Failure analysis of an advanced high-strength steel

Abstract The continuous demand for the reduction of emissions of green-house gases from the transport industry has been the driving force behind the development of stronger materials capable to reduce the weight of light and heavy-duty vehicles. Advanced high strength steels contain complex microstructures composed of a variety of hard and soft components obtained by tailoring their chemical composition and processing conditions. Unfortunately, such mixed microstructures may promote failure of steels during the manufacture of structural components. The use of commercial and in-house mathematical models, in conjunction with traditional techniques for failure analyses, can offer a better understanding of the phenomena taking place and contribute to reduce the risk of failure of such structural parts. An exercise carried out to determine the causes behind the failure of an advanced structural steel during forming is presented in this work with a demonstration of how mathematical models were used to present alternatives and solutions to avoid further incidents while processing.