The aim of this work is to investigate a simple on-line control methodology applicable to press hardening. Short production runs were performed in a laboratory plant, using a pyrometer to measure sheet and die temperatures with varying processing conditions. Sheets thus treated were studied in terms of microstructure and mechanical properties. Different closing die time and refrigeration conditions were employed to force OK and Not OK conditions. The experimental data including the process variables as a well as the resultant temperatures have been analysed and modelled by means of statistical analysis and Machine Learning algorithms, to discover hidden correlations that can lead to actionable predicting models. The results show a direct link of the final temperature with the microstructure and its hardness. The outcome of this paper can be used for efficient process design and detection of anomalous temperature meanwhile an industrial hot stamping process take part. In addition, the analysis performed can help productivity and quality assurance while leading towards a smarter and more efficient manufacturing scenario.
Since the popularization of press hardening in the early noughties, die and tooling systems have experienced considerable advances, with tool refrigeration as an important focus. However, it is still complicated to obtain homogeneous cooling and avoid hot spot issues in complex geometries. Additive Manufacturing allows designing cavities inside the material volume with little limitation in terms of channel intersection or bore entering and exit points. In this sense, this technology is a natural fit for obtaining surface-conforming cooling channels: an attractive prospect for refrigerated tools. This work describes a pilot experience in 3D-printed press hardening tools, comparing the performance of additive manufactured Maraging steel 1.2709 to conventional wrought hot work tool steel H13 on two different metrics: durability and thermal performance. For the first, wear studies were performed in a controlled pilot plant environment after 800 hot stamping strokes in an omega tool configuration. On the second, a demonstrator tool based on a commercial tool with hot spot issues, was produced by 3D printing including surface-conformal cooling channels. This tool was then used in a pilot press hardening line, in which tool temperature was analyzed and compared to an equivalent tool produced by conventional means. Results show that the Additive Manufacturing technologies can be successfully applied to the production of press hardening dies, particularly in intricate geometries where new cooling channel design strategies offer a solution for hot spots and inhomogeneous thermal loads.
Fatigue strength is considered as a crucial parameter for automotive applications subjected to cyclic loads during their long service life, as chassis parts. The high yield stress of press hardened steels poses them as good candidates for lightweight solutions with improved fatigue resistance. However, their high strength leads to an increase in notch sensitivity which can ruin the whole part’s integrity. This behaviour was observed in previous works on press hardened steels, where their high fatigue strength was significantly affected by the surface conditions and by heat treatment conditions. Nevertheless, press hardening steels are still good candidates to manufacture complex geometry parts reaching high performance. Aiming at increasing the existing knowledge on the fatigue behaviour of press hardened steels, this paper analyses the fatigue performance of boron steel (22MnB5) under different time austenitizing times. Fatigue resistance is evaluated using a novel rapid fatigue testing technique based on the stiffness evolution. The method permits a fast and reliable determination of the fatigue limit. Based on results obtained with this rapid testing method, the most suitable heat treatment to mitigate fatigue notch sensitivity and then achieving the best fatigue performance for chassis applications is discussed.
Press Hardening offers the possibility to obtain a wide range of mechanical properties through microstructural tailoring. This strategy has been successfully applied in thin sheet components, for instance, through differential cooling strategies. The application of these added value features to truck components implies adapting the process to the manufacture of thick sheet metal. This introduces an additional layer of complexity, but also opportunity, in a process where the final microstructure and, thus the mechanical performance is generated in the press shop. This work presents a study on optimizing the crash worthiness and impact energy absorption on a press hardened thick 22MnB5 steel sheet. Different microstructure design strategies have been studied, including ferrite-Pearlite (representative of a differential heating and austenitization strategy), in-die generated Bainite (representative of differential cooling) and Tempered Martensite (generated through laser tempering), keeping a fully hardened martensite as a reference condition. The material performance has been compared in terms of the monotonic properties, useful for anti-intrusion performance, and Essential Work of Fracture, a well-suited parameter to predict the crash failure behavior of high strength steels. The results show that laser tempering offers properties similar to Bainite-based microstructures and can be a successful replacement in components where the sheet thickness does not allow for the fine control of the in-die thermomechanical evolution.
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