Impression Technologies’ HFQ process combines stamping, heat treating

Impression Technologies Ltd. has introduced Hot Form Quench (HFQ®) Technology in the U.S. The manufacturing process, which combines stamping and heat treating in a single operation to produce complex aluminum parts up to 20 percent lighter than corresponding cold-formed components, has been used for five years in European car models.

The technology fabricates thin, fully formed parts through an integrated process. According to the company, European OEMs are replacing steel and cold-formed body pillar supports, door reinforcement panels, and other structural and multipiece assemblies with these components to help lower carbon emissions and improve gas mileage.

The process heat-treats 6000 and 7000 series aluminum blanks and transfers them to a stamping press, where they are formed at high speed and quenched in the tool. This proprietary, in-die process produces complex geometries from ultrahigh-strength grades of aluminum.