Alloy and process development of partial press hardening utilizing advanced bainite transformation models

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Prahl
• Subject Area: Metallurgical, Thermal and Thermomechanical Treatment of Materials ; Primary Shaping and Reshaping Technology, Additive Manufacturing
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 417859042

The aim of this transfer project is the coupled development of alloy and process towards improving the strength-ductility combination in press-hardened products for the automotive industry. Methodically, a mesoscopic phase transformation model will be used being developed by the applicant within the PressBain project in the SPP 1713. The improvement of partially bainitic press-hardened components is investigated by simulations of various thermomechanical paths and chemical compositions. It is desired to develop two directions of property improvement: 1) increase of total strain above 10 % without significant loss of strength compared to 22MnB5 reference products; 2 Increase of the energy absorption capacity compared to the reference steel grade DP800..The application of the multiphysically coupled model to the industrial processing conditions will also be used to analyze the predictability of the individual underlying theoretical models, which have so far only been tested under ideal conditions. The scientific goals of this project are the deeper understanding of the bainitic transformation and its use in the industrial environment by detailed comparison between the virtual and real microstructures under different processing routes (thermo-mechanical boundary conditions).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants (Transfer Project)
• Application Partner: Volkswagen AG
• Co-Investigator: Dr.-Ing. Grzegorz Korpala