Economy
MSC Wins Auto Lightweighting Award for its Smart Steel
Written by Sandy Williams
August 22, 2019
Material Sciences Corp. was named as one of five winners of the 2019 Altair Enlightment Award given to honor the greatest achievement in vehicle weight savings.
MSC was honored for its MSC Smart Steel, a new multilayer steel laminate engineered as a direct substitute for low carbon steel stamped vehicle body parts. Offering a 20 percent to 40 percent mass save compared with same-thickness standard steel, MSC Smart Steel is produced as a coil, stamped in conventional dies, spot welded with existing equipment and processed through standard electro-coat and paint systems – essentially compatible with existing manufacturing systems. This is the first ever spot-weldable, low-density composite laminate to be used in a body application. The new material will debut in the market as roof bows on the 2020 Lincoln Aviator and the 2020 Escape/Corsair platforms.
“I describe it as achieving the ‘Triple Crown’ of automotive technology recognition,” said Matt Murphy, MSC chief technology officer. “First, we were awarded new MSC Smart Steel business on two all new global Ford platforms. Then, back in February, we won the prestigious Automotive News PACE Award for innovation. Now, we’ve won the Altair Enlighten Award for this remarkable product we call MSC Smart Steel. It has been a great year for Material Sciences Corporation!”
MSC provides advanced solutions in metals, metal products and metal processing across a diverse array of end-use markets. Specialties include electrogalvanizing, continuous coil-coating, laminating, acoustic composites and supply chain management. Headquartered in Canton, Mich., MSC has manufacturing operations in East Chicago, Ind.; Walbridge, Ohio; Canfield, Ohio; Elk Grove Village, Ill.; Los Angeles, Calif. and Toronto, Ontario.
Sandy Williams
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