Sealing treatment is a post-surface treatment of the plasma spray coating process to improve the corrosion resistance of the coating material. In this study, the effect of the sealing on the corrosion resistance and adhesive strength of the plasma spray-coated alumina coatings was analyzed. For sealing, an epoxy resin was applied to the surface of the coated specimen using a brush. The coated specimen was subjected to a salt spray test for up to 48 hours and microstructural analysis revealed that corrosion in the coating layer/base material interface was suppressed due to the resin sealing. Measurement of the adhesive strength of the specimens subjected to the salt spray test indicated that the adhesive strength of the sealed specimens remained higher than that of the unsealed specimens. In conclusion, the resin sealing treatment for the plasma spray-coated alumina coatings is an effective method for suppressing corrosion in the coating layer/base material interface and maintaining high adhesive strength.

Reheat treatment process of mold is necessary when partial machining of the mold is required, such as shape correction for an existing mold. If defects such as cracks or significant deterioration of mechanical properties of the mold occur during reheat treatment, it is impossible to reuse the mold. In this study, reheat treatment was performed up to two times for STD11 tool steel, and microstructure and mechanical properties according to the reheat treatment were evaluated. Carbide fraction and grain size of prior austenite were almost unchanged after the reheat treatment. Hardness and impact toughness increased significantly after QT treatment, and these properties were maintained without significant change even after the reheat treatment. It is concluded that up to two iterations of reheat treatment does not cause deterioration of properties of STD11 tool steel. Based on these results, a mold for a face-lifted front bumper was manufactured through machining and reheat-treating of an existing mold.

Direct water quenching technique can be used in hot stamping process to obtain higher cooling rate compared to that of the normal die cooling method. In the direct water quenching process, setting proper water flow rate in consideration of material thickness and the size of the area directly cooled in the component is important to ensure uniform microstructure and mechanical properties. In this study, to derive proper water flow rate conditions that can achieve uniform microstructure and mechanical properties, microstructure and hardness distribution in various water flow rate conditions are measured for 3.2 mm thick boron steel sheet. Hardness distribution is uniform under the flow condition of 1.5 L/min or higher. However, due to the lower cooling rate in that area, the lower flow conditions result in a drastic decrease in hardness in some areas in the hot-stamped part, resulting in low martensite fraction. From these results, it is found that the selection of proper water flow rate is an important factor in hot stamping with direct water quenching process to ensure uniform mechanical properties.

In this study, the direct water quenching technique is applied to validate the applicability of direct water quenching as a cooling method in the hot stamping process of 3.2 mm thick boron steel sheet. Cooling performance of conventional die quenching and direct water quenching is compared. Higher cooling rate is obtained by hot stamping with direct water quenching compared to die quenching. As the flow rate of cooling water increases, the cooling rate increases, and a high cooling rate of 71 oC/s is achieved under flow rate conditions of 0.8 L/min. Through direct water quenching, the cooling time required for sufficient cooling of the sheet is reduced. Full martensitic microstructure is obtained under flow rate condition of 0.8 L/min. Hardness increases with increasing flow rate. From these results, it is verified that the direct water quenching is applicable to the hot stamping of thick boron steel sheet.

In this study, clinching characteristics of aluminum and galvanized steels were investigated for the application of clinching as a joining technique to aluminum wheelhouse assembly. A6451 aluminium alloy and galvanized steel sheets were joined by hybrid joining(clinching + adhesive bonding). Tensile-shear load and fracture mode of hybrid joints were investigated. Maximum tensile-shear load of hybrid joints was about six times higher than that of clinched joints without adhesive. Energy absorption values of hybrid joints were higher than those of clinched joints without adhesive as well as resistance spot welded steel joints. Developed aluminum wheelhouse assembly showed higher static stiffness than the existing steel parts. Aluminum wheelhouse inner panel unit was 44% lighter than the steel unit, and the final assembled aluminum wheelhouse was 14.6% lighter than the existing steel parts.

Multiple galvanized steel and aluminium alloy sheets were joined by self-piercing rivet(SPR) and hybrid joining(SPR + adhesive bonding). In this study, tensile-shear load and fatigue properties of multi-layer SPR and hybrid joints were investigated. Moreover, tensile-shear deformation behavior of the joints under different specimen configurations was investigated. Depending on the specimen configurations either top sheet tearing failure mode or rivet tail pull-out failure mode was observed during the tensile-shear tests. The top sheet tearing failure mode resulted in low maximum tensile-shear load, but it led to larger displacement value as compared to that in the tail pull-out failure mode. Maximum tensile-shear load of hybrid joints was about four times higher than that of SPR joints. Also, fatigue limit of hybrid joints was about two times higher than that of SPR joints.

Properties of coatings produced by warm spray were investigated in order to utilize this technique as a repair method for Al tire molds. Al-(0-10 %)Al2O3 composite powder was sprayed on Al substrate by warm spraying, and the microstructure and mechanical properties of the composite coating layer were investigated. For comparative study, the properties of the coating produced by plasma spray, which is a relatively high-temperature spraying process, were also investigated. The composite coating layers produced by the two spray techniques exhibited significantly different morphology, perhaps due to their different process temperatures and velocities of particles. Whereas the Al2O3 particles in the warm sprayed coating layer maintained their initial shape before the spray, flattened and irregular shape Al2O3 particles were distributed in the plasma sprayed coating layer. The coating layer produced by warm spray showed significantly higher adhesive strength compared to that produced by plasma spray. Hardness was also higher in the warm sprayed coating layer compared to the plasma sprayed one. Moreover, with increasing the fraction of Al2O3, hardness gradually increased in both spray coating processes. In conclusion, an Al-Al2O3 composite coating layer with good mechanical properties was successfully produced by warm spray.

In this study, the laser welding experiments were performed with the 1 mm thickness of Al 6061-T6 using by 5 kW fiber laser welding system. The optimum laser welding condition of the lap joint has been investigated by analyzing the penetration depth and the porosity fraction through observation of the cross-sections. Based on the test results, the sound joint was obtained from the welding condition with the power of 2 kW and the focal position of -0.8 mm at the continuous laser welding speed of 2 mpm. Also, the tensile strength of the sound joint after heat treatment(170℃, 12hr) was increased almost 87% that of the base material. Especially, the fatigue test result of the sound joint showed that the fatigue cycle was 3×10 4 at the highest test load of 100 MPa.

The influence of NiCrAlY bond coating on the adhesion properties of an Fe thermal coating sprayed on an Al substrate was investigated. By applying a bond coat, an adhesion strength of 21MPa was obtained, which was higher than the 15.5MPa strength of the coating without the bond coat. Formation of cracks at the interface of the bond coat and the Al substrate was suppressed by applying the bond coat. Microstructural analysis of the coating interface using EBSD and TEM indicated that the dominant bonding mechanism was mechanical interlocking. Mechanical interlocking without crack defects in the coating interface may improve the adhesion strength of the coating. In conclusion, the use of an NiCrAlY bond coat is an effective method of improving the adhesion properties of thermal sprayed Fe coatings on Al substrates.

High-energy mechanical milling (HEMM) and sintering into Al-Mg alloy melt were employed tofabricate an Al alloy matrix composite reinforced with submicron and micron sized Al2O3 particles. Al-basedmetal matrix composite (MMC) reinforced with submicron and micron sized Al2O3 particles was successfullyfabricated by sintering at 1000oC for 2h into Al-Mg alloy melt, which used high energy mechanical milled Al-SiO2-CuO-ZnO composite powders. Submicron/micron-sized Al2O3 particles and eutectic Si were formed by in situdisplacement reaction between Al, SiO2, CuO, and ZnO during sintering for 2h into Al-Mg alloy melt and werehomogeneously distributed in the Al-Si-(Zn, Cu) matrix. The refined grains and homogeneously distributedsubmicron/micron-sized Al2O3 particles had good interfacial adhesive, which gives good wear resistance withhigher hardness.