Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 249±254

The use of tailored blanks in the manufacture of

construction components
R.J. Palletta, R.J. Larkb,*
a
Engineering Doctorate Centre in Steel Technology, University of Wales, Swansea, UK
b
Division of Structural Engineering, Cardiff University, Queens Building, Cardiff CF24 OYF, UK
Accepted 5 September 2001

Abstract

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 ¯oor pan application in the Audi 80 to intricate multi-section side
panels in modern 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 bene®t from the
advanced blanking process. Focused corrosion resistance, increased resistance to concentrated loading and reduced component weight are a
few examples of the potential bene®ts to be gained from the multi-material blanking process.
However, a number of manufacturing dif®culties 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 ®nish, 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. # 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Keywords: Tailored blanks; Steel; Construction

1. Introduction The automotive industry is often used as an example of

how the construction industry should be operating, with high
There is a need for the construction industry to look at levels of mechanisation and controlled environments pro-
more industrial-based forms of production. The Egan report, viding suitable conditions for the manufacture of high
`Rethinking construction' which was produced for the quality components. The work outlined below addresses
Department of the Environment urges the construction the Egan objectives by borrowing directly from a modern
industry to move away from the outdated methods that it method of automotive manufacture, that of using tailor-
currently employs and to become a manufacturer of build- welded blanks, and questions the opportunity for adopting
ings with an increased reliance on modern factory processes the technique within the construction industry.
[1]. To achieve this, the construction industry needs to look
at the production techniques used in other manufacturing
industries and assess the suitability of transferring them to 2. Tailor-welded blanks
the production of pre-fabricated building products.
A tailor-welded blank consists of steels of different
*
Corresponding author. gauges, strengths and coating types welded together to
E-mail address: [email protected] (R.J. Lark). produce a single blank prior to the forming process [2].

0924-0136/01/$ ± see front matter # 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 1 1 2 4 - 4
250 R.J. Pallett, R.J. Lark / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 249±254

By using this process, it is possible to produce a ®nished

part with varying material properties, leading to component
optimisation. Mash seam, high frequency butt, friction and
laser welding processes can all be used for welding tailored
blanks, but the laser process produces the best results in
terms of aesthetics and joint performance.

2.1. Tailor-welded blanks in automotive manufacture

It is believed that the ®rst application of tailor-welded

blanks occurred in the early 1980s when Thyssen used the
technology in the production of ¯oor pans for the Audi 80
[3]. This original application was used to overcome coil
width limitations and did not incorporate steel with various Fig. 1. Body-in-White.
properties. However, it did act as the catalyst for the evolu-
tion of the advanced blanking process used in current multi-materials and pre-cut holes. The project not only
automotive manufacture. provided valuable information about the commercial use
The driving force that was behind this research and of tailored blanks but also managed to raise their pro®le as a
development was the need for steel to maintain its market viable option for automotive manufacture.
share in the face of new competition from the increased use In 1999, virtually all body structures manufactured in
of aluminium. Weight savings can have a marked effect on a North America were constructed from sheet steel with an
vehicle's ef®ciency, with research showing that a 1% reduc- increasingly higher percentage adopting the tailor blanking
tion in vehicle weight can result in a 0.6±1% reduction in process. This included their use in applications such as the
fuel consumption [4]. shock towers of the 2000 Lincoln LS, body side inners in the
The marketing advantages and legislation associated with 2000 General Motors range and the B-pillars in the 1999
the demand for reduced fuel consumption and reduced emis- Ford Focus [5].
sions had therefore enabled aluminium to gain an advantage In terms of the quantity of blanks used, British car
due to its lower density. Tailor-welded blanks presented manufacturers are not as advanced as those in North Amer-
the opportunity to manufacture steel components with the ica. However, the increase in the number of blanking
minimum quantity of material, thus reducing overall weight. manufacturers emerging within the UK re¯ects the change
Areas within a car structure that required increased that is taking place. In 1993 the number of blanks being
strength no longer dictated the thickness of steel employed employed within Europe was approximately 3 million and,
in the unformed blank. Thicker sections could be located in over the last 7 years, this has risen to what is expected to be a
areas of stress concentration such as hinge locations and usage of 50 million during the year 2000. The fact is that
anchor points, allowing a down gauging of material in the virtually all car manufacturers are now involved in the use of
surrounding sections of a panel. tailored blanks whether in current volume production or in
The ability to locate dissimilar steels prior to forming also development for their next models.
removed the need for additional components to be added to a However, with all of the advantages outlined above and
®nished part, reducing the requirement for follow-on pro- the signi®cant resource invested in the research and devel-
cesses and materials. In addition to providing savings in opment of tailor-welded blanks the question that needs to be
weight and the consolidation of parts, tailored blanks also asked is `why has the technology been limited to automotive
had other equally important bene®ts to offer. These included manufacturers, and why have other market sectors not built
pin-pointed corrosion resistance, improved material utilisa- upon the research undertaken in the 1990s'? It is common
tion, and improved product quality. place for technological development to ®lter down from
The potential of tailored blanks was soon recognised by advanced manufacturing bases and it now appears realistic
the steel industry and was addressed in the collaborative to transfer this technology to other market areas.
Ultra Light Steel Auto Body project, which was to become
known as the ULSAB project. Porsche engineering services 2.2. Application of tailor-welded blanks to other
in conjunction with 35 steel companies worldwide produced market areas
a vehicle design in which more than half of the Body-in-
White (the main structure) was to be made from tailor- Sheet steel is used widely for the manufacture of products
welded blanks. Fig. 1 illustrates how the multi-material in the electrical goods, packaging and construction markets
blanks were used to fabricate many components that and a number of these may bene®t from the application of
make up the Body-in-White, ranging from the large ¯oor tailored blanks. In fact, any product that requires a change in
pan, which is a simple assembly of three trapezoidal sec- material properties within a sheet steel component could be
tions, to the more complex ®ve-piece side sections utilising improved by the use of tailored blanks.
 R.J. Pallett, R.J. Lark / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 249±254 251

For example, their use could bene®t the white goods at Corus. The panels originally under review were typical
industry in the manufacture of washing machines where steel-faced units fabricated from two thin steel faces sand-
steel with extra corrosion resistance obtained by using wiching a light weight core of low density foam, mineral
thicker galvanised coatings could be located on the lower wool or other low cost material. The research sought to ®nd
section of the machine casing or on vulnerable areas sur- alternative con®gurations and/or materials that would
rounding doors, seals and draws. This would provide an enhance the relatively good strength characteristics of cur-
improvement in corrosion resistance where it is most needed rent composite panels and allow them to be used without a
while still retaining the good forming properties required by secondary supporting framework.
the upper sections where tight radii and multiple bends make As the research progressed it became clear that the main
the use of thick protection coatings dif®cult. obstacle to this approach was assuring the long term per-
The manufacture of garage doors is a further example of a formance of the core to skin bond, a problem that was
process that could bene®t from their use, strengthening the compounded when considering the potential performance of
door edges where brackets, runners and additional operating the panels at elevated temperatures. With the removal of all
mechanisms are located. This would also improve the supporting frameworks the bond between the skin and core
strength of the sheet material, reducing the need for strength- is critical to the integrity of the structure and hence the safety
ening using roll-formed stiffeners. of the user.
So why aren't they used? A lack of awareness of the Further development work therefore led to the decision to
tailored blanking process outside of the automotive industry reduce the panel's reliance on the core material as a struc-
may explain the slow uptake, but it is more probable that it is tural component, the result being that the load carried by the
the cost implications associated with their use. steel faces is increased. To improve the capacity of the skins
It is clear that laser welding is expensive at present. The without increasing their thickness would appear to be pos-
production process is also limited to cut sheet production, with sible using high strength steels. However, this would actu-
continuous joining and recoiling being a distant prospect. ally have a limited effect on the panels performance as
Therefore, there has to be substantial value in use, particularly buckling and de¯ection are the governing criteria when
during subsequent manufacturing operations through tool using slender steel faces.
savings, consolidation of parts, weight savings and/or per- Increasing the steel thickness would improve the capacity
formance enhancements, to make their use attractive. but this would also lead to an increase in the weight of the
panel. Minimum weight has always been a desirable prop-
2.3. Tailor-welded blanks in construction erty for building panels as it offers signi®cant advantages to
both the contractor during construction, and the occupier
One area in which there is particular interest in further during use. This led to the decision to address the possibility
investigating the use of tailor-welded blanks is in the con- of using tailor-welded blanks to improve the skin perfor-
struction sector. Strip steel is used extensively in the man- mance by adopting strategically located thicker steel sec-
ufacture of construction goods. Products include coated tions on a blank prior to forming.
cladding, composite panels, crash barriers, trench plates,
light steel framing, lintels and steel decking. 3.1. Panel design
As discussed previously, in the manufacture of automo-
tive components, the steel thickness that is required is often The design chosen for the pilot studies was based on a
prescribed by the area with the greatest need. In sheet simple truss. The truss was chosen because it is an ef®cient
cladding, the thickness may likewise be dictated by the structural form that is extensively used in the construction
edge requirement to resist fastener pull through and in steel industry, and because the main load bearing elements that
lintels the grade of material required may be governed by the were to be of a greater thickness could be clearly identi®ed.
environmental conditions experienced by the cavity tray. Indeed it was also hoped that because the primary load path
An investigation into the use of tailored blanks in the was so clearly de®ned, design and analysis of the panels
production of pre-fabricated structural building panels has would be relatively straightforward and would be based on
begun at Corus, following on from research into the possible that of an equivalent truss.
improvement of standard composite units. The aim of this While a triangular panel is not a traditional structural form
project is to identify and address the manufacturing dif®cul- or in keeping with generally accepted architectural ideals, it
ties that may arise in the application of tailor-welded blanks to is far less radical than many previous concepts for modular
construction market products and to assess their performance. structures. Ted Hayes and Craig Chamberlain's spherical
accommodation pods known as Omnispheres or Branson
Coate's Oyster house, which was designed as an underwater
3. Structural panel using tailored blanks dwelling, were both radical ideas and served to encourage
positive discussion about their potential use [6].
A large amount of research work into the improvement of In a similar, yet less dramatic way, the proposed triangular
load bearing composite building panels has been undertaken panels are intended to serve as an example of the possible
252 R.J. Pallett, R.J. Lark / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 249±254

application of tailored blanks in the manufacture of building to aid understanding of the panel's behaviour. Samples of
components and increase awareness of the wide and novel each structure have been manufactured as follows:
range of structural forms that are feasible with new manu-
 4 No. simple triangular trusses using 1.6 mm steel `C'
facturing techniques.
sections, no infill panel.
When discussing the Oyster house, Kell [7] noted that
 4 No. triangular panels using 0.7 mm steel with no
``updating construction forms must be a step change from
strengthened edge detail.
R&D, not a revolution''. This statement has been found to be
 4 No. triangular panels using tailored blanks (Fig. 2).
true in many cases, as is evidenced by the very cautious
attitude that the general public often has of new building It is anticipated that each of the structures will behave
technologies. differently when subjected to axial loading due to the way in
For example, light steel framed structures still adopt a which the load will be distributed through the structure. The
traditional timber frame layout, imitating the column, beam standard truss will carry the load within the stable channel
and bracing members, and even adopting the basic cross- sections, but the non-reinforced panel will have to distribute
sectional dimensions of timber studs. When framed in this the load throughout the panel because of the poor resistance
way the structure is extremely robust but the steel is not used offered to compressive forces by the ¯at sheet. The tailored
to its full potential, with many slender compression mem- blank sample should display a combination of these two
bers having a buckling capacity signi®cantly less than the behaviours with a majority of the load being carried through
yield strength of the parent material. the reinforced edge details which will be held in position by
The triangular panel, in comparison, will consist of the low gauge in®ll section.
similarly proportioned struts at the perimeter of the panel, The tests will provide information on the ®nished panel
but which are now restrained by tension in the thinner structure in terms of failure loads, modes of failure, areas of
material within the centre of the panels. This will improve weakness, performance of the perimeter ®xing strips, and
the buckling capacity of the struts and therefore utilises the most importantly provide a basis for comparing the beha-
material in both the struts and the in®ll in a more ef®cient viour of the tailored blank structural with that of other
manner, taking advantage of the opportunity that tailor- known structural forms.
welded blanks provide.
The main load carrying sections of the panel are located 3.3. Production considerations
around the perimeter of a right angled triangle as illustrated
in Fig. 2. The structural sections are fabricated from 1.6 mm It is likely that transferring tailor-welded blank technol-
FeE220G that form a 50 mm  50 mm `L'-shaped band ogy from the automotive to the construction industry will
around each face. The in®ll section is fabricated from involve addressing issues associated with production. Some
0.7 mm steel of the same grade as the structural edges. of these were highlighted when the panels were fabricated
The dimensions of the panel are 2100 mm high by for the test work outlined in Section 3.2. Problems occurred
1000 mm wide and 100 mm deep. The two faces are joined in effectively joining the opposing faces of the panels, in
along the centre of the perimeter using an `H' pro®led ®xing ®nishing-off fold details, in meeting tolerances in the form-
strip. This design may be beyond that which is currently ing process and assuring repeatability.
acceptable to the general public but it represents both a However, these problems were related speci®cally to the
radical and yet feasible way in which sheet steel can be more manufacture of the structural panel. More general dif®cul-
ef®ciently utilised in the production of building components. ties that can be anticipated in the cross-over from automotive
to construction markets have been identi®ed as:
3.2. Test work
 cost;
 panel size;
Test work is being undertaken to evaluate the performance
 aesthetics of the laser-welded seam.
of the reinforced triangular panel outlined above. Axial
loading of three comparative structures has been planned These apply to a large number of possible applications and
therefore justify further discussion.

3.3.1. Cost
Any product used in the main stream construction market
must be cost competitive. Margins are tight and contracts are
hard fought for. If a method of building is not competitive, it
will be dif®cult to persuade a designer to specify it or a client
to purchase it, unless the system offers intrinsic bene®ts.
The growing numbers of specialist blank suppliers being
established within the UK removes the need for capital
Fig. 2. Panel design. investment in blanking equipment by panel manufacturers
 R.J. Pallett, R.J. Lark / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 249±254 253

interested in using tailor-welded blanks. Corus distribution structural panel currently under review required a weld length
has established an automotive supply centre which deals in a of 2.3 m. It should also be noted that it was originally
variety of blanking methods including laser cutting for short anticipated that the panel would be larger than this but that
run blanking. it was restricted in size speci®cally to minimise the problems
The actual cost of supplying a tailored blank depends that were likely to arise in fabrication.
upon the part complexity, number of welds, material costs, The most obvious dif®culties faced by the blank producer
how the part ®ts into a production run and its effect on because of this increase in size are the limits imposed by the
changeover times. Assuming a weld speed of 5±9 m/min and CNC Gantry that guides the laser head and the length of the
a low volume order, an estimated cost of the welding process butt weld clamping unit located on the laser bed. Current
is approximately £2.00/m. To compare this with the cost of laser welders have been developed to meet the requirements
materials and related processes, consider a two-piece blank of the automotive industry. The unit at Corus' Customer
1200 mm square with an approximately 1700 mm long Technical Centre is one of the largest in the UK but, even
diagonal weld joining the two triangles. If one piece is with a maximum butt weld length of 2.3 m and a cutting bed
1.5 mm thick and the other is 0.75 mm thick, then the cost that is 2.5 m2, it could only just accommodate the proposed
breakdown will be approximately: test pieces.
The size limitations imposed by currently available laser
 materials: £5.40;
units are due to the dif®culties associated with the tight
 blanking: £0.95;
manufacturing tolerances required by the welding process.
 welding: £4.00.
A laser welds with a focused beam that has a diameter of
As discussed previously, a review of the potential savings only 0.5 mm. The two components that are to be joined have
due to a reduction in follow-on processes or a reduction in to be aligned to an accuracy greater than this along the full
additional components is necessary to assess the suitability length of the weld if a satisfactory joint is to be obtained. The
of adopting tailored blanks, the importance of which is tolerance also changes with weld speed, the greater the
illustrated above with the welding, making up 40% of the speed the greater the accuracy required. Examples of the
sheet's total pre-formed cost. dimensions involved are that a gap of less than 0.05 mm
Considering the example of a structural panel, the smaller must be obtained along the entire weld length for high speed
number of components used in a frameless system should applications (6±7 m/min for 1.6 mm thick steel) and that a
offset this additional cost and make the system a competitive gap of no more than 0.l mm must be achieved even for slow
option. However, it is necessary to consider a complete speeds (2±3 m/min for 1.6 mm thick steel).
structural unit. A traditionally clad structural frame is very Pre-cutting components in such a way as to achieve an
labour intensive, especially when the manufacturing process accurate alignment along a length in excess of 2 m is
is compared with that required for a frameless system. For the dif®cult, even with the use of precision shears. The problem
former, the frame components have to be formed and cut and being that the cutting blade pulls slightly on the clamped
then assembled using either welding or mechanical fasteners. sheet causing a gradual variation in width over the cut
In a frame with a standard column spacing of 600 mm and length. Laser cutting can overcome this but it will increase
containing horizontal battens, lintels and stability bracing, it the cost of production which, as previously discussed, will
is clear that a very high number of joints will be required detract from the bene®ts of the panel that is being proposed.
and then the structure still has to be clad and insulated. However, although investment may be needed to achieve the
A structural panel, on the other hand, fabricated from just necessary tolerances, this should not hinder the development
two face units supplied by a blanking centre requires only to of the concept.
be formed to create the panel shape to have insulation
applied as appropriate, and then to be joined by a single 3.3.3. Aesthetics of laser-welded seams
edging strip around the perimeter of the panel. By combin- Butt welds produced with a laser power of 4 kW and a
ing the cladding with the structural framework, signi®cant weld speed of 6±8 m/min result in narrow weld beads that
cost reductions in terms of reduced tooling, processes, are between 0.5 and 1.0 mm wide and welds between steels
material requirements and site activity can therefore be of different thickness can be achieved with a smooth transi-
achieved. Therefore, costs are only prohibitive if the cost tion from the thick to the thin material. However, tests
of the blank compared directly to that of a standard sheet as conducted for the automotive industry have shown that,
opposed to a comparison of complete building systems. following painting, the weld seam is still visible [8]. Because
of this, the application of tailor-welded blanks to external car
3.3.2. Panel size body panels is restricted to non-visible areas or to seams that
The size of blanks required for the manufacture of con- can be disguised using covering strips.
struction components may also present dif®culties. Current Although a high quality ®nish is required on the external
automotive blanks rarely use weld lengths greater than 1 m. face of a building panel, it is unlikely that the same level of
While this may be suf®cient for certain building components, ®nish as is required of a modern car body will be necessary.
it will be inadequate for many applications. For example, the The coating system used to protect and embellish the latter
254 R.J. Pallett, R.J. Lark / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 249±254

uses thin layers of paint specially formulated to give a high opportunities presented by laser welding promises even
lustre ®nish and will expose any blemishes in the base greater advances for the construction industry, thus helping
material. The 200 mm polyurethane coatings typically found to meet the Egan objectives. Projects are currently being
on standard cladding sheets for the building industry are established within Corus to evaluate the use of press forming
however over 10 times thicker than these car body coatings techniques for the manufacture of a wide range of structural
and many are embossed to produce a surface texture. Both of components for the construction industry. Soft tooling and
these factors will help hide the limited level of surface defect the use of hydro-forming technology are of particular inter-
that is likely to occur as a result of the welding process. est given the low volume of production that there is likely to
A test undertaken at Corus' Welsh Technology Centre to be. The combination of these technologies will allow a far
establish the ®nish that can be achieved involved joining a greater range of panel con®gurations and strengthening
1.5 and a 0.75 mm coupon using a laser weld and then details to be adopted and enable the production of high
coating the assembly in the usual way with a pre-treatment, a quality architectural products.
polyester primer and a polyurethane top coat. The resulting Continuous welding of coil to coil strip is a further
sample had a very good surface ®nish with few defects that development that may be possible in the future. This would
were visible to the naked eye. On close inspection, the seam help reduce the costs of the welding process and allow
could be located, but the ®nish was considered to be of a standard panels to be roll-formed directly from the coil,
more than adequate standard for building applications. opening up yet further market opportunities. However,
Further work will need to be undertaken to establish although this is currently the subject of research, it is at
whether the ®nish would be as acceptable when transferred present only a distant prospect.
to a larger panel as the increased weld length and adjacent
panel lines will make it easier to identify irregularities.
Acknowledgements

4. Conclusion The authors would like to thank Mr. E.F. Walker,

Manager, Technical Co-ordination, Welsh Technology
Laser-welded blanks offer a real opportunity for optimis- Centre, Corus Group for permission to publish this paper
ing the design and production of high quality structural and gratefully acknowledge the support of the Engineering
components for the construction industry. Cost and limita- and Physical Sciences Research Council.
tions on the size of the elements that can currently be
fabricated restrict their immediate implementation but as
their use and ef®ciency is further developed it is envisaged References
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[6] A. Jabez, Home from dome, Building Homes, September 1994, pp.
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