction of these thick-walled structures requires highly efficient welding processes such as submerged arc welding (SAW). However, SAW presents challenges related to delayed hydrogen assisted cold cracking (HACC). Despite its importance, the effect of different diffusion coefficients on the cold cracking susceptibility of different microstructures within SAW-welded S690 steels is not fully understood. For this reason, the present study focuses on comparing the cold cracking susceptibility of thermomechanically rolled (TM) or quenched and tempered (QL) variants of S690 steel. SAW was performed on specimens of both steel grades to produce weldments consisting of weld metal, heat-affected zone (HAZ), and base metal. Electrochemical hydrogen permeation tests (ISO 17081) were performed to determine the microstructure specific coefficients. Using the obtained coefficients, a numerical model was developed to identify the time- and microstructure-dependent local hydrogen diffusion and its influence on the distribution within the welds. The results showed that the TM grade exhibited slightly accelerated hydrogen diffusion compared to the QL grade, which is beneficial for hydrogen reduction and increases the HACC resistance. However, the further simulations with different ply sequences showed that the welding heat input (i.e. welding ply sequence) had a significantly higher effect on hydrogen accumulation. Specifically, increased welding heat input and increased thicknesses decrease hydrogen diffusivity. For this reason, microstructure-specific hydrogen diffusion played a minor role in thick-layer SAW joints compared to the need to control the welding parameters (layer sequence, individual layer thickness, welding heat input). T2 - FEMS Euromat 2025 - 18th European Congress and Exhibition on Advanced Materials and Processes CY - Granada, Spain DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Hydrogen assisted cracking KW - Welding KW - High strength steels KW - Numerical simulation KW - Electrochemical permeation PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64158 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Javaheri, E. A1 - Kumala, V. A1 - Javaheri, A. A1 - Rawassizadeh, R. A1 - Lubritz, J. A1 - Graf, B. A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Quantifying Mechanical Properties of Automotive Steels with Deep Learing Based Computer Vision Algorithms N2 - This paper demonstrates that the instrumented indentation test (IIT), together with a trained artificial neural network (ANN), has the capability to characterize the mechanical properties of the local parts of a welded steel structure such as a weld nugget or heat affected zone. Aside from force-indentation depth curves generated from the IIT, the profile of the indented surface deformed after the indentation test also has a strong correlation with the materials’ plastic behavior. The profile of the indented surface was used as the training dataset to design an ANN to determine the material parameters of the welded zones. The deformation of the indented surface in three dimensions shown in images were analyzed with the computer vision algorithms and the obtained data were employed to train the ANN for the characterization of the mechanical properties. Moreover, this method was applied to the images taken with a simple light microscope from the surface of a specimen. Therefore, it is possible to quantify the mechanical properties of the automotive steels with the four independent methods: (1) force-indentation depth curve; (2) profile of the indented surface; (3) analyzing of the 3D-measurement image; and (4) evaluation of the images taken by a simple light microscope. The results show that there is a very good Agreement between the material parameters obtained from the trained ANN and the experimental uniaxial tensile test. The results present that the mechanical properties of an unknown steel can be determined by only analyzing the images taken from its surface after pushing a simple indenter into its surface. KW - Deep learning KW - Computer vision KW - Artificial neural network KW - Clustering KW - Mechanical properties KW - High strength steels KW - Instumented indentation test PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-503038 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/met10020163 VL - 10 IS - 2 SP - 163 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-50303 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wandtke, Karsten ED - Becker, Amadeus ED - Schröpfer, Dirk ED - Kromm, Arne ED - Kannengießer, Thomas ED - Scharf-Wildenhain, R. ED - Hälsig, A. ED - Hensel, J. T1 - Residual Stress Evolution during Slot Milling for Repair Welding and Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of High-Strength Steel Components N2 - High-strength steels offer potential for weight optimization due to reduced wall thicknesses in modern constructions. Additive manufacturing processes such as Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) enable the resource-efficient production of structures. In the case of defects occurring in weld seams orWAAM components due to unstable process conditions, the economical solution is local gouging or machining and repair welding. It is important to understand the effects of machining steps on the multiaxial stress state in conjunction with the design-related shrinkage restraints. Research into how welding and slot milling of welds andWAAM structures affects residual stresses is still lacking. For this reason, component-related investigations with high-strength steels with yield strengths ≥790 MPa are carried out in our research. In-situ digital image correlation (DIC) and ex-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the stresses and strains induced on specimens during and after milling. The systematic analyses revealed a significant interaction of the stiffness and microstructure of the specimens with the initial residual stresses induced by welding. Subsequent repair welds can result in significantly higher residual stresses. KW - High strength steels KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Residual stress KW - Repair welding KW - Ditigtal image correlation PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-593515 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/met14010082 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-59351 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Gert A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Spot welding and weldbonding of high strength steels for lightweight auto body manufacturing N2 - The resistance spot weiding procedure is one of the most important joining technique in lightweight car body shell mass production. Especially for newly developed ultra high strength steels (UHSS) and advanced high strength steels (AHSS), this joining technique has more advantages than other thermal and mechanical joining procedures for thin Steel sheets. Additionally, the technique of adhesive bonding and its combination with the technique of resistance spot weiding called weldbonding becomes more and more important. The weldbonding affords many advantages, e.g. improved crash performance, fatigue behaviour and corrosion resistance. The main target of the contribution is to show the influence of different joined ultra and advanced high strength steels on the process reliability for both the resistance spot weiding process and the weldbonding process. In this connection the influence of surface conditions of the steel sheets, the applied adhesive and the choice of the weiding parameters on the process reliability will be studied. The results for the weldbonding procedure are based on different adhesives. Based on the representation of weiding current ranges by weldability lobes, Statements concerning the weldbonding process reliability for some special AHSS and UHSS will be given. The mechanical behaviour of spot welded and weldbonded joints for different AHSS and UHSS will be studied. T2 - EUROJOIN 8 - 8th European conference CY - Pula, Croatia DA - 24.05.2012 KW - Spot welding KW - Weldbonding KW - High strength steels KW - Process reliability KW - Mechanical properties of joints PY - 2012 SP - 633 EP - 643 AN - OPUS4-26383 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rhode, Michael T1 - Thermal desoprtion analysis of hydrogen trapping in micro-alloyed high strength steels N2 - Hydrogen can cause unexpected material failure under consideration of stresses (external/internal) during manufacturing, processing or service of the materials. This failure is mostly based on a certain degradation of the mechanical properties. Thus, the correlation of hydrogen trapping vs. a respective microstructure is necessary for high strength steels. Thus, the scope of this work is the improvement of existing hydrogen trap models by verification of activation energies for hydrogen traps as well as the influence of the determination method. In this scope, the thermal desorption method is appropriate to distinguish between different hydrogen traps. Nevertheless, the specimen temperature has to be accounted very carefully in case of calculating the necessary trap energy. T2 - IIW Intermediate Meeting, Meeting of commission II-A CY - Madrid, Spain DA - 29.02.2016 KW - Thermal desorption analysis (TDA) KW - Hydrogen trapping KW - High strength steels KW - Degradation KW - Heat treatment condition PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-35544 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rhode, Michael T1 - Hydrogen diffusion in thick-walled S690 SAW joints: Part 1 - Experimental determination of microstructure dependent diffusion coefficients N2 - S690 steels are widely used in heavy-duty applications, such as structural components, mobile cranes, and industrial plant construction, owing to their high strength and weldability. However, thick-plate submerged arc welding (SAW) can introduce elevated hydrogen levels and residual stresses that promote time-delayed hydro-gen-assisted cold cracking (HACC). Accurate, microstructure-specific diffusion data are scarce, limiting pre-dictive HACC assessments. This study presents an experimental determination of hydrogen diffusion coeffi-cients (DH) in two S690 variants: thermomechanically rolled (S690MC) and quenched and tempered (S690Q). Multi-layer SAW welds were produced from 30 mm-thick plate material at three heat input levels, and diffusion membranes were extracted from weld metal (WM), heat-affected zone (HAZ), and base material (BM). Hydro-gen permeation tests, conducted in accordance with DIN EN ISO 17081, yielded time-normalized flux curves from which DH was derived using the inflection-point method. At room temperature, DH values ranged from 6 × 10⁻⁵ to 9 × 10⁻⁵ mm²/s across all regions and heat inputs, with no significant difference between S690MC and S690Q. Weld metal exhibited marginally lower DH, attributed to enhanced hydrogen trapping, while base mate-rial measurements showed greater variability. These microstructure-resolved diffusion coefficients fill a critical data gap and provide essential input for the numerical simulations presented in Part 2. The results also support practical guidelines for mitigating HACC risk through the optimization of welding parameters. T2 - 78th IIW Annual Assembly, Meeting of Commission II-C CY - Genoa, Italy DA - 22.06.2025 KW - Hydrogen assisted cracking KW - Submerged arc welding KW - High strength steels KW - Hydrogen Diffusion KW - Electrochemical permeation PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63540 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rhode, Michael T1 - Influence of various microalloying strategies on the mechanical properties of weld seams in S690QL steel N2 - Microalloying elements such as niobium (Nb) and titanium (Ti) play a crucial role in achieving the desired mechanical properties of quenched and tempered high-strength fine-grained structural steels with a nominal yield strength of ≥ 690 MPa. Current specifications for the chemical composition only define upper limits for these elements, providing manufacturers with some flexibility. However, even minor deviations in alloying concepts can significantly influence the resulting mechanical properties. Consequently, accurately predicting weldability and the integrity of welded joints becomes challenging or even unfeasible due to variations in composition and the associated microstructural changes. Potential adverse effects include the softening of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) or, conversely, localized hardening phenomena. To address these challenges, various microalloying strategies with different Ti and Nb contents are being systematically investigated for the first time using specially designed laboratory-cast alloys. Each alloying approach is based on the commonly used S690QL steel grade while maintaining consistent chemical composition and heat treatment parameters. To evaluate the weldability, three-layer welds were produced using gas metal arc welding (GMAW), and critical microstructural regions, particularly those within the heat-affected zone (HAZ) exhibiting significant softening or hardening, were identified. The influence of the softened HAZ region on failure behavior was assessed through transverse tensile testing. Digital image correlation (DIC) was employed for in situ analysis of local strain distributions across different HAZ regions. In addition, Charpy tests were carried out on BM, WM and HAZ to determine the Charpy impact toughness. This was supported by metallographic analyses and thermodynamic simulation using ThermoCalc. T2 - IIW Intermediate Meeting, Com. II-A CY - Trollhättan, Sweden DA - 10.03.2025 KW - Welding KW - Microalloy elements KW - High strength steels KW - Mechanical properties PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62691 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Falkenreck, Thora E. A1 - Böllinghaus, Thomas T1 - Blast resistance of high-strength structural steel welds N2 - As consequence for increasing threats by IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) on vehicles, the blast resistance of the welded frames and bodies becomes increasingly important. Considering vehicle welds subjected to blasting, the real configurations of the joints in the structure and the position of the blast loads have to be considered. The present contribution thus focuses on a weld joint at the explosion endangered wheel well of a tactical truck. The high-strength steel welds were subsequently impacted by explosion loads within the upper range from those experienced in practical military operation to cause not only deformation, but also to investigate the ultimate fracture behaviour of the high-strength weld. The interaction between cooling time t8/5 and displacement, crack path as well as fracture surface was analysed. The analyses of the fracture surfaces revealed ductile overload failure and also the size of the dimples was influenced by the cooling time t8/5. As a prominent feature, these investigations showed that the crack path of such high-strength steel welds under blasting is less influenced by the final hardness level in the respective weld microstructures but much more affected by the hardness gradient at the fusion line and inside the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ). KW - Explosions KW - High strength steels KW - MAG welding KW - Cooling rate PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-016-0307-y SN - 0043-2288 SN - 1878-6669 VL - 60 IS - 3 SP - 475 EP - 483 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg, Germany AN - OPUS4-36378 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -