Abstract
Climate targets set by the EU, including the reduction of CO2, are leading to the increased use of lightweight materials for mass production such as press hardening steels. Besides sheet metal forming for high-strength components, tubular or profile forming (Hot Metal Gas Forming—HMGF) allows for designs that are more complex in combination with a lower weight. This paper particularly examines the application of conductive heating of the component for the combined press hardening process. The previous Finite-Element-Method (FEM)-supported design of an industry-oriented, curved component geometry allows the development of forming tools and process peripherals with a high degree of reliability. This work comprises a description regarding the functionality of the tools and the heating strategy for the curved component as well as the measurement technology used to investigate the heat distribution in the component during the conduction process. Subsequently, forming tests are carried out, material characterization is performed by hardness measurements in relevant areas of the component, and the FEM simulation is validated by comparing the resulting sheet thickness distribution to the experimental one.
Highlights
According to Yang [1], vehicles and road transportation produce more than 20% of greenhouse gas emissions
The vehicle weight is essential with regard to fuel consumption, implementing lightweight design approaches is a key in order to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, respectively
Yang [1] shows that the CO2 emissions of new passenger cars have been steadily decreasing in the EU over the last 25 years
Summary
According to Yang [1], vehicles and road transportation produce more than 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. The use stage causes approximately 85% of a passenger car’s global warming potential [2]. In this phase, the vehicle weight is essential with regard to fuel consumption, implementing lightweight design approaches is a key in order to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, respectively. Aspects of material and design must be optimized in order to minimize component weight. Material optimization includes the application of typical lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys or composites. The application of high-strength steels, including press hardening steels, is superior to the other lightweight materials [4]
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