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Usibor® and Ductibor® : a "hot" combination for safer and lighter cars Hot-stamped Usibor® 1500P and Ductibor® 500P Laser Welded Blanks
For a car’s rear rail for example, the new unique hot-stamped Usibor® 1500P / Ductibor® 500P Laser Welded Blank concept enables a weight reduction of 25 % minimum compared to a cold-stamped part. In addition, this combination guarantees excellent crash performances and cost savings thanks to improved material utilization.
To ensure passenger safety, car manufacturers are already making extensive use of hot-stamped Usibor® 1500P steel to replace cold-stamped material. This reduces the weight of structural automotive parts of a car, e.g. the B-pillar, thus reducing the car’s CO2 emissions But that is not enough…
The fruit of four years of research
Car manufacturers want to achieve superior crash performances in the most important energy absorption zones. A solution would be to combine Usibor® 1500P with a steel grade that is suitable for hot stamping, but with different mechanical properties.
In co-operation with ArcelorMittal’s commercial and technical teams, our Automotive Applications Research Centre in Montataire has been working for four years on the development of both new patented technology and dedicated material to achieve fully functional Usibor® 1500P / Ductibor® 500P hot-stamped Laser Welded Blanks. The patented process, has been used by ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks since September 2008 for serial production of Usibor® 1500P-based Laser Welded Blanks. The new dedicated product Ductibor® 500P has been available industrially and commercially since end of 2007.
Lighter and stronger at no extra cost
Cost analyses have demonstrated that parts like these can be produced without additional cost compared to the benchmark cold-stamped part.
This attractive cost assessment is mainly due to the use of the welded blank concept:
- Reduction of scrap material through the optimisation of sub-blanks nesting
- Reduction in the number of process steps (stamping and post-assembly)
The attractive cost price, its technical performance and the weight saving achieved makes the Usibor® 1500P / Ductibor® 500P combination an invaluable tool for our automotive customers working to meet today’s technical, financial and industrial constraints.
Currently, serial parts for a German automotive manufacturer are in production using this technology at the ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks Gent production unit. Many other groundbreaking co-development projects with customers are currently underway at the Automotive Applications Research Centre in Montataire.
Contact ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks: Fabrice Pinard | Manager of Business and Product Development ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks fabrice pinard@arcelormittal.com www.arcelormittal.com
Dorota Zoldosova | Manager Corporate Communication ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks Dorota.zoldosova@arcelormittal.com www.arcelormittal.com
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