METHOD OF FORMING A VEHICLE BODY STRUCTURE FROM A PRE-WELDED BLANK ASSEMBLY

摘要

A method of forming a vehicle body structure includes pre-welding a patch blank to a base blank with a series of resistance spot welds to form a pre-welded blank assembly. After pre-welding, the pre-welded blank assembly is deformed into the vehicle body structure. The deformation of the pre-welded blank assembly is carried out by a suitable metalworking process, such as stamping, and results in concurrent deformation of the base blank and the patch blank. Following deformation of the pre-welded blank assembly, additional weld joints may optionally be formed between the base blank and the patch blank, wherever desired, to better secure the blanks together.

主权项

1. A method of forming a vehicle body structure, the method comprising:
placing a patch blank and a base blank together in a surface-to-surface confrontation to produce a faying interface between the patch blank and the base blank, each of the patch blank and the base blank being composed of an aluminum alloy; spot welding the patch blank to the base blank by forming a series of resistance spot welds at the faying interface of the two blanks to form a pre-welded blank assembly; and deforming the pre-welded blank assembly so that a portion of the base blank and an adjacent overlapping portion of the patch blank are deformed concurrently.