Cooling Element Spacer for Partial Hardening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing components from sheet steel using tailored or patchwork blanks face issues such as stress concentration, corrosion problems, and damage to the coating due to abrupt hardness transitions, which can lead to component failure and increased production costs.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a cooling element placed a slight distance apart from the sheet steel blank during heating, allowing for selective partial austenitization and ductility control through thermal radiation, with micro-nubs or air cushions to prevent direct contact and maintain corrosion protection, enabling a gradual hardness transition and reduced stress on the component and cooling element.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If tailored or patchwork blanks are used to reduce weight, then weight reduction is achieved, but stress concentrations occur at transition regions leading to component failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions with different material properties within the same component. Through selective heat treatment of specific zones during forming, the patent achieves local hardening or softening to optimize both weight and strength characteristics in different regions, eliminating stress concentrations at transitions while maintaining overall weight reduction benefits
2Ease of manufacture
If spot welding is used to join sheet metal layers in patchwork blanks, then joining is achieved, but the welded connections are subjected to powerful stresses and can fracture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the material properties through controlled heat treatment. By adjusting temperature, time, and atmosphere parameters during the forming process, the patent creates optimized material characteristics that enhance the strength of joined regions and reduce susceptibility to fracture under stress
3Weight of moving object
If sheets are placed parallel to one another in patchwork blanks, then weight reduction is achieved, but gaps between layers lead to corrosion problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes through controlled heat treatment parameters that affect the material structure and surface properties. By optimizing temperature and time parameters, the patent reduces gap formation between layers and creates surface conditions that minimize corrosion susceptibility, thereby protecting the component while maintaining weight reduction benefits
4Use of energy by moving object
If the cooling element is placed directly against the blank during heating, then heat transfer is improved, but the coating of the sheet steel is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the intermediary principle by introducing a protective layer or medium between the cooling element and the sheet steel blank. This intermediary prevents direct contact that would damage the coating while still allowing effective heat transfer to occur, thus maintaining energy efficiency without causing harmful coating damage
5Ease of manufacture
If abrupt transitions between thickness regions are used in tailored or patchwork blanks, then manufacturing is simplified, but stress concentrations occur in transition regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating gradual transitions between regions of different thicknesses through controlled material deposition or removal in specific zones. This localized approach maintains manufacturing simplicity while eliminating abrupt transitions that cause stress concentrations, thereby improving strength without significantly complicating the manufacturing process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach achieves a uniform hardness progression, minimizes component and cooling element damage, and reduces the risk of corrosion, allowing for controlled ductility and strength adjustment, enhancing the component's ability to absorb crash stresses and preventing premature failure.
Implementation Method 1
Through the narrow gap, this body absorbs energy from the blank via radiation
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing partially hardened steel components in which a blank composed of a hardenable sheet steel is subjected to a temperature increase and shaped into a component; the component is transferred to a tool in which the heated component is cooled and thus quench hardened; during the heating of the blank or component in order to achieve the temperature increase to a temperature required for the hardening in regions that are to have a lower hardness and/or higher ductility, cooling elements are spaced apart from the surface by a small gap; the cooling element is dimensioned so that the thermal energy acting on the region that remains ductile flows through the component into the cooling element, characterized in that in order to space the cooling element apart from the component, micro-nubs or knobs are used, which are distributed over the area of the cooling element.