Experimental and numerical investigations on tailored tempering process of a U-channel component with tailored mechanical properties

Hot stamping of quenchenable ultra high strength steels currently represents a promising forming technology for the manufacturing of safety and crash relevant parts. For some applications, such as B-pillars and other structural components that may undergo impact loading, it may be desirable to create regions of the part with tailored mechanical properties. In the paper, a laboratory-scale hot stamped U-channel was manufactured by using a segmented die, which was heated by cartridge heaters and cooled by water channels independently. Local hardness values as low as 289 HV can be achieved using a heated die temperature of 400°C while maintaining a hardness level of 490 HV in the fully cooled region. If the die temperature was increased to 450°C, the Vickers hardness of elements in the heated region was 227 HV, with a reduction in hardness of more than 50%. Optical microscopy was used to verify the microstructure of the as-quenched phases with respect to the heated die temperatures. The FE model of the lab-scale process was developed to capture the overall hardness trends that were observed in the experiments.