Friction stir spot welded joint and production method therefor, and friction stir spot welding method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434327-B2
Application number	US-202218683248-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2022
Priority date	Aug 31, 2021
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

Provided is a friction stir spot welded joint having high cross tensile strength even in the case where a steel sheet having a soft surface layer is used as a material to be welded. An annular groove is formed on an upper surface of an upper sheet out of overlapping steel sheets, and a shape and hardness of a welded portion are appropriately controlled simultaneously.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A friction stir spot welded joint comprising:
two or more overlapping steel sheets;
a welded portion of the steel sheets; and
an annular groove on an upper surface of the welded portion,
wherein at least one of the steel sheets has a soft surface layer,
the welded portion includes a recess, a first flow portion adjacent to the recess, a second flow portion adjacent to the first flow portion, and a welding interface that is a boundary between the first flow portion and the second flow portion,
a vertical position of a deepest point of the recess satisfies at least one of −0.5 mm or less and −TL×0.50 or less, with a lower mating surface of the steel sheets as a reference position,
a vertical position of a highest point of the welding interface is +TU×0.50 or more, with an upper mating surface of the steel sheets as a reference position,
at a vertical position: +TU×0.50 or +TU×0.60, a difference between a hardness at a position of the welding interface and a hardness at a position that is (the position of the welding interface+350 μm) in horizontal position is 80 HV or less,
the two or more overlapping steel sheets include an upper sheet and a lower sheet that are respectively a steel sheet located at a top and a steel sheet located at a bottom,
TU is a thickness in mm of the upper sheet,
TL is a thickness in mm of the lower sheet,
the upper mating surface is a mating surface between the upper sheet and a steel sheet adjacent to the upper sheet,
the lower mating surface is a mating surface between the lower sheet and a steel sheet adjacent to the lower sheet, and
the vertical position is + when above the reference position and is − when below the reference position, and the horizontal position is a distance from a reference position.

2. The friction stir spot welded joint according to claim 1 , wherein an average carbon concentration of the soft surface layer is less than or equal to 80% of a carbon concentration of a chemical composition of the steel sheet having the soft surface layer.

3. A friction stir spot welding method comprising, while rotating a tool including a shoulder portion and a pin portion protruding from the shoulder portion, press-fitting the pin portion into two or more overlapping steel sheets as materials to be welded to weld the steel sheets,
wherein at least one of the steel sheets as the materials to be welded has a soft surface layer,
a vertical position of a maximum press-fitting depth of the tool satisfies at least one of −0.5 mm or less and −TL×0.50 or less with a lower mating surface of the steel sheets as a reference position, and the shoulder portion and an upper sheet are in contact with each other when the tool reaches the maximum press-fitting depth,
a maximum arrival temperature is 850° C. or less,
a relationship of the following formula (1) is satisfied:

[

Math
.

1

]



∑

k
=
0

n

R

k
+
1

×

A

k
+
1

P

k
+
1

3

≤
41.

(
1
)

where n is a number of times a welding condition is switched, R k+1 is a tool rotation speed in rpm after kth welding condition switching, A k+1 is a tool press-fitting amount in mm from a time of the kth welding condition switching to a time of (k+1)th welding condition switching, and P k+1 is a pressing force in N after the kth welding condition switching,
R 1 is an initial tool rotation speed in rpm, A 1 is a tool press-fitting amount in mm under an initial welding condition, P 1 is an initial pressing force in N, and A n+1 is a tool press-fitting amount in mm from a time of nth welding condition switching to when the tool reaches the maximum press-fitting depth,
the two or more overlapping steel sheets include the upper sheet and a lower sheet that are respectively a steel sheet located at a top and a steel sheet located at a bottom,
TL is a thickness in mm of the lower sheet,
the lower mating surface is a mating surface between the lower sheet and a steel sheet adjacent to the lower sheet, and
the vertical position is + when above the reference position and is − when below the reference position.

4. The friction stir spot welding method according to claim 3 , wherein an average carbon concentration of the soft surface layer is less than or equal to 80% of a carbon concentration of a chemical composition of the steel sheet having the soft surface layer.

5. A production method for a friction stir spot welded joint, comprising welding two or more overlapping steel sheets by the friction stir spot welding method according to claim 3 .

6. A production method for a friction stir spot welded joint, comprising welding two or more overlapping steel sheets by the friction stir spot welding method according to claim 4 .

Assignees

• Jfe Steel Corp
• Kawasaki Heavy Ind Ltd

Inventors

• YAMAGISHI Daiki
• Takashima Katsutoshi
• Matsuda Hiroshi
• Ohashi Ryoji
• Muramatsu Yoshitaka
• Fukuda Takuya

Classifications

• B32B2311/30

  Iron, e.g. steel · CPC title

• B32B2250/02

  2 layers · CPC title

• B32B15/011

  all layers being formed of iron alloys or steels · CPC title

• B23K20/1255

  Tools therefor, e.g. characterised by the shape of the probe · CPC title

• B23K20/1225

  Particular aspects of welding with a non-consumable tool · CPC title