Optimization of Thick 22MnB5 Sheet Steel Part Performance through Laser Tempering

Press Hardening offers the possibility to obtain a wide range of mechanical properties through microstructural tailoring. This strategy has been successfully applied in thin sheet components, for instance, through differential cooling strategies. The application of these added value features to truck components implies adapting the process to the manufacture of thick sheet metal. This introduces an additional layer of complexity, but also opportunity, in a process where the final microstructure and, thus the mechanical performance is generated in the press shop. This work presents a study on optimizing the crash worthiness and impact energy absorption on a press hardened thick 22MnB5 steel sheet. Different microstructure design strategies have been studied, including ferrite-Pearlite (representative of a differential heating and austenitization strategy), in-die generated Bainite (representative of differential cooling) and Tempered Martensite (generated through laser tempering), keeping a fully hardened martensite as a reference condition. The material performance has been compared in terms of the monotonic properties, useful for anti-intrusion performance, and Essential Work of Fracture, a well-suited parameter to predict the crash failure behavior of high strength steels. The results show that laser tempering offers properties similar to Bainite-based microstructures and can be a successful replacement in components where the sheet thickness does not allow for the fine control of the in-die thermomechanical evolution.