EFB Colloquium 2019 in Bad Boll

The annual colloquium for sheet metal processing of the European Research Association for Sheet Metal Working (EFB) took place on April 2-3, 2019 in Bad Boll, and focused on the guiding theme of "Economical processing of high-strength materials for lightweight and functional construction".

In keeping with the event’s leading theme, some 150 participants from the sheet metal production and sheet metal working industry discussed current trends and innovations in the areas of "New Sheet Metal Working Processes", "Production of Hybrid Components", "Processing of High-Strength Components" and "Functionality of Metallic and Hybrid Structures".

The contributions from the industrial and research sectors clearly showed that lightweight construction is achieving economic design success, in particular through the use of high and ultra-high-strength steel materials in e.g. mixed construction with aluminum, and that previous approaches using fiber-composite structures have once again moved into the background. The structural transformation in the light-construction-dominated automotive industry from classic combustion vehicles to electrically powered cars with autonomous driving characteristics demands cost-effective lightweight construction measures in order to avoid further escalating the already significantly higher overall vehicle development costs.

When processing high-strength components, lightweight construction is only possible if the deployed material is utilized to its maximum extent. As a result, material stress must be able to be predicted as accurately as possible through the use of mathematical simulations.

Continuously improved simulation tools for component design accordingly demand constantly improved and special material parameters from the various areas of application, e.g. the crash situation.

The presentation by Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung GmbH, entitled "Determination of Dynamic Material Characteristics in High-Strength Steel Materials in the Digital Process Chain" detailed the efforts in the material testing area to meet these demands.

Here, researchers from Salzgitter used the example of high-strength dual-phase steels to demonstrate the improvements achieved in measuring and testing technology, among others by using the latest 3D camera technology for high-precision and spatially resolved sample deformation measurement in high-speed tensile testing. In addition, improved analysis methods made it possible to determine previously unknown, uniform mathematical relationships in the development of tensile strength behavior as a function of the strain rate for the class of dual-phase steels. On the one hand, this knowledge helps to reduce the extent of experiments in the future, and on the other improves the predictability of simulation tools through more accurate prediction of the strain rate dependent hardening behavior of this material class.

The SZMF contribution was well in line with the presentations of other companies and shows that the Salzgitter technology group not only masters the production of innovative steels, but also continues to use its know-how to actively work towards supporting its customers in the field of application technology in the future.

The presentations at the colloquium have been published in EFB conference proceedings no. 48, which can be obtained from the EFB (ISBN 978-3-86776-560-2).