AP&T’s press-hardening concept lives up to car makers’ growing interest in large body components AP&T的钢板热成形概念适合于汽车制造商对一体化车身部件日益增长的兴趣

Improved material utilization, lower weight, less climate impact and simpler production, these are all reasons for the car industry’s interest in press-hardened body components made of large blanks consisting of many smaller welded parts. Take, for example, ArcelorMittal’s Multi Part IntegrationTM (MPI). The process is well-suited to AP&T’s press-hardening concept, and since the fall of 2023, AP&T has a production line for manufacturing double door rings in commercial operation out at a customer site.

提高材料利用率、轻量化、减少气候影响和简化生产，都是汽车行业对由许多小板料焊接而成的一体式大坯料制成的热成形车身部件感兴趣的原因。以ArcelorMittal的Multi Part IntegrationTM (MPI)为例，该工艺非常适合AP&T的热成形概念。自2023年秋季以来，AP&T的一位客户已经在新产线上量产一体式双门环。

“With MPI, parts with different material characteristics can be integrated in one and the same blank. The constituent parts are custom-welded without overlapping, consuming less material. The weight of the blank is reduced without impacting its strength and impact safety,” says Jan Larsson, business developer at AP&T.

AP&T 业务开发经理 Jan Larsson 表示：“使用MPI，可以将不同材料特性的零件集成到同一个坯料中。 其组成部件是定制焊接而不重叠，从而消耗较少的材料。这使得板料重量会降低，但不会影响其强度和冲击安全性。”

The savings in material not only leads to lower costs, but also less of a climate impact.

材料的节省不仅降低了成本，还减少了对气候的影响。

Most of the climate impact caused by a press-hardened part during its lifecycle can be traced back to the manufacturing of the steel. As such, it is highly meaningful from the perspective of the climate to efficiently use materials. The reduction in weight also has positive effects on the finished car’s energy consumption and climate performance.

热成形件在其生命周期中造成的大部分气候影响可追溯到钢板的制造过程。 因此，从气候的角度来看，有效地使用材料非常有意义。重量的减轻还对车辆的能源消耗和气候性能产生积极影响。

For car manufacturers, MPI also simplifies production. By manufacturing components from a large blank rather than from many small ones, there are fewer work steps and tools and less space needed on the floor.

对于汽车制造商来说，MPI也简化了生产。 通过集成大板料而不是许多小板料来制造零部件，使生产中的工作步骤和工装得以减少，生产所需空间也得以减少。

“A double door ring can be made up of five or six different parts that normally need to be stored, moved, formed and assembled in the factory. With MPI, you save space and achieve a less complex flow,” says Larsson.

“双门环通常由五个或六个不同部件组成，通常需要在工厂中储存、转运、成形和组装。 通过MPI，您可以节省场地，并减少物流。”Larsson说。

Having so far delivered over 150 press-hardening lines to customers all over the world, AP&T now sees great opportunities in the increased interest in MPI.

迄今为止，AP&T已向世界各地的客户交付了超过150条热成形产线，随着人们对MPI的兴趣日益增加，我们看到了巨大的机遇。

“With our module-based program of presses, linear robots and furnaces, we can always develop an optimized line, regardless of the type of parts to be produced. When it comes to manufacturing large components, our concept of electrical, energy-efficient and compact multi-layer furnaces is extremely well-suited. Our Multi-Layer Furnace (MLF) only takes up a fraction of the floor space needed by a conventional roller hearth furnace,” says the company’s Business Manager of Line Solutions, Lennart Johansson.

“我们基于模块设计的压力机，线性机器人和加热炉的方案，无论生产的零部件类型如何,我们都能基于此开发出优化的生产线。 当涉及到制造大型零部件时，我们的既节能又紧凑的多层箱式电炉的概念非常适合。 我们的多层箱式炉 (MLF) 只占常规辊底加热炉所需占地面积的一小部分。”公司整线解决方案业务开发经理Lennart Johansson说。

Over the years, AP&T has sold a total of 70 MLFs. They are now on their third generation, with seven chambers up to 3,000 x 2,000 mm in size. Each line can be equipped with up to four furnaces, providing major flexibility. In addition, furnaces have few moving parts and require a bare minimum of maintenance, which paves the way for high availability.

多年来AP&T总共出售了70套多层箱式炉。目前为第三代产品，每套有七个炉膛其加热尺寸最大可达3,000 x2,000毫米。 每条热成形线可配备多达四套加热炉，这为生产提供很大的灵活性。 此外多层箱式炉内的移动部件很少，只需要最低限度的维修，就可带来高可用性。

“The line concept in itself lays the foundation for production with a low climate impact. In part thanks to our energy-efficient, reliable machines, and in part due to our ‘360° Lifetime Performance Offer’ which means that we optimize, upgrade and maintain the line over time to keep it performing excellently with a low climate impact throughout its lifecycle,” says Johansson.

“整体产线概念本身为降低对气候影响的生产奠定了基础。 一部分原因是我们的能源效率高并拥有可靠的设备，一部分原因也是我们的‘360度全生命周期性能方案’，这意味着我们可以随着时间的推移优化、升级和维护该产线，使其在整个生命周期内对气候的影响较低。”Johansson说道。

AP&T is now focusing on developing its offer of press-hardening large blanks.

目前AP&T正着重发展一体式热成形的解决方案。

“We have the technology and the process know-how. But, most importantly for good results, the component must be designed from the start with this manufacturing method in mind. We therefore encourage close collaboration with the car manufacturer’s designers early on,” says Larsson.

“我们拥有相关技术和工艺知识。 但是，最重要的是，若要取得优异的结果必须从一开始设计该部件就考虑到这种生产方法。 因此，我们期待在前期就与汽车制造商的设计师们密切合作。”Larsson说道