Abstract
Sustainability is a key factor in an automotive OEMs’ business strategy. Vehicle electrification in particular has received increased attention, and major manufacturers have already undertaken significant investments in this area. However, in order to fully confront the sustainability challenge in the automotive industry, lightweight design in additional to alternative propulsion technologies is also required. Vehicle weight is closely correlated with fuel consumption and range for internal combustion and electrified vehicles, respectively, and therefore, weight reduction is a primary objective. Over the past decades, advanced steel and aluminium-forming technologies have seen considerable development, resulting in significant weight reduction of vehicle components. Hot stamping is one of the most established processes for advanced steel and aluminium alloys. The process offers low-forming loads and high formability as well as parts with high strength and minimal springback. However, the high temperatures of the formed materials over numerous cycles and the significant cooling required to ensure desirable component properties necessitate advanced tooling designs. Traditionally, casting and machining are used to manufacture tools; although in recent years, additive manufacturing has gained significant interest due to the design freedom offered. In this paper, a comprehensive review is performed for the state-of-the-art hot-forming tooling designs in addition to identifying the future direction of Additive Manufactured (AM) tools. Specifically, material properties of widely used tooling materials are first reviewed and selection criteria are proposed which can be used for the transition to AM tools. Moreover, key variables affecting the success of hot stamping, for example cooling rate of the component, are reviewed with the various approaches analysed by analytical and numerical techniques. Finally, a number of future directions for adopting additive manufacturing in the production of hot stamping tools are proposed, based on a thorough analysis of the literature.
Highlights
Manufacturing is regarded as one of the primary sources of wealth, and yet, the large amount of energy used for industrial operations, in combination with the increasing demand for goods, causes significant environmental repercussions
Fast light Alloy Stamping Technology (FAST) was developed and patented as a novel hot stamping process, increasing the formability of aluminium alloys and decreasing springback and significantly reducing cycle time [46, 47]. During such a forming process, an aluminium alloy blank is heated to an elevated temperature at an ultra-fast heating rate, in order to enhance the ductility of the material while maintaining its microstructure
The results showed that a more homogeneous temperature distribution could be achieved with AMed channels
Summary
Manufacturing is regarded as one of the primary sources of wealth, and yet, the large amount of energy used for industrial operations, in combination with the increasing demand for goods, causes significant environmental repercussions. Ultrahigh-strength steels can be considered a relatively ‘low cost’ lightweight material option compared with aluminium alloys, and OEMs have extensive knowledge regarding their manufacturability. Hot stamping is considered one of the main forming processes for manufacturing advanced steel and aluminium alloy sheet components [11, 12]. Tool segmentation is often required due to limitations of cooling channel drilling technologies [20] To this end, additive manufacturing (AM) offers significant advantages, as opposed to conventional subtractive technologies [21]. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers significant advantages, as opposed to conventional subtractive technologies [21] These include the fabrication of complex geometries, material savings, design flexibility and reduced tooling costs [22]. Summary and concluding remarks of the study are provided as well as the authors’ outlook for AM in hot stamping tooling
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