Tool steels for hot stamping of high strength automotive body parts

Abstract

Hot stamping of high strength automotive body parts is a key technology to fulfill safety requirements
and CO2-emmision limit values which are made by the EU. In the last ten years, high effort was made
to improve the hot stamping process. Besides optimizing workflow and heating of the sheet metal
blanks, new tools steel grades were developed which show beneficial properties with respect to hot
stamping and hard cutting of high strength body parts. Furthermore, engineering of cooling systems
results in different cooling strategies which all shall improve the cooling efficiency of hot stamping
tools. In combination, these improvements lead to a reduction of cycle time and maintenance work
and therefore increases productivity of hot stamping processes. This paper gives a short summary
of the latest developments with respect to tool steels for hot stamping and hard cutting tools including
concepts for active cooled hot stamping tools.