A press hardening method including the following steps: A. the provision of a steel sheet for heat treatment being optionally coated with a zinc- or aluminum-based pre-coating, B. the flexible rolling of the steel sheet in the rolling direction so as to obtain a steel sheet having a variable thickness, C. the cutting of the rolled steel sheet to obtain a tailored rolled blank, D. the deposition of a hydrogen barrier pre-coating over a thickness from 10 to 550 nm, E. the heat treatment of the tailored rolled blank to obtain a fully austenitic microstructure in the steel, F. the transfer of the tailored rolled blank into a press tool, G. the hot-forming of the tailored rolled blank to obtain a part having a variable thickness,H. the cooling of the part having a variable thickness obtained at step G).

A method for producing a coated steel sheet having a tensile strength TS of at least 1450 MPa and a total elongation TE of at least 17% includes the successive steps of providing a cold rolled steel sheet made of a steel having a chemical composition comprising, in weight %: 0.34%≤C≤0.45%, 1.50%≤Mn≤2.30%, 1.50≤Si≤2.40%, 0%<Cr≤0.7%, 0%≤Mo≤0.3%, 0.10%≤Al≤0.7%, and optionally 0%≤Nb≤0.05%, the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities, annealing the cold-rolled steel sheet at an annealing temperature AT higher than the Ac3 transformation point of the steel, quenching the annealed steel sheet by cooling it down to a quenching temperature QT lower than the Ms transformation point of the steel and comprised between 150° C. and 250° C., and reheating the quenched steel sheet to a partitioning temperature PT between 350° C. and 450° C. and maintaining the steel sheet at the partitioning temperature PT for a partitioning time Pt of at least 80 s, and coating the steel sheet by galvannealing, with an alloying temperature GAT comprised between 470° C. and 520° C.

A method for producing a coated steel sheet having a tensile strength TS of at least 1450 MPa and a total elongation TE of at least 17% includes the successive steps of providing a cold rolled steel sheet made of a steel having a chemical composition comprising, in weight %: 0.34%≤C≤0.45%, 1.50%≤Mn≤2.30%, 1.50≤Si≤2.40%, 0%<Cr≤0.7%, 0%≤Mo≤0.3%, 0.10%≤Al≤0.7%, and optionally 0%≤Nb≤0.05%, the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities, annealing the cold-rolled steel sheet at an annealing temperature AT higher than the Ac3 transformation point of the steel, quenching the annealed steel sheet by cooling it down to a quenching temperature QT lower than the Ms transformation point of the steel and comprised between 150° C. and 250° C., and reheating the quenched steel sheet to a partitioning temperature PT between 350° C. and 450° C. and maintaining the steel sheet at the partitioning temperature PT for a partitioning time Pt of at least 80 s, and coating the steel sheet by galvannealing, with an alloying temperature GAT comprised between 470° C. and 520° C.

The invention relates to a method for producing a hot-rolled strip composed of a bainitic multi-phase steel and having a Zn—Mg—Al coating, comprising the following steps: melting a steel melt containing (in weight percent): C: 0.04-0.11, Si: <=0.7, Mn: 1.4-2.2, Mo: 0.05-0.5, Al: 0.015-0.1, P: up to 0.02, S: up to 0.01, B: up to 0.006, and at least one element from the group Nb, V, Ti in accordance with the following condition: 0.02<=Nb+V+Ti<=0.20, the remainder being iron including unavoidable steel-accompanying elements resulting from the melting process, casting the steel melt into a preliminary material, in particular a slab or a block or a thin slab, hot rolling the preliminary material into a hot-rolled strip having a final rolling temperature in the range of 800 to 950° C., cooling the hot-rolled strip to a winding temperature less than 650° C., winding the hot-rolled strip at a winding temperature less than 650° C., cooling the wound hot-rolled strip to room temperature in still air, wherein the microstructure of the wound hot-rolled strip then has a bainite fraction greater than 50% after the hot rolling, heating the hot-rolled strip to a temperature greater than 650° C. and less than Ac3, in particular less than Ac1+50° C., cooling the hot-rolled strip to zinc bath temperature, hot-dip coating the heated hot-rolled strip in a zinc alloy molten bath containing (in weight percent): Al: 1.0-2.0, Mg: 1.0-2.0, the remainder being zinc and unavoidable impurities. The invention further relates to the hot-rolled strip produced in accordance with the method above and to shaped, dynamically highly loadable components, in particular motor vehicle parts, that are produced from said hot-roiled strip and that are resistant to corrosive and abrasive influences.

The invention relates to a method for producing a hot-rolled strip composed of a bainitic multi-phase steel and having a Zn—Mg—Al coating, comprising the following steps: melting a steel melt containing (in weight percent): C: 0.04-0.11, Si: <=0.7, Mn: 1.4-2.2, Mo: 0.05-0.5, Al: 0.015-0.1, P: up to 0.02, S: up to 0.01, B: up to 0.006, and at least one element from the group Nb, V, Ti in accordance with the following condition: 0.02<=Nb+V+Ti<=0.20, the remainder being iron including unavoidable steel-accompanying elements resulting from the melting process, casting the steel melt into a preliminary material, in particular a slab or a block or a thin slab, hot rolling the preliminary material into a hot-rolled strip having a final rolling temperature in the range of 800 to 950° C., cooling the hot-rolled strip to a winding temperature less than 650° C., winding the hot-rolled strip at a winding temperature less than 650° C., cooling the wound hot-rolled strip to room temperature in still air, wherein the microstructure of the wound hot-rolled strip then has a bainite fraction greater than 50% after the hot rolling, heating the hot-rolled strip to a temperature greater than 650° C. and less than Ac3, in particular less than Ac1+50° C., cooling the hot-rolled strip to zinc bath temperature, hot-dip coating the heated hot-rolled strip in a zinc alloy molten bath containing (in weight percent): Al: 1.0-2.0, Mg: 1.0-2.0, the remainder being zinc and unavoidable impurities. The invention further relates to the hot-rolled strip produced in accordance with the method above and to shaped, dynamically highly loadable components, in particular motor vehicle parts, that are produced from said hot-roiled strip and that are resistant to corrosive and abrasive influences.

A coated steel material including: a base steel, and a coating layer containing a Zn—Al—Mg alloy layer disposed on a surface of the base steel, wherein the coating layer has a predetermined chemical composition, and, in a backscattered electron image of the Zn—Al—Mg alloy layer that is obtained at a time of observing the surface of the Zn—Al—Mg alloy layer after polishing to ½ of the layer thickness, under a scanning electron microscope at a magnification of 100×, Al crystals are present, and the average value of the cumulative circumferential length of the Al crystals is 88 to 195 mm/mm.sup.2.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provides an aluminum alloy-plated steel sheet having high surface quality and weldability, a hot-formed member, and methods for manufacturing the aluminum alloy-plated steel sheet and the hot-formed member. The aluminum alloy-plated steel sheet includes: a base steel sheet; and an aluminum alloy plating layer formed on the base steel sheet, wherein the aluminum alloy plating layer includes, by weight %, Zn: 21% to 35%, Si: 1% to 6.9%, Fe: 2% to 12%, and the balance of Al and inevitable impurities.

A method for resistance spot welding comprising the following successive steps: —providing at least two steel sheets with thickness (th) comprised between 0.5 and 3 mm, at least one of the sheets being a zinc or zinc-alloy coated steel sheet (A) with a tensile strength (TS) higher than 800 MPa and a total elongation (TEL) such as (TS)×(TEL)>14000 MPa %, wherein the composition of the steel substrate of (A) contains, in weight: 0.05%≤C≤0.4%, 0.3%≤Mn≤8%, 0.010%≤Al≤3%, 0.010%≤Si≤2.09%, with 0.5%≤(Si+Al)≤3.5%, 0.001%≤Cr≤1.0%, 0.001%≤Mo≤0.5% and optionally: 0.005%≤Nb≤0.1%, 0.005%≤V≤0.2%, 0.005%≤Ti≤0.1%, 0.0003%≤B≤0.005%, 0.001%≤Ni≤1.0%, the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities, —performing resistance spot welding of the at least two steel sheets for producing a weld with an indentation depth (IDepth) on the surface of said steel sheet (A) such as: 100 μm≤(IDepth)≤18.68 (Zn.sub.sol)−55.1, wherein (IDepth) is in micrometers and wherein Zn.sub.sol is the solubility of Zn in the steel of sheet (A) at 750° C., in weight %.

The present invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a hot-dip coated steel sheet coated with a zinc or an aluminum based coating including the provision of a specific steel sheet, a recrystallization annealing with specific heating, soaking and cooling sub-steps using an inert gas and a hot-dip coating; the hot dip coated steel sheet and the use of the hot-dip coated steel sheet.

The present invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a hot-dip coated steel sheet coated with a zinc or an aluminum based coating including the provision of a specific steel sheet, a recrystallization annealing with specific heating, soaking and cooling sub-steps using an inert gas and a hot-dip coating; the hot dip coated steel sheet and the use of the hot-dip coated steel sheet.