Microstructural Evolution of a Hot-Stamped Boron Steel Automotive Part and Its Influence on Corrosion Properties and Tempering Behavior

Boron-manganese steel 22MnB5 is extensively used in structural automotive components. Knowledge about its microstructural evolution during hot stamping and resistance spot welding (RSW) is extremely relevant to guarantee compliance with application requirements. Particularly, corrosion properties are critical to the application of uncoated sheet steels. However, microstructural studies are usually simplified to top-hat geometries, which might not be fully representative of the complex thermomechanical cycles locally faced by a real component. Therefore, the present work brings an extensive characterization of a hot-stamped 22MnB5 automotive B-pillar in terms of microstructure, hardness and corrosion resistance, which were correlated with a reverse engineering of the process using numerical simulation. Physical simulations of the subcritical heat affected zone (SCHAZ) of RSW were done to assess the influence of microstructure on martensite tempering. Results showed that the component undergoes a complex strain distribution along its body during hot stamping. Most heavily strained regions presented higher amounts of ferrite, leading to poorer corrosion resistance, since ferrite behaves as an anode. Physical simulations of the SCHAZ showed that the softening degree due to martensite tempering is solely affected by peak temperature, while other microstructural features appear to exert negligible or no influence.