Vargas, Victor Hugo; Mejia, Ignacio; Baltazar Hernández, Víctor Hugo; Maldonado, Cuauhtemoc
Resumen:
Five advanced high-strength transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels with different chemical compositions were studied to
correlate the retained austenite and nonmetallic inclusion content with their physical properties and the characteristics of the resistance spot
welding nuggets. Electrical and thermal properties and equilibrium phases of TRIP steels were predicted using the JMatPro© software. Retained
austenite and nonmetallic inclusions were quantified by X-ray diffraction and saturation magnetization techniques. The nonmetallic
inclusions were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the contents of Si, C, Al, and Mn in TRIP steels increase
both the retained austenite and the nonmetallic inclusion contents. We found that nonmetallic inclusions affect the thermal and electrical
properties of the TRIP steels and that the differences between these properties tend to result in different cooling rates during the welding
process. The results are discussed in terms of the electrical and thermal properties determined from the chemical composition and their
impact on the resistance spot welding nuggets.