Press-Hardening Simulation - The next Level of Maturity

Abstract

Press hardening has been fully established in the automotive industry during the last years. Forming simulation is an important tool to make the whole potential of press hardening available in both, the mass production and further developments. One of the usual simulation packages is AutoForm. It has been known as a reliable software tool for the sheet metal forming application area as well as for the press hardening for years. AutoForm-Thermo Solverplus supports direct and indirect hot forming, which are followed by quenching and cooling processes. It takes into account phase transformation during quenching and thermal distortion after cooling. The recent version AutoFormplus R7 brings further advances in process modeling for hot forming as this release allows users to take into account cooling channels. Based on this, the heat conduction in tools can be calculated. Cooling channel modelling affects press hardening simulation in two ways: it can be used to optimize the cooling channel design in the press hardening tools and it increases the accuracy level of the simulation in general. The resulting benefits coming from these new features will be presented in this paper; based on a B-pillar which was produced with direct press-hardening process.