initially to improve passenger safety in vehicles – for
example, to reinforce the doors in the Saab 9000,
thus helping it to pass the stricter crash tests in the
USA.
The technology was first introduced to large series
production of the Ford Sierra in Europe and the
Ford Mercury in the USA. The side impact beams
and bumpers were created on Schuler systems at the
time. After the turn of the millennium, the industry
increasingly saw this method’s potential for reducing
vehicle weight while keeping pace with increasing
safety requirements. Because press hardened
components have a greater tensile strength that cold-
formed high-strength steels, the use of material can
be reduced, thus making the components lighter.
In 2006, the body of the Volkswagen Passat was
the first to use twelve press hardened components.
To allow this to happen, Schuler had built six hot
stamping lines within the shortest possible time,
and installed these at the Kassel plant. “This laid the
foundation for growth that is still continuing,” said
Daniel Huber, general manager of the Schuler site in
Waghäusel, Germany.
Currently, some 500 million hot stamped parts
are produced annually on more than 400 systems
worldwide. And, according to Mr. Huber, experts
anticipate further growth: “Schuler identified
this development at an early stage, and set up
a Competence Center for press hardening at our
Waghäusel site in the year 2006”. This was followed
in 2016 by the Hot Stamping TechCenter in
Göppingen, a research and demonstration facility at
the company’s headquarters.
.
www.schulergroup.com/hot_stamping
In 2016, Schuler
opened the Hot
Stamping TechCenter in
Göppingen, a research
and demonstration
facility at the company’s
headquarters.
TUBE NEWS March 2018
15