Steel Mills

AK Steel Gets Funding to Develop Low-Density Steels

October 13, 2018

AK Steel has received an award of up to $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund its research into low-density steels, which could ultimately be used in automotive structural applications.

AK Steel will work on a three-year project in collaboration with DOE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines. The objective of the project is to conduct alloy design, laboratory validation, and testing of low-density steels that are alternatives to currently available advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) and other lightweight metals. These low-density steels are expected to generate energy savings by bringing efficiencies in manufacturing and lifetime savings in automotive structural applications.

“AK Steel is honored to have been selected by the Department of Energy to participate in this work to drive leading edge research in new steel technologies,” said Roger K. Newport, CEO of West Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel. “Research into products such as low-density steel alloys continues to showcase the capability of steel to provide innovative solutions for our customers, and the breadth of opportunity for further steel innovations.”

AK Steel is a leading producer of advanced high-strength steels and is heavily involved in the development of third-generation AHSS alloys to support automotive lightweighting.

This is the second recent award AK Steel has received from DOE. The prior award was focused on manufacturing new steels that provide increased efficiency in high-frequency electric motors.