Reduction of Burr Formation for Conventional Shear Cutting of Boron-alloyed Sheets through Focused Heat Treatment

In this work, different heat treatment methods were applied to 4 mm thick 22MnB5 sheets, in order to increase the strength of the material and thereby reduce burr formation. For this purpose, the heat treatment methods case hardening, flame hardening, and plasma nitriding were studied. After punching the hardened sheets, the characteristic cutting surfaces were determined by tactile measuring. The results of the different heat treatment methods were compared regarding the resulting burr and evaluated by means of Vickers hardness measurements and microstructural analysis.