Nowadays, most of the tools of Volvo Cars Body Components (VCBC) in Olofström are hardened by flame hardening or induction hardening process. Indeed, VCBC has developed their own equipment for flame and induction hardening:
However, Volvo has detected that 74% of the total cost of one year maintenance was caused by trim dies and the main reason is actually trim edge problems which represent 26% of year maintenance.
This is why the R&D Forming & Material department is investigating some ways to reduce those excessive costs caused by cutting tools.
As a consequence, in this project, we will study the laser hardening of cutting tools. The aims of this project were to investigate:
* The laser hardening process
* The limits of different tool materials with this laser process
This master thesis should give a beginning of answer to the following question: Is the laser hardening process a suitable alternative to induction hardening process for trim dies at VCBC ?
This work has been conducted at Volvo Cars Body Components in the R&D Forming & Material department.
Author: Miralles, Marc
Source: Luleå University of Technology
Download Link: Click Here To Download This Project Report (PDF)
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