ArcelorMittal, Trumpf Partner for Hot Stamping Laser-Welded Blanks
February 24, 2025Comments
A collaboration between steelmaker ArcelorMittal and Trumpf has enabled Trumpf’s five-axis laser cutting machines to integrate seamlessly with ArcelorMittal’s Multi Part Integration (MPI) solutions that streamline vehicle design by combining multiple vehicle components into a single laser-welded blank (LWB), according to officials from the steelmaker. Employing such cutting allows for precise shaping of laser-welded, hot-stamped MPI parts for modern vehicle design. The collaboration involves laser cutting with Usibor and Ductibor, ArcelorMittal’s steels ideal for hot stamping.
Trumpf’s noncontact laser cutting process ensures burr-free edges and minimal waste, while reducing production line wear, cite ArcelorMittal officials while noting that such capabilities enhance the performance of MPI regimens that produce massive components integral to vehicle design where accuracy in shape and form is critical to ensure seamless integration and optimal performance.
At the core of this collaboration: sustainability. By reducing material waste and optimizing production processes, laser cutting technology can streamline manufacturing and align with the automotive industry’s growing demand for environmentally friendly practices. And, officials point out, the noncontact nature of laser cutting ensures minimal wear on equipment, further enhancing the sustainability and efficiency of production lines.
"Innovative laser technology provides the precision and efficiency needed to meet the industry’s growing demand for complex, large-scale components,” says Jesse Paegle, communication and development lead automotive at ArcelorMittal Europe-Flat Product. “This partnership allows us to anticipate industry trends and deliver innovative solutions globally to meet future demand."
The recent Great Designs in Steel (GDIS, from the American Iron & Steel Institute) technical webinar, Press-Hardened Steel in Automotive Applications, covered in part the use of LWBs in hot stamping. Such blanks allow for significant weight reduction while optimizing crashworthiness.
“The hot stamping process is well suited to the use of LWBs, providing an opportunity to mix press-hardened-steel grades and thicknesses to optimize and tune performance as needed in a particular area of the vehicle architecture,” Tom Wormald, principal projects manager-steel solutions, ArcelorMittal, explained to GDIS-webinar attendees. “Combining PHS grades and LWBs provides flexibility for vehicle designers to tune that performance and achieve significant mass savings. Usibor and Ductibor steel grades can be combined to provide both energy absorption and anti-intrusion performance, specifically where they're needed through MPI. MPI-solutions components are combined into a single hot stamping to decrease part count significantly and reduce the quantity of spot welds required for vehicle assembly. MPI applications can be applied in areas throughout the vehicle architecture, including the dash panel rear H-frame that includes the rear rails, and the classic door-ring applications already in production for more than a decade."
Expected to be uploaded in the first quarter of 2025, this webinar will be available at WorldAutoSteel’s website, worldautosteel.org.
View Glossary of Metalforming Terms
See also: TRUMPF Inc., ArcelorMittal USA Inc.
Technologies: Cutting, Materials, Stamping Presses
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