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ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe Receives Order for Tailored Tempering
06/28/2010 - ThyssenKrupp Umformtechnik GmbH, a subsidiary of the Duisburg-based steel producer, has received an order from a German automaker to produce B-pillars by tailored tempering, which produces parts that are very strong yet also able to yield in specific areas.
ThyssenKrupp Umformtechnik GmbH, a subsidiary of the Duisburg-based steel producer, has received an order from a German automaker to produce B-pillars for more than 100,000 cars annually by tailored tempering. The components are to be used in a compact car.
ThyssenKrupp Umformtechnik, a manufacturer of car body and chassis components, developed the process to industrial maturity.
The company notes that use of hot forming in car manufacture is currently on the rise. Hot forming uses special manganese-boron steels. The sheet material is heated to 880 to 950°C, then formed into a component and cooled rapidly in the die, producing components with strengths of up to 1500 MPa.
The company notes that use of hot forming in car manufacture is currently on the rise. Hot forming uses special manganese-boron steels. The sheet material is heated to 880 to 950°C, then formed into a component and cooled rapidly in the die, producing components with strengths of up to 1500 MPa.
Conventional hot forming only allows production of components with the same strength throughout; tailored tempering produces parts that are not only very strong but also able to yield in specific areas. These properties are needed in crash-relevant components, for instance, which have to protect vehicle occupants and absorb impact energy in a controlled way.
With the process patented by ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, parts with differing local strength and elongation properties can be produced in a single step from a homogeneous steel sheet. This is made possible by a newly developed die with flexible heating. The targeted heating of specific zones of the die gives the finished component elongation properties exactly where they are needed. Because the heated blank cools more slowly in these zones, the steel hardens less.
Depending on sheet thickness, the area of transition between hard and soft zones is about 15 to 60 mm.
Depending on sheet thickness, the area of transition between hard and soft zones is about 15 to 60 mm.
