Heat-assisted forming of high strength low alloy S700MC steel

One of the most significant trends that has shaped the automotive industry over the last 20 years is weight reduction. The most commonly used strategy to achieve this is replacing the materials with stronger ones. In this way, it becomes possible to reduce vehicle weight by carrying the same loads with smaller cross-sections, without compromising passenger safety. In the current study, heat-assisted forming characteristics of high strength low alloy S700MC steel has been investigated and validated using a sheet metal suspension control arm. It has been found that the ductility of the S700MC steel can be increased significantly at temperatures below blue brittleness region. Moreover, hardness levels of the samples formed at elevated temperatures was higher than the as-received ones.