PRODUCT The invention relates to hot formable strip, sheet or blank which is formable at a temperature of 600° C or above, comprising a substrate of hot formable steel directly coated with a corrosion protective layer of zinc or zinc alloy. The invention also relates to a process for producing such a strip, sheet or blank, a method for hot forming a product and a hot formed product made therefrom.

Such a coated strip, sheet or blank is known from for instance EP1143029A1.

Uncoated boron steels are known to form Fe oxides during the heat treatment preceding the hot forming step in a die, as a consequence whereof loose and thick oxide layers are formed on the surface, which can pollute and damage the surface of the die. Moreover, such oxide layers interfere with the welding process of the formed product during the subsequent use of the formed product, and also contaminate subsequent painting processes. Therefore, the oxide layers have to be removed after the hot forming process of the uncoated steel products, which is inefficient and costly.

To overcome the above problems and to improve the corrosion performance of the steel, coated boron steels have been developed, and the boron steel substrate has been covered with a metallic coating such as an Al-Si coating or a Zn based coating. However, it has been found that during the hot forming process the coatings are covered by an oxide layer due to the high temperature needed for the hot forming process, which oxide layer is formed from the coating material. A zinc-oxide layer makes that it is difficult to spot weld the hot formed products. Good spot weldability is needed for the automotive industry, where hot formed parts are used.

WO2010/089273A1 discloses a steel component provided with a metallic, anti- corrosion coating wherein a flat steel product produced from an alloyed heat-treatable steel is coated with an Al coating, which flat steel product provided with the Al coating is coated with a Zn coating, which flat steel product provided with the Al coating and the Zn coating is coated with a surface layer the main component of which is at least one metallic salt of phosphoric acid or diphosphoric acid acid wherein the metal is from the group of metals formed by Cu, Mo, Fe, Mn, Sb, Zn, Ti, Ni, Co, V, Mg, Bi, Be, Al, Ce, Ba, Sr, Na, K, Ge, Ga, Ca, Cr, Tn, Sn, in particular Zn, Al, Ni, Mn, Mg, Bi, Cu, Si, Mo, more in particular Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Mo, Mg and which can additionally contain contents of up to 45 % of an AI:Zn proportion, wherein Al occupies 0.1 - 99.9 wt % of said proportion and Zn occupies the rest, or compounds of Al and Zn and optionally metal oxides, metal hydroxides, and/or sulfur compounds. According to WO2010/089273A1 up to and including 10 % Al may be present in the surface layer of the steel component produced by means of hot forming.

It is an object of the invention to provide a coated strip, sheet or blank suitable for hot forming that has a good spot weldability after hot forming.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a coated strip, sheet or blank suitable for hot forming that is economical to produce.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a process for the production of a strip, sheet or blank that meets one or more of the objects hereinabove.

It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide a method for hot forming a product and a hot formed product that has a good spot weldability.

According to the invention one or more of the above objects are reached with a hot formable strip, sheet or blank which is formable at a temperature of 600° C or above, comprising a substrate of hot formable steel directly coated with a corrosion protective layer of zinc or zinc alloy, wherein the coated steel substrate is covered by a metal-phosphate layer containing the element zinc and/or manganese and/or aluminium and/or nickel and/or magnesium and/or titanium and/or copper.

The term "directly coated" means that there is no intermediate corrosion protective layer between the substrate and the corrosion protective layer of zinc or zinc alloy, such as the Al coating of WO2010/089273A1.

The inventors have found that such a metal-phosphate layer that is provided on the corrosion protective layer of zinc or zinc alloy, which corrosion protective layer in turn is provided on and directly covering the steel substrate, is very suitable to greatly reduce the extent of oxidation during the hot forming of the zinc or zinc alloy coated steel strip, sheet or blank. The metal-phosphate layer also reduces zinc losses due to evaporation. When hot formed, the phosphated material has a low contact resistance and consequently good weldability. Because of the reduced oxidation of the corrosion protective layer, the metal-phosphate layer also improves the effectiveness of the coating for corrosion protection of the steel.

According to a preferred embodiment the metal-phosphate layer contains the element zinc, wherein the element zinc in the metal-phosphate layer has a share of at least 20 % in the metallic elements in the metal-phosphate layer, preferably a share of at least 50 %, more preferably at least 80 %. The zinc-phosphate layer thus adds to the protection of the steel. For the avoidance of doubt it is stated here that the term "share in" denotes the weight of the respective metallic element divided by the total weight of the metallic elements, the result being expressed as a percentage. Preferably, the metal-phosphate layer is formed using a ZnMn phosphate. This phosphate layer has shown to provide a good spot weldability for the hot formed product.

In an embodiment, the metal-phosphate layer is formed using a ZnNiMn phosphate. This phosphate layer has shown to provide a good spot weldability for the hot formed product.

Preferably, the metal-phosphate layer contains the element calcium. Calcium will be available as a separate metal phosphate layer whereby the metal is both zinc and calcium together with ZnNiMn phosphate as a base metal-phosphate, but also with other metal-phosphates such as but not limited to Zn and ZnMn. After hot forming, calcium is enriched present in the coating directly underneath the zinc oxide layer. This presence probably additionally contributes to a reduction of the zinc oxide formation next to the zinc reduction caused by the metal-phosphate itself, which improves the weldability.

According to a preferred embodiment, the thickness of the metal-phosphate layer is at most 5 g/m ² , preferably between 0.1 and 3.0 g/m ² , more preferably between 0.2 and 2.5 g/m ² , more preferably between 1.0 and 2.5 g/m ² . The inventors have found that the thickness of the metal-phosphate layer should be at most 5 g/m ² since with higher thickness the metal-phosphate layer will itself hamper the contact resistance and spot weldability of the material. Thinner layers as preferred give satisfactory results, while only limited amounts of metal-phosphate needs to be used.

According to a preferred embodiment the zinc or zinc alloy layer is a galvannealed layer containing Fe up to 70 weight %, preferably containing Fe up to 40 weight %, more preferably containing Fe up to 20 weight %, still more preferably containing Fe up to 10 weight %. Using a galvannealed zinc or zinc alloy layer makes it easier to hot form the coated steel. A high amount of iron in the coating can result in a brittle layer with a rough surface texture and possibly poor coverage after processing in the galvanizing line. In order to have a fully covered surface with phosphate, the iron concentration can be minimized to offer a smooth surface after galvanizing and prior to application of the phosphate.

According to another preferred embodiment the zinc alloy layer consists of 0.3 to 2.3 weight % magnesium and 0.6 to 2.3 weight % aluminium, optional less than 0.2 weight % of one or more additional elements, the remainder being zinc and unavoidable impurities. An optional element that could be added in a small amount, less than 0.2 weight %, could be Pb or Sb, Ti, Ca, Mn, Sn, La, Ce, Cr, Ni, Zr or Bi. Pb, Sn, Bi and Sb are usually added to form spangles It has been found that a metal- phosphate layer as mentioned above on this type of coating gives a very good spot weldability.

Preferably the corrosion protective layer has a thickness of 2 to 25 pm. These thicknesses are suitable to produce hot formed parts for automotive purposes.

According to a preferred embodiment the hot formable steel substrate is a steel substrate, having a composition in weight percent:

C between 0.04 and 0.5 %

Mn between 0.5 and 3.5 %

Si less than 2.0 %

Cr less than 1.0 %

Ti less than 0.2 %

Al less than 2.0 %

Mo less than 0.5 %

P less than 0.1 %

N less than 0.015 %

S less than 0.05 %

B less than 0.015 %

the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities.

These steel types are suitable for hot forming, wherein the alloying elements can still be chosen within limits. Usually the amount of boron is between 0.001 and 0.005 weight %.

According to another preferred embodiment the hot formable steel substrate is a steel substrate, having a composition in weight percent:

C between 0.04 and 0.5 %

Mn between 0.5 and 3.5 %

Si less than 2.0 %

Cr less than 1.0 %

Ti less than 0.2 %

Al less than 2.0 %

Mo less than 0.5 %

P less than 0.1 %

Nb less than 0.1 %

N less than 0.015 %

S less than 0.05 %

B less than 0.015 %

the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities. These steel types have better mechanical properties when Nb is added. Also in this embodiment the amount of boron is usually between 0.001 and 0.005 weight %. According to another preferred embodiment the hot formable steel substrate is a steel substrate, having a composition in weight percent:

C between 0.04 and 0.5 %

Mn between 0.5 and 3.5 %

Si less than 2.0 %

Cr less than 1.0 %

Ti less than 0.2 %

Al less than 2.0 %

Mo less than 0.5 %

P less than 0.1 %

N less than 0.015 %

S less than 0.05 %

W less than 0.3 %

B less than 0.015 %

the remainder being Fe and unavoidable impurities.

These steel types have better mechanical properties when W is added. Also in this embodiment the amount of boron is usually between 0.001 and 0.005 weight %.

Preferably the steel substrate has a thickness between 0.5 and 3.0 mm. Such thicknesses are used in the automotive industry.

According to a preferred embodiment the steel substrate is hot formable at Ac1- temperature or above. Such steel substrates can be used for hot forming and quenching of the hot formed product, which usually provides a tensile strength of 1500 MPa or more.

The invention also relates to a process for producing a hot formable strip, sheet or blank as described above, wherein the substrate of hot formable steel coated with a corrosion protective layer is covered with a metal-phosphate solution containing elements of the metal phosphate layer, whereafter the strip, sheet or blank is heated to remove any excess of water and complete the formation of the metal-phosphate layer. In this way it is possible to provide the steel substrate with the metal-phosphate layer as exemplified above.

According to a preferred embodiment the metal-phosphate solution is applied on the coated steel strip, sheet or blank as a wet film having a thickness of 1 to 10 ml/m ² by spraying or dipping and subsequently squeezing or by roll coating or by rinsing optionally followed by gas wiping, preferably at the end of a coating line, and the wet film is dried at a temperature of between 70°C and 90°C. This process of applying the wet film is easy to perform and gives an even wet layer on the coated substrate, which is dried or further dried in the usual manner, for instance in an oven.

The invention moreover relates to a method for hot forming a product using a sheet or blank as described above or using a sheet or blank formed from a strip or sheet as described above, wherein the sheet or blank or a pre-form formed out of the sheet or blank is heated to the Ac1 -temperature or above, the sheet or blank or preform is hot formed in a hot forming die, and the hot formed product is quenched. This is the usual hot forming process, which is now performed using a sheet or blank according to the invention or a sheet, blank or preform produced from the strip, sheet or blank according to the invention. Using such a preform, blank or sheet with a metal- phosphate layer according to the invention, the product formed has a good weldability.

The invention furthermore relates to a hot formed product using the strip, sheet or blank as described above or produced according to the method above, wherein the coated hot formed substrate has a contact resistance below 1 mOhm.

Preferably the hot formed product has a corrosion protective layer of zinc or zinc alloy containing P. The inventors have found that during hot forming some P diffuses from the metal-phosphate layer into the corrosion protective layer.

According to a preferred embodiment the composition of the steel substrate of the hot formed product is essentially the same as the composition of the steel substrate before the hot forming. The inventors have found that the metal-phosphate layer reduces the diffusion of the alloying elements from the substrate into the corrosion protective layer. This also holds for B and Mn present in the substrate, resulting in a better hardenability of the substrate, and thus in a resulting product having a higher hardness compared to the situation when no metal-phosphate is present.

The invention will be elucidated referring to some background information and a number of experiments hereinafter, shown in the accompanying figures.

Fig. 1A shows a cross-section of a zinc-coated substrate without phosphate layer after heating.

Fig. 1 B shows a cross-section of a zinc-coated substrate provided with a phosphate layer after heating.

Fig. 2 shows the amount of zinc-oxide on substrates with and without a phosphate layer after heating.

Fig. 3 shows the amount of zinc on substrates with and without a phosphate layer after heating. Fig. 4 shows the elements O, P, Ni, Mn and Ca in the coating after hot forming.

Fig. 5 shows the elements B and Mn in the coating after hot forming without phosphate layer, with a ZnMg phosphate layer and with a ZnNiMn phosphate layer.

Due to the high temperatures during hot forming, zinc coated material oxidises rapidly. Due to the nature of the formed oxide, the contact resistance of the material will increase. In general, a hot formed material with a contact resistance larger than 1 mOhm is regarded as unweldable. After a commonly used heat treatment of 6 minutes in a furnace of 900°C, the contact resistance is usually larger than 5 mOhm. The amount of oxide can be reduced by a lower furnace temperature and/or shorter dwell times in the furnace but this will seriously affect the robustness of the hot forming process. Low furnace temperatures make the material susceptible to ferrite formation which will decrease the final material strength. A short dwell time minimizes the flexibility of the process, since sometimes the samples have to remain in the furnace for a longer time period due to technical issues at the pressing station behind the furnace.

It is the opinion of the inventors that the amount of oxide should be lowered - without lowering the furnace temperature or shortening the maximum furnace dwell time - in order to maintain a very robust hot forming process. Therefore they investigated several post-treatments i.e. treatments resulting in several metal- phosphate layers that would minimize the total amount of oxidation at comparable heating cycles.

Several types of metal-phosphates were chosen for investigations. In one set of experiments the performance of two types of metal-phosphates was investigated. Phosphate-1 was a no-rinse ZnMg phosphate and phosphate-2 was a no-rinse ZnNiMn phosphate. Both types of phosphate (typically Granodine® 5895 en 5893 respectively) were applied as a wet acidic phosphate solution film with a thickness of 3 - 4 ml/m ² using a phosphate concentration of 120 g/l after which the film was dried in an oven. The substrates were 22MnB5 steel sheets coated with a zinc coating in which 1.6 weight % Al and 1.6 weight % Mg was present.

Table 1 below shows the results the inventors obtained for different post- treatments after a heat cycle of 6 min in a chamber furnace heated to 880°C. The weldability was evaluated on the basis of measurement of the contact resistance described in DVS2929:2007 with the exceptions that a 7.5kN force and 300mm electrode radius were used. It will be clear that a phosphate-1 layer in fact deteriorates the contact resistance of the sheet as compared to a sheet without phosphate layer; the amount of zinc-oxide reduces slightly when using phosphate-1. Even an oil layer performs better than phosphate-1. However, the sheet with phosphate-2 layer provides a contact resistance that is very much improved as compared to a sheet without phosphate layer, and the contact resistance is far below 1 mOhm, so the use of a phosphate-2 layer on top of a zinc or zinc alloy coated steel for hot forming provides the weldability that is required for hot formed parts in the automotive industry.

Figure 1 shows the difference between a zinc coated substrate without post- treatment (Fig. 1A) and with a phosphate-2 layer (Fig. 1 B). It is clear from the figures that the use of the phosphate layer minimizes the oxide layer formed in the zinc coating due to the heating of the phosphated zinc coated steel.

Table 1

The Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the difference in amount of ZnO and Zn (available for corrosion protection) when heated during 5, 6, 7 and 8 minutes in a chamber furnace heated to 900°C.

Fig. 2 shows the increase in zinc-oxide when the sheets are heated for a longer time. The open markers give values for sheets without a phosphate -2 layer; the closed markers give values for sheets with a phosphate-2 layer. There is a difference of about 30 g/m ² zinc-oxide between the zinc layer without and with a phosphate-2 layer.

Fig 3 shows the resulting amount of metallic zinc that remains in the sheets.

For the sheets with the phosphate-2 layer more metallic zinc stays on the sheets.

The resulting contact resistance is given in Table 2. It is clear from these results that even for long dwell times of approximately 8 minutes the contact resistance of a sheet with a phosphate-2 layer remains under 1 mOhm, so this is still acceptable for the automotive industry.

Table 2

Figure 4 shows the amount of oxygen as a measure for the oxide thickness and the amount of phosphorus, nickel, manganese and calcium in the phosphate-2 layer after heating. Zinc is not shown. It is clear that the commercial ZnNiMn phosphate also contains some calcium. It is expected that the calcium in the phosphate contributes to a reduction of the zinc oxide formation, which improves the weldability.

Fig.5 shows different lines for the amount of B and Mn in the coating after hot forming, wherein dotted lines A indicate a coating without phosphate layer, lines B with a phosphate-1 layer and dashed lines C with a phosphate-2 layer. From these diagrams it is clear that the applied metal-phosphate layer reduces diffusion of B and Mn from the substrate into the corrosion protective layer. The result of this reduced diffusion of B and Mn is a better hardenability of the substrate.

In a further set of experiments sample steel sheets were hot formed and tested with the results indicated in Table 3.

In Table 3 MP is the kind of metal-phosphate, CW the phosphate coating weight (dry) in g/m ² , CWW the phosphate coating weight (wet film) in ml/m ² , FT the temperature in °C in the air furnace, FTT the dwell time in the furnace in minutes, CR the contact resistance in mOhm, measured according to the method described above, Zn in Zn-Fe the amount of metallic Zn that remains in the sheets as referred to above, Zn in oxide the amount of Zn oxide as referred to above.

In column MP, the term "+Mn" and the term "+Ca" means that these phosphates were obtained using metal-phosphate solutions containing additional amounts of the indicated elements as compared to the amounts typically used.

According to an aspect of the invention for the purpose of further processing of the hot formed product for instance but not limited to for automotive applications, it is preferred that the Zn in Zn-Fe is above 130 g/m ² and/or the Zn in oxide is below 25 g/m ² , more preferably below 10 g/m ² . MP CW CWW FT FTT CR Zn in ZnFe Zn in oxide

Air g/m ² ml/m ² °C min mOhm g/m ² g/m ² none 0 0 900 5 6.69 n.a. n.a. none 0 0 900 8 35.67 n.a. n.a.

ZnNiMn 0.5 >5 900 5 6.00 116 36

ZnNiMn 0.5 >5 900 8 49.30 101 52

ZnNiMn 0.5 >5 920 5 7.72 105 36

ZnNiMn 0.5 >5 920 8 28.69 99 47

ZnNiMn 1.0 >5 900 5 3.90 124 23

ZnNiMn 1.0 >5 900 8 18.58 112 42

ZnNiMn 1.0 >5 920 5 0.75 139 10

ZnNiMn 1.0 >5 920 8 22.50 126 28

ZnNiMn 1.7 >5 900 5 0.10 154 3

ZnNiMn 1.7 >5 900 8 0.41 133 24

ZnNiMn 1.7 >5 920 5 0.28 142 6

ZnNiMn 1.7 >5 920 8 0.66 138 5

ZnNiMn 2.8 >5 900 5 0.31 n.a. n.a.

ZnNiMn 2.8 >5 900 8 0.47 n.a. n.a.

ZnNiMn 2.0 >5 900 6 0.17 n.a. n.a.

ZnNiMn 2.0 >5 900 6 0.07 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn 2.1 >5 900 6 0.30 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn 2.1 >5 900 6 0.17 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn+Mn 2.1 >5 900 6 0.80 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn+Mn 2.1 >5 900 6 0.34 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn+Mn 2.1 >5 900 8 3.00 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn+Ca 1.9 >5 900 6 0.17 n.a. n.a.

ZnMn+Ca 1.9 >5 900 8 0.44 n.a. n.a.

Zn+Ca 2.1 >5 900 6 0.07 n.a. n.a.

Zn+Ca 2.1 >5 900 8 0.07 n.a. n.a.

ZnNiMn 2.3 2 - 3 900 6 0.20 134 3

ZnNiMn 2.3 2 - 3 900 6 0.14 135 3

ZnNiMn 2.3 2 - 3 900 6 0.10 136 3

ZnNiMn 2.3 2 - 3 900 6 0.10 136 3

ZnNiMn 2.3 2 - 3 900 8 0.23 138 3

Table 3