Metal sheet and method for its treatment
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorsHartmut Baumgart, Ronald Sanders
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Abstract
A method for treating sheet metal is disclosed in which a material containing at least one alloying element is applied onto a first area of at least one surface of the metal sheet. A second area of the surface is kept free of the material. The metal sheet is subsequently heat treated in order to diffuse the alloying element into the first area of the metal sheet. The temperature of the first area is lower than the melting temperature of the metal sheet during the diffusion.
Claims8
A method for processing a metal sheet to create a product of a designated shape, the method comprising:
- identifying, based on load characteristics of the product a load area of the product that is configured to carry a load;
- applying a material, as a number of separated strips, onto a first area of a surface on the metal sheet such that a second area of the surface is kept free of the material, wherein the material contains at least one alloying element;
- subsequent to the application of the material, heat-treating the metal sheet such that the alloying element diffuses into the first area of the metal sheet;
- and
- forming the metal sheet into the designated shape with the first area corresponding to the load area.
A method for treating sheet metal to form a product from a metal sheet, the method comprising:
- identifying a first area of the metal sheet intended to correspond to a load area of the product, said load area having a higher load characteristic than a second area of the product and configured to carry a load;
- applying a material, as a number of separated strips which comprise the first area, onto a surface of the first area such that a second area of the surface is kept free of the material, wherein the material contains at least one alloying element;
- subsequent to application of the material, heat-treating the metal sheet such that the alloying element diffuses into the first area of the metal sheet;
- forming the metal sheet into a final cross section of the product via roll forming the metal sheet by passing the metal sheet in a longitudinal direction through profiled roll pairs, wherein the separated strips extend in the longitudinal direction, and resulting in the first area corresponding to the load area;
- and
- continuously cooling the metal sheet during the forming by contact with the profiled roll pairs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.