As automakers increasingly rely upon lightweighting and advanced structural materials as key technologies, the use of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) with tensile strengths of more than 1,000MPa continues to grow. AHSS is forecast to be the fastest growing material in automotive applications and will represent 40% of vehicle content on body and closures by 2025. 
​
However, the thermo-mechanical properties of AHSS that improve strength and ductility also come with formability challenges. Higher-yield-strength materials have a greater tendency to retain coil set. The American Iron & Steel Institute has published guidelines to help with stamping and forming AHSS, but the flatness required to feed advanced steels to the press has been largely ignored...