Review on sheet and tube forming at elevated temperature of third generation of high-strength steels

Abstract

The paper intends to review the most recent research works carried out in the framework of forming processes carried out at elevated temperature on steel sheets and tubes. The increasing demand of high strength-to-weight ratio components in different sectors, such as the automotive and aerospace ones, has recently pushed a more and more remarkable development of forming processes that involve the heating of the sheet at such temperatures to assure not only enhanced formability characteristics, but also microstructural features that can improve the component in-service properties. The focus of the paper will be on variants of the hot stamping process carried out on high strength-to-weight steel sheets and tubes to tailor the part characteristics.