On thermal compensation of Hot-Form-Quench stamping die

Abstract

Abstract Today, most premium and EV vehicle body in white structures rely heavily on lightweight materials and lightweighting technologies to offset vehicle mass. Increased utilisation of lightweight metals is also being observed in mainstream vehicles. Press hardened steels have gained significant use, however high and ultra-high strength aluminium alloys are starting to follow as their usability is enhanced and exploited. Both material groups require hot forming technologies to be used in manufacture of vehicles components. Thermal expansion of aluminium alloys is approximately twice those of steel, and hence leads to significant material contraction during in-die quenching. This is especially pronounced for large area or long components. Therefore, stamping dies employed in the Hot-Form-Quench (HFQ) process used to manufacture lightweight components from aluminium alloys are required to be compensated for thermal expansion/contraction. This paper presents simulation methodology developed in PAM-STAMP and used to verify the level of die compensation required and the effect of the compensation on the part dimensional conformance after HFQ forming.