Page 19 - MetalForming August 2019

Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University and author of four books, including "Hot Stamping of Ultra High Strength Steels," published in late 2018, Billur will relay his process expertise in a presentation at the Hot Stamping Experience and Tech Tour.
“With increasing gas prices and envi- ronmental concerns worldwide, hot stamping became a main option for vehicle safety-cage parts,” Billur offers. “Hot stamping provides a perfect solu- tion to problems encountered when cre- ating complicated geometry in strong, thin material—springback, wrinkling, splits and cracks. Complex formed parts with 1500 MPa ultimate tensile strength are not possible via cold stamping.”
While 3rd-generation AHSS enables cold forming of parts that approximate the strength of their hot stamped coun- terparts, as technology patents expire this year, reports Billur, expect high- er-strength materials and improved processes that will continue to push hot stamping ahead.
“In the past 20 years, the percentage of hot stamped parts in body-in-white have increased from 2 to 5 percent to 30 percent,” he says. “That includes the Ford Focus. The Focus, as a compact car, previously would not have been considered to have such a high ratio, which had been confined to luxury SUVs and the like. Today, hot stamped parts reach into vehicles of all classes.”
Hot stamping also enables greater use of tailor welded and rolled blanks, which aids in part consolidation. The process also provides an alternative to aluminum-part production. The Audi A8, Billur notes, featured an all-alu- minum body in its first two generations. The third, out in 2010, introduced hot stamped B pillars, and the fourth gen- eration, debuting in 2017, offers a body with 17-percent hot stamped parts.
While Europe and North America continue to lead in adoption of hot stamping, Billur reports China, India and South America as the next markets to increase use of the technology.
Automated Cell Eases Development and Prototyping
Providing valuable technology and application insight is Hot Stamping Experience and Tech Tour host Urgent Design & Manufacturing, part of the 3- Dimensional Services Group. A Tier-One automotive supplier, 3-Dimensional Services Group consists of 3-Dimen- sional Services in Rochester Hills, MI; Germany-based 3-Dimensional Services Europe; Urgent Plastic Services, also in Rochester Hills; and Urgent Design & Manufacturing in Lapeer, MI.
3-Dimensional Services provides vertical integrated rapid manufacturing services, including design, engineering and manufacturing of precision pro- totype parts and assemblies. In addi- tion, it has invested significantly to modernize equipment to better sup- port low-to-medium-volume produc- tion applications.
Capabilities include engineering, design, CNC machining, stamping, laser cutting, tube bending, hydro-
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