Abstract
Forming more than two parts of sheet metal in a single stamping operation lowers production costs, reduces weight, and heightens dimensional accuracy. The tailored blank (TB) is a laser-welded or mash-seam-welded sheet metal with different thicknesses, different strengths, or different coatings. Recently, automotive manufacturers have been interested in tailored blanks because of their desire to improve the rigidity, weight reduction, crash durability, and cost savings. Therefore the application to auto-bodies has increased. However, as tailored blanks do not behave like un-welded blanks in press forming operations, stamping engineers no longer rely on conventional forming techniques. Field try-outs are very important manufacturing processes for an economic die-making. In the field try-outs, the rounded geometries of tool and the drawbead shape and size in die face are generally modified when the forming defects can not be removed by the adjustment of forming process parameters. In this study, the field try-outs of tailored door inner panel are introduced and evaluated. The behaviours of laser tailored blank associated with different thickness combinations in the forming process of door inner panel are described focusing on terms of experimental investigations on the formability.