A method of producing a hot press-formed product, in which a die includes a hard layer having a skewness (Rsk), as measured in a direction from the outside of a die hole toward an inside of the die hole, of from −5.0 to 1.2, and a hardness Hv_Die of from HV 1,000 to 1,800, over the entirety of a region of a steel sheet contact surface that is adjacent to a die shoulder portion. The steel sheet contact surface is a surface located outside of the die hole and configured to contact a hot-dip galvannealed steel sheet that is to be subjected to hot press forming.

A die includes a die body and a removable shell. The die body includes a supply flow channel formed inside the die body. One end of the supply flow channel opens at the surface of the die body. The supply flow channel is to be supplied with a fluid for temperature adjustment. The removable shell is mounted removably to the surface of the die body. The removable shell includes an outer surface that constitutes at least a part of the forming surface of the die. A temperature adjustment space is provided in the surface of the die body or in the removable shell. The temperature adjustment space is in communication with the supply flow channel. The removable shell is divided into a plurality of shell pieces. The plurality of shell pieces are arranged in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the die on the surface of the die body.

A steel sheet for the manufacture of a press hardened part is provided, having a composition of: 0.15%≤C≤0.22%, 3.5%≤Mn<4.2%, 0.001%≤Si≤1.5%, 0.020%≤Al≤0.9%, 0.001%≤Cr≤1%, 0.001%≤Mo≤0.3%, 0.001%≤Ti≤0.040%, 0.0003%≤B≤0.004%, 0.001%≤Nb≤0.060%, 0.001%≤N≤0.009%, 0.0005%≤S≤0.003%, 0.001%≤P≤0.020%. A microstructure has less than 50% ferrite, 1% to 20% retained austenite, cementite, such that the surface density of cementite particles larger than 60 nm is lower than 10{circumflex over ( )}7/mm.sup.2, and a complement of bainite and/or martensite, the retained austenite having an average Mn content of at least 1.1*Mn %. Press-hardened steel part obtained by hot forming the steel sheet, and manufacturing methods thereof.

The present invention provides a hot-stamping formed article made of steel, in which the hot-stamping formed article has at least one of a tensile strength of 1200 MPa or more and a martensitic steel structure and includes a first portion, a corner portion, and a second portion, which are sequentially continuous from one end portion to the other end portion in a longitudinal direction, each of the first portion, the corner portion, and the second portion includes a top sheet and two vertical walls connected to the top sheet when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the second portion includes a first outwardly-extending flange adjacent to the vertical wall, and the corner portion includes a vertical flange extending from the vertical wall of the first portion, a second outwardly-extending flange adjacent to the vertical wall located on an outer peripheral side of the corner portion out of the two vertical walls, and a transition portion in which the vertical flange and the second outwardly-extending flange are continuous.

A hot press line (100) includes: a heating device (30); a first press device (10) having first die parts (1A, 1B); a second press device (20) having second die parts (2A, 2B); a first transportation device (41) that transports a metal sheet (B) to the first press device; and a second transportation device (42) that transports the metal sheet (B) to the second press device. One of the pair of first die parts and the pair of second die parts includes a clearance portion (1Ac) recessed inwardly, whereas the other pair of die parts includes an abutment surface (2At) in at least part of the portion corresponding to the clearance portion (1Ac) of the one pair of die parts, where the abutment surface abuts the metal sheet (B) when the die is at the bottom-dead center.

A hot-stamping formed article is formed of a single steel sheet, and includes: a top sheet portion; a pair of standing wall portions; and a protrusion portion which connects the top sheet portion to the standing wall portion and protrudes outward from the top sheet portion, in which the protrusion portion includes an inner wall portion which stands upright from the top sheet portion, and an outer wall portion which is folded outward from an end edge of the inner wall portion, and an angle between the top sheet portion and the protrusion portion is 80° to 90°.

A press-hardened shaped sheet-metal part, in particular a pillar reinforcement for a motor vehicle bodyshell, which has different sheet thicknesses and strengths, with an unhardened first region, or a first region which is hardened only to a small extent, and with a press-hardened second region, wherein the second region has a larger or smaller sheet thickness than the first region. A transition region, which, starting from the first region, has a sheet thickness transition zone, an intermediate zone, and a strength transition zone, is formed between the first region and the second region.

A hot press apparatus includes a first die part 2 and a second die part 3, and a control unit 9. At least one of the first and second die parts 2 and 3 includes a recess 3a in the surface facing the other die part in the direction of pressing. A movable die part 4 is provided in the recess 3a. The control unit 9 controls the movable die part 4 such that the bottom-dead-center holding period, for which the first and second die parts 2 and 3 are at the bottom-dead center, includes an abutment period for which the movable die part 4 abuts the metal sheet B and a non-abutment period for which the movable die part does not abut the metal sheet B.

The die includes a die base, a die body, and an opening/closing member. In the die base, a storage portion for storing refrigerant is formed. The die body includes a mounting surface, a forming surface, and a plurality of flow channels. The mounting surface is located on the storage portion side of the die base. The forming surface is located on the opposite side of the mounting surface. The flow channels pass through the die body from the mounting surface to the forming surface. The opening/closing member is disposed between the die base and the die body. The opening/closing member includes a plurality of through holes corresponding to the plurality of flow channels. The opening/closing member is configured to be movable with respect to the die base and the die body such that each of the through holes brings the corresponding flow channel and the storage portion into communication.

A method for producing hardened steel components is provided. A sheet bar is cut from a galvanized strip made of a hardenable steel alloy. The sheet bar is cold-formed into a component blank and heated to a temperature that produces a structural change to austenite. The austenitized component blank is conveyed to a form hardening tool and is held in a form-fitting manner by an upper tool and lower tool, which have a shape essentially corresponding to that of the component blank. Due to the contact of the material of the component blank with the tools, the heat is removed from the steel material quickly enough that a martensitic hardening occurs. After the galvanization of the metal strip and before the temperature increase for achieving the austenitization, tin is applied to the surface of the strip, sheet blank, or component blank.