Increasing performance of Hot Stamping systems

The hot stamping market will be growing in the next years, but also the requirements of the OEMs and the competition between the suppliers are rising. To be successful in the hot stamping market part manufacturers need equipment with high performance, flexibility and a highly reliable process. In conventional hot stamping presses an uncontrolled process is used for forming and quenching. Deviations of the blank thickness, tool wear, polishing of classical tools is impairing the quenching condition and therefore the part quality over the time. This paper presents a method how to improve the production rates over the whole life cycle of a hot forming part. By using a hydraulic cushion in the press table, the performance of the hot stamping process is increased dramatically. The cushion force leads to a controlled process with improved heat transfer rates and a constant and reliable cooling time. Also the part quality is rising because of the reliable process. In the future, the importance of hot stamping systems with a fast, reliable and stable process and an optimized interchange between hot stamping equipment and quality assurance will increase and become the most important competition advantage for part manufacturers.