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Great Designs in Steel is Sponsored by:

AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, ArcelorMittal USA,
Nucor Corporation, Severstal North America and United States Steel Corporation
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Investigation of Tooling Durability for
Advanced High-Strength Steels

Tareena Mulholland-General Motors LLC

Darryl Young-Ford Motor Company
Mike Klein-Chrysler LLC

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 Team Members and Contributors

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 Investigation Criteria

•Identify the tribological factors that contribute to the

successful production of AHSS stampings
– Die Design
– Die Materials
– Surface Treatment
– Cost Effectiveness

•Progressive Die with a two phase approach

– Phase I: Form, Flange, Trim, Pierce
– Phase II: Trim, Pierce

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 Phase I

Lower Shoe Upper Shoe

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 Phase I Description

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 Phase I Pierce Station
Back-
Location Material % up
1 M2/A2 5% 15%
2 M2/A2 10%
3 M2/A2 15%
4 M2/A2 20%
5 M2/A2 25% 15%
6 M2/A2 30% 15%
7 M4/A2 5% 15%
8 M4/A2 10%
9 M4/A2 15%
10 M4/A2 20%
11 M4/A2 25% 15%
12 M4/A2 30% 15%
13 A2/A2 20% 15%

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 Phase I Pierce Results

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 Phase I Trim Station

Material:
1. CALDIE™ + Ion Nitride +PVD
TiCN
2. CC® 1 (bar stock)
3. CPM® 10V
4. AISI D2
5. AISI M4
6. AISI S7
7. VANADIS® 4E

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 Phase I Trim Results

Incomplete
Test

NAAMS G25HP (2) Caldie™ (2), AISI D2, S7, M4

CC®1, HWS®
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 Phase I Trim Results

Hardness may have direct effect on die material performance●

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 Phase I Flange Station

Material:
1. AISI D2
2. AISI D2 +CVD TIC
3. CARMO® +Nitride
+PVD CrN
4. AISI M2
5. AISI M4
6. AISI M4 + CVD TIC
7. VANADIS® 4E

Maximum Strain
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 Phase I Flange Results

• Materials D2, M2, M4, Vanadis®4E

• D2 + CVD TiC, M4 + CVD TiC, Carmo®
• Coatings PVD CrN, PVD TiAlN, Hard
+ Nitride + PVD CrN
Chrome, MicroPlasma
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 Phase I Conclusions
• Pierce
– Ideal clearance between 5-15%
• Trim
– AISI D2 material performed the best
– Coating did not seem to improve performance (only
tested for one instance)
• Flange
– Coatings are necessary
– PVD CrN performed better when applied over Ion Nitride

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 Phase I Lessons Learned

From Phase I:
• Scope too broad
• Qualitative Wear
• Inconsistent trim clearance

Improvements for Phase II:

• Narrowed scope
• Quantitative Wear Analysis
• Smaller inserts

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Phase II Description
 Phase II 1st & 2nd Pierce Stations
• Tested Punch
Clearances
– 8%
– 10%
– 12%
– 15%

• Tested Punch
Materials
– AISI D2
– AISI M2
– Vanadis® 4 Extra
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 Surface Wear

Measured Area
• 1.5 mm x 0.63 mm
• 8 measurements

Pre-Test
-2.00 – 2.00 μm

-2.00 – 2.00 μm Post DP780 -20.0 – 20.0 μm Post DP980

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 Phase II Pierce Surface Wear
Pierce Clearance*
Original Surface Post DP780 Post DP980 Post DP780 Post DP980
Break %
Δ Roughness Δ Roughness % wear % wear
8% 0.194 μm 0.145 μm 2.068 μm 75.3% 711.4%
10% 0.204 μm 0.066 μm 1.050 μm 27.7% 452.7%
12% 0.224 μm 0.043 μm 1.148 μm 22.5% 436.8%
15% 0.131 μm 0.024 μm 0.705 μm 3.0% 271.4%
* Values are averaged

Pierce Material
Original Post DP780 Post DP980 Post DP780 Post DP980
Material
Surface Δ Roughness Δ Roughness % wear % wear
AISI D2 0.585 μm 0.155 μm 0.910 μm 26.5% 123.0%
AISI M2 1.644 μm 0.022 μm 0.377 μm 1.4% 22.6%
Vanadis® 4 0.629 μm -0.056 μm 0.258 μm -8.9% 45.0%
Extra

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 Phase II Trim Station

Trim tests
• Trim angles from -30° to 30° in 5° increments
• Materials: Caldie™, Vanadis® 4 Extra, AISI D2, ASP®2015,
and ASP®2015 + Everlast (patent pending process)

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 Phase II Trim Results
• All 30° trim angles began chipping at 19,000 hits or less

3 Hits 7,065 Hits 18,000 Hits

211 Hits 8,530 Hits

• Everlast extended the life of the ASP®2015 by at least 99.2%

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 Phase II 3rd Pierce Station

• Small round pierce

– AISI M2
– Pierce angles from -
30° to 30° in 5°
increments
– Tools with
controlled edge
profile vs. a
standard edge

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 Phase II 3rd Pierce Results

• Pierce angle was most accurate indication of

punch life; -15°< angle <15°
• Investigating quantifiable wear data from edge
condition

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 Phase II Conclusions
• Pierce
– Ideal pierce clearance 15%
– AISI M2 Material performed the best
– Ideal pierce angles are between -15° and 15°

• Trim
– Ideal trim angles are between -20° and 20°
– Everlast extended the life cycle of ASP®2015

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 Moving Forward

Future Work
– Complete burr height analysis
– Complete metallurgical analysis
– Investigate optimal designs, materials, and coatings for
forming
– Investigate significant differences between DP780 and
DP980
– Continue to narrow the large selection of die materials &
surface treatments

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 Questions?

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 w w w . a u t o s t e e l . o r g

Great Designs in Steel is Sponsored by:

AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, ArcelorMittal USA,
Nucor Corporation, Severstal North America and United States Steel Corporation
www.autosteel.org