Influences of thickness ratio of base sheets on formability of tailor welded blanks

The influences of thickness ratio of base sheets on formability of tailor welded blanks were examined based on Erichsen cupping tests. Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models, using Hill'48 yield criterion and iso-hardening rule, were built under the environment of the FE analysis software ABAQUS. The failure onset sites of tailor welded blanks were analysed and the quantitative relationships between the Erichsen index values and base thickness ratio were established. Based on these relationships, the formability of tailor welded blanks made from dissimilar base sheets are evaluated, provided that the Erichsen index values of tailor welded blanks made from identical ones are known and that the above two different types of tailor welded blanks undergo a similar stamping process. The experiments were then carried out to validate this method. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).