Property-controlled multi-stage hot sheet metal forming

Property control in multi-stage press hardening enables the precise adjustment of the hardness and geometry of safety-relevant components.

Funding and contact

Funding	DFG
Project	TE508/81-3 - SPP2183
Project Partners	Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Contact	IUL – Lukas Gussek M.Sc. KIT – Henry Baumann (henry.baumann@kit.edu)
Status	On going

Project description:

Multi-stage press hardening enables the production of hardened components with complex geometries. However, fluctuations in product properties increase with each additional stage of the process. These fluctuations result from complex interactions between temperature, forming, and the component’s microstructure. Therefore, this project aims to develop a property control system for the properties of the formed and hardened parts using a press hardening process with two heating stages and two forming steps. A characteristic product property in press hardening is the hardness of the component. To control this property, the current state must be determined. The hardness is influenced by the microstructure of the material, which cannot be measured during the process. However, the microstructure results from the thermal and mechanical history of the component, whereby the temperature can be measured at specific points in time during the process. In addition to the measurements, several models are used to determine the complete thermomechanical history in order to ultimately predict the resulting microstructure and thus the hardness. Based on this prediction, the process parameters are adjusted to set the target hardness.

Publications:

[Of IUL]

Martschin, J., 2025. In-situ-Vorhersage und Einstellen der Produkteigenschaften beim mehrstufigen Presshärten im Folgeverbundwerkzeug. Dissertation. Technische Universität Dortmund. ISBN: 978-3-8191-0337-7

Martschin, J., Rethmann, P., Grodotzki, J., Wrobel, M., Meurer, T., Tekkaya, A.E., 2024. Quick prediction of thinning in stretch forming of hat-shaped profiles during multi-stage hot sheet metal forming. Journal of Materials Processing Technology 327 (2024), 118365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2024.118365

Martschin, J., Wrobel, M., Grodotzki, J., Tekkaya, A.E., 2023. Tailoring the hardness in multi-stage press hardening of 22MnB5 sheet material in a progressive die. ICTP 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40920-2_10

Martschin, J., Wrobel, M., Grodotzki, J., Meurer, T., Tekkaya, A.E., 2023. Soft sensors for property‐controlled multi‐stage press hardening of 22MnB5. AUIN. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42154-023-00238-z

Martschin, J., Wrobel, M., Meurer, T., Kolpak, F., Tekkaya, A.E., 2022. Entwicklung von Softsensoren für das eigenschaftsgeregelte mehrstufige Presshärten. In: Ideen Form geben: 36. ASK Umformtechnik – Tagungsband, Verlagshaus Mainz GmbH Aachen. S. 283 – 292. ISBN: 978-3-95886-460-3

Martschin, J., Meya, R., Klöser, D., Meurer, T., Tekkaya, A.E., 2021. Control-Oriented Characterization of Product Properties during Hot Hole-Flanging of X46Cr13 Sheet Material in a Progressive-Die. Metals, https://doi.org/10.3390/met11020349

[Not accessible free of charge]

Martschin, J., Wrobel, M., T., Tekkaya, A.E., 2024. Influence of Multi-Step Forming on the Hardness and Microstructure of Rapidly Austenitized 22MnB5. 9th International Conference on Hot Sheet Metal Forming of High-Performance Steel – CHS² 2024, Nashville, U.S.A.

[Of KIT]

Baumann, H., Nazarenus, J., Martschin, J., Tekkaya, E., Meurer, T., 2025. 2D Sheet Temperature Estimation for Multi-Stage Press Hardening in a Progressive Die. IFAC, vol. 59, S. 133–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2025.03.024

Wrobel, M., 2024. Model- and Data-Based Estimator and Control Design for Metal Forming Processes. Dissertation. Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). https://doi.org/10.5445/IR/1000174023

Wrobel, M., Martschin, J., Meurer, T., Tekkaya, A.E., 2023. Data-driven Temperature Estimation for a Multi-Stage Press Hardening Process. IFAC, vol. 56, S. 4525-4257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2023.10.1785

Klöser, D., Martschin, J., Meurer, T., Tekkaya, A.E., 2021. Reduced order modelling for spatial-temporaltemperature and property estimation in a multi-stage hot sheet metal forming process. AIME, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aime.2021.100055

[Together as SPP2183]

Homberg, W., Arian, B., Arne, V., Borgert, T., Brosius, A., Groche, P., Hartmann, C., Kersting, L., Laue, R., Martschin, J., Meurer, T., Spies, D., Tekkaya, A.E, Trächtler, A., Volk, W., Wendler, F., Wrobel, M., 2024. Softsensors: key component of property control in forming technology. Prod. Eng. Res. Devel., vol. 18, S. 603–614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11740-023-01227-1

Link zur Projektseite:

https://spp2183.de/projekt-10/