Abstract
Due to the need for advanced technologies in the automotive industry, the demand for lighter and safer vehicles has increased. Even though various nonferrous metals, like Aluminum, Magnesium and also Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP), have been implemented in the automotive industry, a lot of technical research and development is still focused on ferrous metals. In particular, the market volume of High Strength Steel (HSS) parts and Ultra High Strength Steel (UHSS) by hot press forming parts has expanded significantly in all countries' automotive industries. A new tool steel, High Thermal-Conductivity Tool Steel (HTCS), for stamping punches and dies has been developed and introduced by Rovalma Company (Spain), and it is able to support better productivity and quality during hot press forming. The HTCS punches and dies could help to reduce cycle time due to their high thermal conductivity, one of the major factors in hot press forming operation. In this study, test dies were manufactured in order to verify the high thermal conductivity of HTCS material compared to SKD6. In addition, thermal deformation was inspected after the heating and cooling process of hot press forming. After heating and cooling, the test dies were measured by a 3D scanner and compared with the original geometry. The results showed that the thermal deformation and distortion were very small even though the cooling time was reduced by 2 seconds.