Method of press hardening a steel sheet blank

摘要

In a press-hardening plant, a contact-cooling press (12) is provided between the furnace (11) and the press-hardening press (13). Preselected parts of the blank (18) are contact-cooled such that corresponding parts of the finished product are softer and display a lower yield point.

主权项

1. Method of press hardening a sheet-steel blank (18) such that a finished product (19) is provided with one or more areas having a lower yield point than the rest of the product, the steps of said method comprising: heating the blank (18) to the austenitising temperature, contact-cooling one or more selected parts of the blank to a temperature which promotes ferrite growth during a subsequent transfer of the blank to a press-hardening press (13) and during a subsequent press-hardening operation, and press-hardening the blank in said press-hardening press (13).