J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2011, 27(4), 369-376.

Semi-hot Stamping as an Improved Process of Hot Stamping

Malek Naderi1) , Mostafa Ketabchi1) , Mahmoud Abbasi1) and Wolfgang Bleck2)
1) Department of Mining and Metallurgy, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran 2) Department of Ferrous Metallurgy, RWTH-Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
[Manuscript received December 5, 2010, in revised form February 11, 2011]

Reducing the forming load, deletion of springback, increasing the formability of sheets as well as producing high strength parts are the main reasons to apply hot stamping process. Hot stamping process and 22MnB5 steels are the state of the art process and grades, respectively; however novel processes and steel grades are under considerations. In the current research, behavior of the steel grade MSW1200 blanks under semi and fully hot stamping processes was characterized. During semi-hot stamping process, the blank was rstly heated to a temperature of about 650 C and then formed and quenched in the die assembly, simultaneously. Microstructure and mechanical properties of semi and fully hot stamped blanks were studied and the results were compared with those of normally water/air quenched blanks. The hot stamped blanks attained the strength values as high as water quenched blanks. The highest ductility and consequently, the best formability were achieved for the blank which had been semi-hot stamped. It was concluded that for the mentioned steel, semi-hot stamping process could be considered as an improved thermo-mechanical process which not only guaranteed a high formability, but also led to ultra high strength values. KEY WORDS: Semi-hot stamping; Hot stamping; MSW1200 steel; Mechanical properties

1. Introduction To optimize the fuel consumption of cars, the weight reduction of cars is intensively required in the automobile industry. Hence, application of high strength steel sheets in automobile bodies would be a good solution to reduce the weight of cars[1] . However, the use of high strength steel sheets usually leads to some disadvantages like high impact on the tools, reduced formability and the increased tendency to springback[2] . To improve the formability characteristic and reduce or avoid the springback of high strength steel sheets, hot stamping process has been used widely. During this process, not only the ow stress is largely reduced by preheating the sheets, but also due to simultaneous occurrence of forming and quenching, forming load and springback decrease and formability increases[3] . Hot stamping is de Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 64542949; Fax: +98 21 66405846; E-mail address: m.abbasi@aut.ac.ir; abbaci.m@gmail.com (M. Abbasi).

ned as the process in which the blank is heated to the temperature of the austenite stabilization region, i.e. about 900 C, for denite time and then formed and quenched simultaneously[4] . Many attempts have been done on the hot stamping process of steel sheets especially on quenchable boron-alloyed steels. It is reported that boron enhances hardenability and retards and postpones thermally activated transformations, e.g. ferrite and pearlite transformations[3] . Merklein and Lechler[2] used 22MnB5 steel as material and studied its hot stamping process. They showed that hot stamping process can result in production of components with tensile strength more than 1500 MPa due to changes in microstructure. Naderi et al.[5] analyzed the microstructural and mechanical properties of dierent B-bearing steels after being hot stamped. Microstructures of the hot stamped blanks were composed of martensite. The resulted microstructures provided the yield strengths of 6501370 MPa and the tensile strengths of 8502000 MPa. The disadvantage of the hot stamping is remarkable oxidation on the surface of products[6] . The sheets are heated at

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Table 1 Chemical composition of the investigated steel (mass%) C 0.14 Si 0.12 Mn 1.71 Cr 0.55 Ni 0.06 Al 0.02 Ti 0.002 Ceq 0.258

about 900 C to attain the martensitic transformation induced by the die quenching, and the oxide scales are generated at this temperature. The oxidation becomes remarkable due to contact with air after taking the sheet out of the furnace. The shot blasting is used to remove the oxide scales of stamped products or the aluminum and zinc coated sheets are employed to prevent the oxidation during the hot stamping. But the shot blasting and coating are costly. Mori and Ito[7] evaluated the eect of the oxidation preventive oil on oxidation of quenchable steel sheets in a hot hat-shaped bending experiment. They found that the oxidation was prevented by using coating. Schiel et al.[8] analyzed corrosion behavior of coated and non-coated steels after being hot stamped and notied that high temperature austenization could damage the coatings. Innovation of a stamping process that brings advantages of hot and cold stamping processes all together not only will result in low forming load and minimizing of springback but also may preserve the coating properties properly and save time and cost. Semi-hot stamping process is a reply to this request. During the semi-hot stamping, the blank is heated for a while at the temperature of about 650 C and subsequently it is deformed and quenched, simultaneously. So, study on the eects of semi-hot stamping process on dierent properties of sheet metals is worthy. Mori et al.[9] used a resistance heating to elevate the temperature of sheet during forming and studied the eects of warm stamping on the springback of ultra high tensile strength steel sheets. The springback in hat-shaped bending of the high tensile strength steel sheets was eliminated by heating the sheets. They found that the optimum heating temperature is around 600 C due to the small springback and oxidation and the increase in hardness. Schiel et al.[8] studied the corrosion behavior and mechanical properties of 22MnB5, CP-W800 and MSW1200 steels after being hot stamped and semi-hot stamped. Prior to hot and semi-hot stamping operations, the blanks were heated to 950 and 650 C temperatures, respectively, and then they were cooled in a closed-die. The material 22MnB5 reached component tensile strength levels over 1500 MPa at elongations of 5%8% while with non-boron alloyed steels tensile strengths of only maximum 850 MPa were obtained at elongation of about 8%12%. In the current research, more details on semi-hot stamping process along with MSW1200 steel grade characterizations were investigated. MSW1200 is developed for cold forming and thus has high strength in the as-delivered condition. For better comparison and understanding, cold and hot stamping processes using

Fig. 1 Microstructure of as-received MSW1200 steel. It consists of about 70% ferrite as well as 30% ne spheroidized pearlite

water or nitrogen cooled punch were also performed. 2. Experimental 2.1 As-delivered condition The industrially processed un-coated MSW1200 steel sheet with a thickness of 1.5 mm was provided. Chemical composition of the studied steel as well as its corresponding carbon equivalent is given in Table 1. Carbon equivalent of investigated steel was calculated according to the equation presented by Patchett[10] for carbon steels. As-received microstructure of the steel is shown in Fig. 1. As it is seen in Fig. 1, most of the as-received microstructure consisted of ferrite phase, i.e. about 70%. The yield and tensile strengths were about 400 MPa and 640 MPa, respectively and the total elongation value (A25 ) was about 26%. 2.2 Methods The eect of three processes, i.e. cold stamping followed by quench hardening, semi-hot stamping and hot stamping on microstructure and mechanical properties of the studied steel was investigated. Thermal schedules for each process as well as the resulted microstructure are given in Table 2. Geometry of blanks and description of tools including press, die, cooling system, and temperature recording tools in addition to the condition of stamping are reported in literature [11]. The mold assembly included water or nitrogen cooled punch and a non-cooled die. Mechanical properties of the deformed parts were determined by Vickers hardness test (HV0.8 ) and standard tensile test, as reported in literature [11]. Surface hardness maps in addition to lateral hardness proles were obtained to quantify and qualify material properties.

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Table 2 Thermal schedules and the resulted microstructures after various stamping processes Heating Soaking time temperature/ C condition/min 950 10 650 950 5 10 10 Phase fraction Martensite Bainite Ferrite Pearlite Air coolant 70 30 Water coolant 85 15 Water cooled punch 68 32 Water cooled punch 62 38 Water cooled punch 42 55 3 Nitrogen cooled punch 60.5 36.5 3 Cooling

Cold stamping+ Quench hardening Semi-hot stamping Hot stamping

The CCT diagram in Fig. 2, indicates that the martensite start temperature (M s) is about 400 C and cooling rates higher than 40 C/s result in a fully martensitic microstructure. 2.4 Temperature and force evaluation The temperature evolution of blanks, die and punch during pointed processes was obtained using thermocouples set in proper positions of the blank and the tools. Representations of non-cooled die and cooling system designed for cooled punch as well as schematic demonstration of appropriate placement of Pt/Pt-Rh10% thermocouples for monitoring and recording the temperature evolution of the tools and blanks during the stamping processes, are provided in Fig. 3. The temperature and the force evolutions of the blank during hot stamping process after austenization at 950 C for 10 min and in the condition of using water as coolant, is represented in Fig. 4. As it is observed, the cooling rate in the range of initial deformation temperature (825-200 C) was about 158 C/s.

Fig. 2 The CCT diagram of the studied steel

2.3 CCT diagram The continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagram, Fig. 2, was determined by means of dilatometry tests, metallographic investigations and hardness measurements. The circled numbers indicate the values of nal hardness, given in the Vickers HV10 scale.

Fig. 3 (a) Die assembly including cooling system in punch, (b) position of Pt/Pt-Rh10% thermocouples for recording temperature evolution of tools and blanks during stamping processes

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3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Microstructural investigation The microstructure of blank after being cold stamped and subsequently quenched in air consisted mostly of ferrite while quenching in water caused mostly martensitic microstructure (Fig. 5). It is definitely due to the role of coolant. Air, as a coolant, which does not bring the possibility of obtaining critical cooling rate, results in the formation of a ferrite phase, while a cooling rate more than the critical value, in the case of using water, causes martensite formation. As it is observed in Fig. 6, hot stamped blanks obtained a martensitic-bainitic microstructure. When blanks are cooled from the austenization temperature (950 C) using water or nitrogen cooled punch, since cooling curve does not cross ferrite and pearlite phase region in the CCT diagram, the microstructure includes the non-equilibrium phases such as martensite and bainite. More martensite content, which resulted after hot stamping by the application of nitrogen cooled punch, was due to a higher cooling rate (Table 2).

Fig. 4 Temperature and the force evolutions during hot stamping process of MSW1200 steel. Blank was austenized at 950 C for 10 min (HS-hot stamping & WCP- water cooled punch)

The temperature of the die, which was non-cooled, rose to maximum 100 C while this enhancement for the nitrogen cooled punch was about 70 C. The forming rate was 40 mm/s and deformation took about 1 s to nish. Sudden increment of force at the 14th second (Fig. 4), which increases to about 30 kN, relates to initiation of the deformation step.

Fig. 5 Microstructure of MSW1200 steel after quench hardening: (a) 950 C, 10 min+air quench; (b) 950 C, 10 min+water quench

Fig. 6 Microstructure of MSW1200 steel after hot stamping: (a) 950 C, 10 min+hot stamping, WCP, (b) 950 C, 10 min+hot stamping, NCP (WCP stands for water cooled punch- NCP stands for nitrogen cooled punch)

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Fig. 7 Microstructure of MSW1200 steel after semi-hot stamping: (a) 650 C, 5 min + semi-hot stamping, (b) 650 C, 10 min + semi-hot stamping

The most noticeable microstructure belonged to semi-hot stamped blanks. It consisted of ferrite and pearlite having the morphology as shown in Fig. 7. Before applying the stamping process, the blanks were heated to a temperature of about 650 C. It is predicted that low heating temperature of semi-hot stamping process does not result in occurrence of any phase transformation. Therefore, minor discrepancies in volume fractions of ferrite and pearlite proportions in the microstructures of semi-hot stamped blanks with respect to as-received ones (Table 2) might be related to minor image analysis errors during evaluation. Quantitative evaluations of the microstructures were conducted by using ImageJ program, which was an image processor and analyzer developed at the National Institute of Health, USA. The kind of microstructure constituted in semi-hot stamped blanks (Fig. 7) could be related to inherent characteristic of substances to decrease their interior energy. At constant volume fraction of pearlite phase, as nodule size decreases, surface energy of whole substance increases[12] . As it was observed in Fig. 1, as-received microstructure of MSW1200 steel mostly included ferrite as well as ne pearlite nodules. Heating the blank to a temperature of about 650 C for a sucient time brings the possibility of coalescence of very ne pearlite nodules (Fig. 7) in order to decrease the surface energy. So, large pearlite nodules, as it is observed in Fig. 7(b), form in the microstructure. The presence of ne pearlite nodules in the microstructure of Fig. 7(a) indicates that ve minutes is not adequate to complete the coarsening of the ne pearlite nodules. Fast cooling due to the employment of water cooled punch, during semi-hot stamping, resulted in non-equilibrated ferrite grains with non-ordered grain boundaries in both samples, especially for the ten minutes heated specimen (Fig. 7). 3.2 Hardness proles Hardness proles were obtained by using an instrument which not only measured the hardness va-

Fig. 8 Lateral hardness proles of MSW1200 steel along the half of the stamped blank

lues linearly, but also was able to determine the hardness values for a predened region. More information about this instrument can be found in literature [11]. Lateral hardness proles of blanks after being hot and semi-hot stamped are represented in Fig. 8. Hardness values of the hot stamped blanks (samples A and B) due to the presence of martensite and bainite phases were higher than those for semi-hot stamped blanks (samples C and D) which consisted of ferrite and pearlite phases. One important point in Fig. 8 is the improvement in the homogeneity of hardness proles by enhancing the heating time. It is observed in Fig. 8 that, the non-homogeneity of hardness in sample A is the most. A sucient heating time for samples B and C resulted in a more homogeneous microstructure, and correspondingly, more homogeneity of hardness in semi-hot and hot stamped blanks. Unsuccessful austenization treatment yields a non-uniform distribution of carbon in the primary austenite and, as a result, in the obtained martensite[13] . An increase in the carbon content of a local region of primary austenite increases the distortion of the body centered tetragonal (BCT) lattice during martensite formation, and decreases the movement of dislocations in the region and as a result, the hardness values increase[14] . Therefore,

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Fig. 9 Surface hardness map of MSW1200 steel: (a) 950 C, 10 min+hot stamping, WCP: (b) 950 C, 10 min+hot stamping, NCP: (NCP- nitrogen cooled punch, WCP- water cooled punch)

Fig. 10 Surface hardness map of MSW1200 steel: (a) 650 C, 5 min+semi-hot stamping, WCP; (b) 650 C, 10 min+semi-hot stamping, WCP; (WCP: water cooled punch)

proper heat treatment prior to the semi-hot and hot stamping processes of steel with non-uniform initial microstructure should be an essential condition to improve the hardness uniformity; although, due to the presence of various phases with dierent hardness values beside each other, the hardness non-uniformity is inevitable. Surface hardness proles of hot stamped and semihot stamped blanks are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. As it comes from Figs. 9 and 10, the hot stamped blanks have hardness values greater than semi-hot stamped ones. Increasing the cooling rate, employment of nitrogen as coolant instead of water during hot stamping process, resulted in higher hardness values (Fig. 9). The higher hardness limits represented in Fig. 10(a) with respect to the hardness limits in Fig. 10(b) might be originated from the development of internal stresses in the microstructure due to little time of heating and correspondingly nonuniform initial microstructure[15] . The surface hardness maps can be a good substitution for metallographic analysis. By using this technique, hardness distribution and similarly phase distributions can be well studied. The advantages of this technique over lateral hardness proles, metallographic investigations as well as more details about quantitative and qualitative measurement of dierent phases are presented in literature [4].

Fig. 11 Flow of true stress in terms of true strain for MSW1200 steel in dierent stamping conditions (WQ: water quenched, AQ: air quenched, WCP: water cooled punch, NCP: nitrogen cooled punch)

3.3 Mechanical properties True stress-strain curves of MSW1200 steel for different stamping conditions were determined (Fig. 11). Yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and total elongation (A25 ) values related to dierent blanking conditions are presented in Table 3. The highest strength values were related to the samples which had been cold stamped and quenched in water

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A25 /% 14 4 25.6 20 5.5 2.5 26

Table 3 Mechanical properties of MSW1200 steel grade after various types of stamping Heating temperature / C 950 650 950 Soaking time /min 10 5 10 10 Cooling condition Air coolant Water coolant Water cooled punch Water cooled punch Water cooled punch Nitrogen cooled punch YS /MPa 540 1110 448 400 916 936 400 UTS /MPa 810 1430 650 930 1300 1330 640

Cold stamping + quench hardening Semi-hot stamping Hot stamping As-received

as well as the hot stamped samples; however the samples which had been cold stamped and quenched in air along with the semi-hot stamped samples represented the highest ductility values. These were related to the microstructures of the studied samples. As it was pointed before (Table 2), the microstructure of the former sample contained mostly martensite, while the latter consisted of ferrite-pearlite phases. Five minutes isothermal heating at 650 C prior to stamping did not aect the as-delivered properties of the blanks, however yield strength showed some increment. The sample kept for 10 min at temperature of about 650 C before stamping, obtained compromised values of high tensile strength and ductility. High values of both tensile strength and ductility of a part bring the possibility of absorbing energy during the crash without being torn or fractured[16] . It should be paid attention that in spite of the benets pointed for semi-hot stamping process, one drawback of this process is the relatively low yield strength value of stamped blank. Dent resistance decreases as the yield strength lowers[14] . Mechanical properties reported for semi-hot stamped blanks originate from their microstructure. The microstructure of the sample heated for 5 min at about 650 C included ne pearlite nodules distributed in a matrix of ferrite phase, while that of the sample kept 10 min, due to coalescence of ne pearlite nodules, consisted of coarse and elongated pearlite nodules beside the ferrite phase. The former microstructure involves the possibility of easy movement of dislocations during the forming process and, consequently, results in high ductility and low work hardening characteristics, while the latter causes impediment of dislocations movement and increases work hardening characteristic due to the presence of dierent phases and non-ordered grain boundaries[17] . It can be concluded that heating the MSW1200 steel for 10 min at a temperature of about 650 C prior to stamping guarantees high tensile strength and ductility values due to the formation of special microstructure as it was observed before (Fig. 7(b)). The ability of a material to have both a good ductility or formability and a high strength is best quantied with the UTSA25 value that is known as the formability index value[18] . This value for the mentioned steel in dierent stamping conditions is repre-

Fig. 12 Formability index values of the blanks deformed at dierent stamping conditions

Fig. 13 Comparison between mechanical properties of hot and semi-hot stamped blanks of MSW1200 steel and various types of industrially well-known steel grades

sented in Fig. 12. As it is observed in Fig. 12, the highest formability index value is related to the condition D which shows a good combination of high ductility and tensile strength characteristics together. So it seems that the studied steel grade and the mentioned heat treatment is a good choice to produce industrial parts. It is useful to summarize the results in Fig. 13, to illustrate mechanical evolution of MSW1200 steel after hot and semi-hot stamping processes along with the various types of industrially well-known steel grades. According to Fig. 13[19] , which represents the common mechanical properties of some advanced steels, it is observable that the semi-hot stamped blanks represent an acceptable combination of tensile strength and total elongation as TRIP steels, while

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hot stamped blanks exhibit mechanical properties like Martensitic (MART) steels. It can also be observed in Fig. 13 that MSW1200 steel, after being semi-hot stamped, shows better and more condential properties than steels pointed out in Fig. 13, namely HSLA, Dual phase (DP) and complex phase (CP) steels. The semi-hot stamping process can be introduced as an improved thermo-mechanical process. Due to heating temperature below 720 C, the A1 arrest line of equilibrium diagram of Fe-C, and fast cooling during forming not only guaranties a great deal of elongation and ductility, but also results in high strength values. At the end, more investigation into semi-hot stamping process of suitable steels for production of industrial parts is recommended. 4. Conclusions The eect of three dierent stamping processes on microstructure and mechanical properties of MSW1200 steel was studied. The processes included hot stamping, semi-hot stamping and traditional cold stamping followed by quenching. It was concluded that: (1) Although deletion of springback and lowering the forming load are the main reasons which encourage conducting hot and semi-hot stamping processes, but thermal parameters have a signicant eect on achievable properties of stamped parts. In this regard, parts with high strength (semi-hot stamped parts) and ultra-high strength values (hot stamped parts) are obtainable. (2) Isothermal heating of the studied steel at about 650 C for 10 min, prior to semi-hot stamping process, resulted in a good combination of high tensile strength and ductility values. (3) Employing water or nitrogen as coolants with dierent cooling severities has no noticeable eect on microstructure and mechanical properties of hot stamped blank of MSW1200 steel. So, using water as coolant during hot stamping process, due to ease of use and low cost, is recommended. (4) Surface hardness mapping technique would be a reasonable and reliable method to quantify and qualify material characteristics. (5) Semi-hot stamped blanks of MSW1200 can sometimes represent an acceptable combination of tensile strength and total elongation as normal TRIP

steels and better than conventional DP and CP steels. This sometimes makes the mentioned steel grade and the process as an acceptable choice to produce industrial parts.
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