Contents: Tailored Tempering
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What is Tailored Tempering?
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Why was Tailored Tempering developed?
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What are the advantages of Tailored Tempering?
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How do SoftZone tools work and how do they differ from conventional hot forming?
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A glimpse into the future of customized component properties
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Customized over standard: New paths in component design
From Standard to Tailored: Rethinking Component Design
What is Tailored Tempering?
Tailored Tempering – also known as partial press hardening – is an established hot forming process that enables the integration of locally differentiated strength and ductility properties into a monolithic component.
Translated literally as "customized heat treatment," Tailored Tempering is an advanced method in hot forming where components are selectively hardened in specific zones. Unlike traditional hot forming tools, where the entire part is quenched after forming, SoftZone tools cool the component only partially. As a result, different hardness levels can be achieved within a single part – with softer (SoftZone) and harder regions – allowing for highly precise adaptation of the material properties within one component.
These technologies have a wide range of applications in the automotive industry, particularly in crash-relevant structures that require a combination of high strength and controlled energy absorption.
Examples from practice:
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Crash structures: SoftZones are integrated into areas of the vehicle designed to deform in a crash, helping absorb impact energy and improving passenger safety.
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Door frames and pillars: These zones can be engineered with SoftZones to channel crash forces into the vehicle floor during a side impact, preserving structural integrity.
Why Was Tailored Tempering Developed?
Traditional hot forming reached its limits when it came to balancing safety and weight reduction. Cars must protect occupants during collisions – but at the same time, they must be lightweight to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Tailored Tempering was developed to meet the growing need for safety and lightweight design. It allows specific hardening and soft zone formation so that a component can be extremely strong in critical areas while remaining ductile and deformable in others.
What Are the Advantages of Tailored Tempering?
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Improved safety through excellent crash performance: Targeted hardening increases strength where it’s needed most, enhancing passenger protection.
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Weight reduction: Lighter parts help reduce vehicle weight, which lowers fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.
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Design freedom: Manufacturers gain more flexibility for innovative component designs – without compromising safety.
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Single-part manufacturing: Producing components with locally differentiated, precisely defined strength and elongation properties in just one forming step – from a homogeneous steel blank, with no need to weld different sheet materials.
How Do SoftZone Tools Work and What Makes Them Different?
Traditional hot forming treats the entire part uniformly – resulting in the same hardness across all zones. This often leads to a compromise between strength and formability. Tailored Tempering introduces controlled heat treatment that creates different hardness levels within a single part.
A SoftZone tool typically features two or more distinct tool zones, separated by an insulation plate. One section is the "cooled zone," where the component is rapidly quenched with water after forming. The other is the "heated zone," where the tool inserts are kept at approx. 550°C.
Before forming, the blank is heated to approx. 950°C, then placed into the SoftZone tool and shaped. In the cooled area, the part is rapidly quenched. In the heated zone, the part remains hot for longer, resulting in higher ductility. The component stays warm after forming and cools down slowly in ambient air, avoiding full martensitic transformation and creating differentiated properties.
A Glimpse into the Future of Customized Component Properties
In today’s fast-moving world of metal processing, Tailored Tempering and SoftZone tools are prime examples of innovative techniques pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The development of Tailored Tempering has already transformed how we think about vehicle design and occupant safety – but this is just the beginning. Every new technological leap opens the door to fresh possibilities and applications.
In the meantime, we can be proud of the progress we’ve made. Tailored Tempering is a testament to how innovation and engineering go hand in hand – shaping a safer, more efficient future.
