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The crash performance improvements achieved by using Press Hardened Steel (PHS) based laser welded blanks are reported. The interest of using a dedicated welding process to avoid excessive AlSi coating dilution is discussed. In-use properties analysis demonstrates the interest of this concept. Case studies are performed on door-ring and rear rails to demonstrate the strong potential in terms of weight saving and crash performance.

Ultra and Very High Strength Steels (UHSS, VHSS) solutions are proposed by ArcelorMittal to meet front, side, rear and rollover crash requirements. UHSS and VHSS steel monolithic solutions have strongly progressed crash safety and lightening. Another step towards higher performance is afforded by UHSS and VHSS Tailored Welded Blank (TWB) configurations. Three parts are analysed that participate actively in vehicle crashworthiness: sidemember, B-pillar reinforcement and front-end bumper. A comparison between monolithic solutions and TWB solutions is presented, in order to determinate the extra gains (i.e. mass saving, energy absorption) that a TWB solution can offer.