Tailored blanks

ArcelorMittal’s Tailored Blanks division is a world leader in laser welded blanks (LWBs) with design and production facilities in most parts of the world, including Canada, the United States and Mexico.

For 100+ years, each automotive part stamping has been produced from one single piece of steel.

That method takes extra steel, secondary processes, time and money. At ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks, our capabilities allow all the engineering to be done BEFORE stamping.

We can laser butt weld two or more separate steel shapes together to make one piece. Most Laser welded blanks (LWB) are made from two unique pieces but some are made from six or more different blanks.

This allows us to put the thickness, strength or corrosion protection only where it's needed. The part is then stamped and no secondary processes are necessary.

Some examples of a tailored blank include:

• Door inner needs to be thicker in the hinge attachment area
• Front rail, rear rail, B-pillar or full door ring – softer grade or lighter gauge in the area of first/greatest impact. This absorbs energy. Then within the same part, we transition to stronger or thicker areas which prevent intrusion. This saves lives.

Additional benefits include:

• Weight reduction from eliminating spot weld overlap flanges
• Better nesting of irregular shapes with a coil to reduce engineered scrap and cost
• Improved quality from avoided part shape distortion that results from spot welding parts together or inside one another

Our facilities are equipped with state of the art inspection and tracking systems that ensure each customer gets the highest quality and can trace the provenance of their steel.

These cutting edge processes mean an increase in vehicle safety, savings in weight, transportation and floor space, Energy usage over multiple steps also reduces the carbon footprint of the part manufacturing and the resulting vehicle it goes into.