InPart Solutions – Part integration with steel

Advantages of InPart Solutions at a glance

Process efficiency

The use of tailored blanks and forming processes such as smartform^® is key to reducing complexity in the body-in-white of the body and chassis. Component integration with InPart Solutions increases process efficiency, e.g. by eliminating joining operations and shortening cycle times. Manufacturers can produce more vehicles per unit of time while reducing development effort and production costs.

Material efficiency

With appropriate component design, ultra-high-strength materials for cold and hot forming offer significant advantages in material efficiency by enabling reduced wall thicknesses. The use of tailored blanks and smartform^® in component manufacturing saves additional material and weight by eliminating joining flanges and by providing locally customized component properties.

Customization and scalability

InPart Solutions include highly customizable solutions and concepts for a wide range of target applications. Whether electric vehicle or combustion engine, low production volumes or high-volume models, body concepts focused on cold or hot forming – InPart Solutions open up extensive optimization potential in terms of weight, cost, and/or performance.

Sustainability

Lightweight design with steel today is primarily about efficiency: less material usage, less energy, fewer emissions. If desired, all InPart solutions can also be implemented using bluemint^® CO₂-optimized steels — an additional step toward more climate-friendly mobility.

Door Ring – application example for hot forming

The door ring – developed in cooperation between Baosteel Tailored Blanks and thyssenkrupp Steel – is manufactured from a tailored blank designed specifically for hot forming. The scale-free laser beam welding of the tailored blank (GONA^tech®) and the use of MBW^® steels with strengths up to 1,900 MPa improve both process and material efficiency. The AS Pro hot-dip aluminizing reduces hydrogen absorption and increases process reliability in hot forming.

Advantage InPart Solutions: The reference values for the door ring are: parts −88%, costs −13%*, weight −10%, and CO₂ −15%*.

Reference: conventional sidewall reinforcement in framing construction made from up to 8 individual parts (cold and hot forming).

* According to an analysis by MeC – Cost Analysis Consultancy.

The visualization shows the door ring with color-coded zones for manganese-boron steels MBW® 1200 (yellow), MBW® 1500 (red), and MBW® 1900 (purple).

Smart forming – application example cold forming

smartform^® uses compressive stress superposition to form, for example, large, multi-piece structural components with high dimensional accuracy. A boost for process efficiency: in addition to reducing the number of components, complex re-forming steps are eliminated and throughput times decrease. By using so-called minimal blanks with the final component contour, smartform^® also significantly improves material efficiency.

The advantages of the smartform^® solution for the longitudinal member are: parts −50%, costs −13%, weight −6%, and CO₂ −11%*.

Reference: conventional 2-part solution (0° opening angle).

* Cradle-to-gate LCA according to a certified model; battery-electric drive, 200,000 km, EU electricity mix.

smartform®: innovative forming process with compressive stress superposition

smartform^®: Preform (top) and near-net-shape component (bottom) after calibration step.

Further potential of part integration

The principles of part integration can be transferred to numerous body and chassis components. Depending on installation space, functional requirements, and material selection, there are significant effects on complexity, costs, weight, and CO₂ footprint.

Front end

Reference: conventionally manufactured front end; primarily cold-formed with separate longitudinal and cross members. Complexity reduction of the InPart solution by use of Tailored Blanks; high proportion of hot forming.

Advantage InPart Solutions: In the reference assessment, the consolidated design leads to −71% parts, −0.5% costs, +2.9% weight, and +1.0%* CO₂ compared with the baseline solution.

* Cradle-to-gate LCA according to a certified model; battery-electric drive, 200,000 km, EU electricity mix.

Seat cross member

Reference: high-strength cold-rolled martensitic steel, roll-formed with brackets made of microalloyed grades. Use of a hot-formed Tailored Blank made of highstrength MBW® 1900 with MBW® 1200 as joining partner in the InPart Solution reduces complexity, costs, and the carbon footprint.

Advantage InPart Solutions: The integrated solution examined achieves −67% parts, −15.7% costs, +22.8% weight, and −29.2%* CO2 versus the reference.

* Cradle-to-gate LCA according to a certified model; battery-electric drive, 200,000 km, EU electricity mix.

Cross member floor

Reference: five-part cross member made of highstrength steels. Part integration of the Inpart Solution by use of a Tailored Blank made of dual-phase steel in strength classes 800 and 1,200 MPa for complexity and cost optimization.

Advantage InPart Solutions: The design shows −80% parts, −7.3% costs, +2.2% weight, and +6.9%* CO₂ compared with the reference solution with multiple single parts.

* Cradle-to-gate LCA according to a certified model; battery-electric drive, 200,000 km, EU electricity mix.

Floor panel rear

Reference: multi-part strike plate made of three different grades in three thicknesses. Reducing the number of grades and material thicknesses reduces complexity and costs of the InPart Solution.

Advantage InPart Solutions: The integrated variant achieves −50% parts, −6.4% costs, +9.2% weight, and +3.1%* CO₂ versus the reference.

* Cradle-to-gate LCA according to a certified model; battery-electric drive, 200,000 km, EU electricity mix.

Wheelhouse

Reference: two-piece component made of IF steel with damper connection made of high-strength dualphase steel. Reduction the number of grades by use of a Patchwork Blank in the InPart Solution enables cost savings in tooling and body-in-white design.

Advantage InPart Solutions: The consolidated version achieves −80% parts, −4.1% costs, +3.4% weight, and +0.7%* CO₂ compared with the conventional design.

* Cradle-to-gate LCA according to a certified model; battery-electric drive, 200,000 km, EU electricity mix.

Technology enablers InPart Solutions

Key factors for InPart Solutions: Successful teamwork – materials and technologies.

Material and process excellence are the foundation for integrated, cost-efficient steel components in top automotive quality.

Tailored & hotform blanks (tailored blanks for hot forming) enable locally customized properties even in large-area components – in just one forming step. The advantages: fewer joining operations in the body shop, reduced need for separate reinforcements, and improved material efficiency.
MBW^® & AS Pro: MBW^® manganese-boron steels cover a wide strength spectrum up to 1,900 MPa. The new AS Pro hot-dip aluminizing reduces hydrogen absorption during hot forming and increases process reliability; under suitable conditions, dew point control or effusion annealing processes can be eliminated.
smartform^® relies on compressive stress superposition to achieve high dimensional accuracy in areas prone to springback – without complex re-forming operations. The use of minimal blanks increases material efficiency.
High-strength multiphase steels & third-generation AHSS, such as the jetQ^® grade, combine high strength with high ductility and are particularly well suited for crash-relevant structures. Their high lightweighting potential – like that of MBW^® steels for hot forming – enables further weight optimization, even in already weight-reduced bodies.
bluemint^® Steel offers CO₂-optimized material variants – currently based on recycling and, in the future, via direct-reduction routes – to further reduce the product-related CO₂ footprint.