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Hot Form Quench (HFQ) is an aluminium (Al) forming process invented by Dr. Daniel Balint and Professor Jianguo Lin of Imperial College London, and Professor Trevor Dean of University of Birmingham. The HFQ process uses standard aluminium sheet to form complex, high volume components equivalent in size and shape to conventional steel metal parts.

HFQ Technology
The patented process involves heating aluminium sheet above its Solution Heat Temperature (SHT) at which austenitisation occurs, forming the sheet between dies into parts, and quenching the formed sheet (Figure 1). There is also an additional step between heating and forming of applying cooling means to the sheet. The HFQ process overcomes one of the previous major drawbacks of aluminium cold forming process by enhancing stiffness of formed component through improved ductility.



HFQ Benefits
The automotive industry is facing growing pressure from regulators to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The EU legislation {SEC (2007) 60 and SEC (2007) 61} for example mandates car manufacturers to meet an average emission target of under 130 g CO2/Km by 2015 and 95 g CO2/Km by 2020. In terms of fuel consumption, the same legislation requires new cars to meet fuel consumption target of approximately 5.6 litres of petrol per 100 km (l/100 Km) and 4.9 l/100 Km of diesel by 2015. The 2020 targets of fuel consumption are 4.1 l/100 Km of petrol or 3.6 l/100 Km of diesel. Since, Aluminium is already a material of choice due to its lightweight and corrosion properties the HFQ technology provides following additional benefits:


 * Enables production of lighter, stronger, and highly sophisticated components cost effectively
 * High formability enables forming of complex shapes not possible with traditional methods
 * Minimal spring-back due to optimized base material properties
 * Suitable for high volume production

Commercialisation
The HFQ technology is in early stage of its commercial life-cycle but it has potential to solve key challenges faced by automotive and transport industry to solve emission and fuel consumption problems. The HFQ technology is owned by Impression Technologies which is backed by Imperial Innovations Group plc, a leading technology commercialisation and investment group.