There are different ways to classify automotive steels. One is a metallurgical designation providing some process information. Common designations include lower-strength steels (interstitial-free and mild steels); conventional high strength steels, such as bake hardenable and high-strength, low-alloy steels (HSLA); and Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) such as dual phase and transformation-induced plasticity steels. Additional higher strength steels include press hardening steels and steel...| AHSS Guidelines
Automakers contemplating whether a part is cold stamped or hot formed must consider numerous ramifications impacting multiple departments. Over a series of blogs, we’ll cover some of the considerations that must enter the discussion.| AHSS Guidelines
Reducing the number of individual parts within an automotive body structure, through part integration, can yield further cost, weight, and sustainability benefits without compromising performance.| AHSS Guidelines
Steels with a fully martensitic microstructure are associated with the highest tensile strength – grades with a tensile strength of 2000 MPa is commercially available, and higher strength levels are under development.| AHSS Guidelines
Metallurgists use words that have precise meanings in our daily discussions, and we forget that many people we work with don’t have exposure to the terminology that we are accustomed to using. What follows is a brief tour of the words and phrases you are likely to hear when speaking with your metallurgical representative.| AHSS Guidelines
Roll Forming takes a flat sheet or strip and feeds it longitudinally through a mill containing several successive paired roller dies, each of which incrementally bend the strip into the desired final shape. The incremental approach can minimize strain localization and compensate for springback.| AHSS Guidelines
Roll forming is no longer limited to producing simple circular, oval, or rectangular profiles. Advanced cross sections highlight some profile designs that aid in body structure stiffness and packaging space reductions.| AHSS Guidelines