The use of tailored blanks in the manufacture of construction components

A tailor-welded blank consists of steels of different gauges, strengths and coating types welded together to produce a single blank prior to forming. From its basic inception in the mid 1980s to its present status, the tailor-welded blank process has become an important element of automotive component manufacture, progressing from a simple two-piece floor pan application in the Audi 80 to intricate multi-section side panels in modem motor car assemblies. This evolution was assisted to a great extent through research and development undertaken in the collaborative steel and automotive industry project ULSAB (ultra light steel auto body) to produce weight reduction and increased performance in automotive components. This and other developments have resulted in the technology being adopted by a wide range of car manufacturers worldwide. Despite this progress during the 1990s being concentrated in the automotive sector, the advantages offered could be transferred to a number of manufacturing sectors which use sheet steel in production. The building sector is one such group that could benefit from the advanced blanking process. Focused corrosion resistance, increased resistance to concentrated loading and reduced component weight are a few examples of the potential benefits to be gained from the multi-material blanking process. However, a number of manufacturing difficulties need to be overcome to allow the process to be transferred to building applications. The increase in component size from automotive to construction products presents a number of manufacturing obstacles with extended weld length, accurate section cutting and stable clamping requiring review. The surface finish, issues of cost control and blanking distribution will also need to be addressed. Current research into this manufacturing technology for building applications is centred on the use of tailor-welded blanks in a structural panel with strengthened edge details for use in pre-fabricated buildings. This paper address the manufacturing issues outlined above and helps gauge the feasibility of transferring the manufacturing advances achieved by the automotive industry in the 1990s into the present-day construction market. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.