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Tailored welded blanks are increasingly being used in the motor vehicle sector, the purpose of these blanks being to reduce weight and production costs by means of a reduction in the number of parts to be assembled. The stamping of welded blanks gives new freedom in the optimization of the final geometry while raising a series of difficulties. The goal of this paper is to show a new way to stamp tailored blank with a new tool: the regulated blank-holder with localised force control. This blank holder offers thus a response to all specific tailored blanks problems.

The Research Centre of Cockerill Sambre (R.D.C.S.), together with Cockerill Sambre Tailored Blanks (C.S.T.B.) has developed a new technique, Patchwork, for the optimization of parts in the automotive industry. Patchwork means optimized and economical parts made from two or more superposed and spot welded flat blanks deep-drawn together at the same time. The technique avoids the problems of precise cutting of blanks and precise and specific clamping devices. Moreover, the use of spot welding instead of classical laser welding leads to a reduced operating cost. In this paper, we are presenting different applications where this technique has been successfully used. Such a technique has been introduced at an industrial scale on the new Peugeot 206 model. The use of the patchwork technique for the front members leads to a reduced production cost together with a high target for safety.