Increasing demands made on vehicle safety as well as on environmental compatibility have required the development of improved body concepts to build lighter but also safer vehicles. Tailored pre-products made from steel sheet such as tailor welded blanks play a major role in achieving these requirements in the modern automotive body. Tailored blanks have been subject to an immense development. In the beginning it was only possible to weld single straight seams of simple geometry for small parts. Today, larger blanks, multiple design or non-linear seams can be produced without any problem due to both continually improved production concepts and lines. Other innovative tailor made products such as tailored tubes and patchwork blanks are currently being released onto market. Although these steel based pre-products require novel production and processing technologies, they still constitute the most cost effective means of weight reduced body construction.
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