The chemical and phase composition of the coating and the coating/substrate interface of an Al-Si-coated 22MnB5 hot stamped steel was investigated by means of SEM-EDS, XRD, micro-XRD and electron diffraction. Moreover, the surface profile was analyzed by XPS and roughness measurements. The XPS measurements showed that the thickness of the Si and Al oxide layers increased from 14 to 76 nm after die-quenching, and that the surface roughness increased as well as a result of volume changes caused by phase transformations. In addition to the FeAl(Si) and Fe₂Al₅ phases and the interdiffusion layer forming complex structures in the coating, electron diffraction confirmed the presence of an Fe₂Al₅ phase, and also revealed very thin layers of Fe₃(Al,Si)C, Fe₂(Al,Si)₅ and Al-bearing rod-shaped particles in the immediate vicinity of the steel interface. Moreover, the scattered nonuniform layer of the Fe₂Al₈Si phase was identified in the outermost layer of the coating. Despite numerous studies devoted to researching the phase composition of the Al-Si coating applied to hot stamped steel, electron diffraction revealed very thin layers and particles on the coating/substrate interface and outermost layer, which have not been analyzed in detail.

The coating on the 22MnB5 steel is intended to protect it against oxidation during the forming process. This steel is hot-pressed. A preheating before the pressing and subsequent hardening in the tool affects the properties of the AlSi coating. This study summarizes the results of investigating the effect of heat treatment parameters on the formation of intermetallics in the AlSi coating. The chemical analysis of the coating was performed by the EDX and EBSD method and the mechanical properties were determined by the Hysitron TI 950 TriboIndenter™ system. The result of this study is that, due to a diffusion during the heat treatment, the brittle coating was transformed into a tougher phase.

Titanium is material which is used in many areas of human activity. Therefore it is necessary to join it with other material. It is very difficult to welding Ti with other metals by conventional fusion welding methods. There exist special joining technologies of heterogeneous materials which is possible to use. This is usually a joining of materials in the solid state, as diffusion welding, friction welding or explosion welding. This contribution deals with diffusion welding of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V and stainless austenitic steel 1.4301. There are described mechanical properties (as is reduced modulus Er and indentation hardness HIT) and changes of chemical composition of join due to diffusion of elements.

This paper presents an analysis of the properties of resistance spot welds between low carbon steel and austenitic CrNi stainless steel. The thickness of the welded dissimilar materials was 2 mm. A DeltaSpot welding gun with a process tape was used for welding the dissimilar steels. Resistance spot welds were produced with various welding parameters (welding currents ranging from 7 to 8 kA). Light microscopy, microhardness measurements across the welded joints, and EDX analysis were used to evaluate the quality of the resistance spot welds. The results confirm the applicability of DeltaSpot welding for this combination of materials.

This paper evaluates the use of a modern welding power source equipped with advanced arc control functions. At the Laboratory of Welding Technologies of CTU in Prague we have focused on GMAW welding of steel using Sigma Galaxy, a modern welding power source produced by Migatronic. Sigma Galaxy is equipped with functions called Intelligent Arc Control and Sequence Repeat. According to the manufacturer, controlling an arc by these functions should significantly stabilize the welding process, lower the heat input and the deformation, and improve the weld quality. To evaluate the benefits of these functions completely, single V butt welds were performed on S275J2 structural steel 10 mm in thickness (2 weld layers: root+capping layer) in PF and PG positions. Welding was monitored by the Welding Information System, and was compared with standard GMAW welding. The results have shown that these “intelligent” functions offer significant advantages for steel welding, especially in vertical and overhead positions, because they lower the heat input and improve the weld metal control.