| Abstract Scope |
The utilization of press-hardened structural components, in the car bodies, will increase in the coming years, significantly. This could be attributed not only due to urgent need to reduce of CO2 emissions, but also due to the increasing of the introduction of serval crash resistant components such as reinforced A and B pillars. Therefore, the use of high-strength steels enables the reducing of the sheet thicknesses and consequently vehicle weight. The local adjustment of the properties by using of the conventional "furnace heating" process is limited. In this presentation a neu innovative process based on contact heating will be presented, which allows local adjustment of the desired microstructure, and to shorten the required heating cycle times. The Microstructure and the mechanical properties of the press- hardened tunnel parts from coated steel grade MnB using this method, compared to the conventionally press-hardened parts, have been investigated. With the new process method, very fast sheet heating rates up to 940°C can be achieved, in shorten cycle time, without any negative influences on the final strength of the press-hardened parts. The newly developed conatct heating process for the high-strength steel sheets could be a possible alternative to the conventional "furnace heating". |