Steel Mills
ArcelorMIttal to Launch Two New Automotive Steels in 2017
Written by Sandy Williams
June 12, 2016
ArcelorMittal is set to expand its portfolio of automotive steels by launching two new products in 2017, Usibor®2000 and Ductibor®1000.
According to a spokesperson at ArcelorMittal , Usibor® 2000, which has been under development for some time, is a new Aluminum-Silicon coated high strength steel that will be even stronger than its predecessor Usibor® 1500.
Usibor® 2000 provides additional weight savings for OEMs without compromising vehicle safety. Typical applications for Usibor® 2000 include strength-critical passenger compartment parts such as rail extensions, pillars, and cross members.
Usibor® 2000 has been designed to be compatible with standard press hardening technologies and processes. Industrialization efforts are currently in progress to ensure a worldwide offering to ArcelorMittal automotive customers. Tests on industrial products have shown good laser welding ability of these materials. The combination of both grades in a single Laser Welded Blank (LWB) part allows additional weight reduction.
ArcelorMittal has also been developing lower strength forms of steel that also use hot stamping, such as Ductibor® 1000, an energy-absorbing high strength steel designed specifically to complement Usibor® and offer ductility. Typical applications for Ductibor® 1000 include energy absorption parts such as rail tips and lower B-pillars.
Laser welding Usibor® 2000 and Ductibor® 1000 offers several significant advantages including weight saving, improved crash behavior and cost savings through material and manufacturing optimization.
Jean-Luch Thirion, head of Global R&D for Automotive at Arcelormittal said, “Usibor® is our key product in hot stamping, and has been a major commercial and technical success in the global automotive industry. Today, most vehicles in the world use at least 20% of our coated hot stamping ArcelorMittal products. But this can be increased to 40%, as some OEMs like Volvo have demonstrated with its recently released XC90.
“We will commercialize Usibor® 2000 in 2017, which could typically bring 10% to 15% in weight savings when compared to the existing hot stamping solutions. We will also commercialize Ductibor® 1000, which has an excellent crash ductility at a strength of 1000 MPa, in 2017. The idea behind this is to increase the scope of hot stamping products in vehicles.”
Sandy Williams
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