Simulation and modelling of press hardening and clinching using inductive heating
Mikhail Solovev, Anja Rautenstrauch, Andreas Kunke, Till Clausmeyer, Florian Gerstner
Abstract. Press-hardened components, which can achieve tensile strengths of up to 2000 MPa [1], are increasingly being used in the automotive industry. One challenge is the joining, particularly the mechanical joining, of components in the hardened state. Clinching of press-hardened materials is currently difficult due to their relatively low ductility [2]. Until now, materials have been joined using adhesive bonding and laser welding, both of which are labour-intensive processes with significant potential for optimisation. An established solution is the patch sheet technique, in which the components are joined as delivered and press-hardened together. A reference component was used for the investigation, where the two components were joined in advance by spot welding. Another option is hot clinching, which involves mechanical joining at high temperatures. This study focuses on the design of a simulation model to illustrate the material flow and the phase transformations that occur at high temperatures during the hot clinching of 22MnB5, which has been verified through experimental investigations under different parameters. Localised induction heating with varying power levels was used to precisely control the clinching process, and the results were compared with the simulation model. In this study, induction heating resulted in very homogeneous and easily controllable heating, allowing the analysis of process parameters for combined clinching and press hardening to define the process window. The comparison between the experimental data and the simulation model showed good agreement.
Keywords
Press Hardening, Hot Clinching, Inductive Heating, Simulation, Patchwork Blank
Published online 5/7/2025, 10 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Mikhail Solovev, Anja Rautenstrauch, Andreas Kunke, Till Clausmeyer, Florian Gerstner, Simulation and modelling of press hardening and clinching using inductive heating, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 54, pp 1374-1383, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903599-149
The article was published as article 149 of the book Material Forming
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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