Flash Processed Steels for Automotive Applications
- SFP Works, LLC, Washington, MI (United States)
Development of a 1500MPa steel sheet that can be formed through cold stamping has been a long sought goal of both the Steel Industry and Automotive OEMs. During Phase I of this project, SFP Works showed that 1500 MPa steel can be produced by Flash Processing AISI 1020 plain carbon steel. The goal of this Phase II effort was to demonstrate that mechanical properties of Flash AISI 1010, AISI 1020 and AISI 1530 (AISI 1030 + 1.5%wt Mn) carbon steels can be produced on a repeatable basis from steel sources in North America, Europe, and Asia. During this Project, AISI 1010, 1020 and 1530 steel was procured from different steel vendors around the world and the strength and formability of the steels were measured after Flash Processing. In addition, representative automotive prototype components were produced and tested in relevant environments to validate that a wide range of automotive parts can be fabricated from Flash Processed steels. The project demonstrated a number of important results. First, despite the fact that plain carbon steels from different sources had distinct initial microstructures resulted from slightly different processing conditions at each mill, when the steel samples were Flash Processed, they had indistinguishable microstructures. In addition, the tensile strengths and formability of Flash Processed plain carbon steels did not depend on the steel’s source, but only on its carbon content. Welding studies showed that galvanized Flash 1500 steels can be easily welded without suffering from Liquid Metal Embrittlement. In addition, the production costs associated with Flash Processing steel sheet were estimated at $0.066/lb. Finally, the project demonstrated that a wide range of automotive parts can be cold stamped from Flash 1500 steel (Flash Processed AISI1020 steel with a 1500 MPa ultimate tensile strength). Based on the Phase II results, SFP Works estimates that parts made from Flash Processed AISI1020 at 1500MPa can replace up to 30% of the steel automotive structure at a cost savings to the automotive OEM. For example, parts made by hot-stamping high strength martensitic steels (1350-1500 MPa) at a cost of $2.25 to $3.00 per pound can now be fabricated by cold stamping Flash 1500 steel for $1.00-1.25 cents per pound for finished parts. In addition, many parts which are currently produced by cold stamping High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) can be made significantly lighter by cold stamping the parts from Flash 1500. If Flash Processed steel was used for 30% of the 2000 lbs of steel in an average passenger vehicle, it would reduce the weight of the vehicle by 200 lbs. For the 17 million cars sold each year in the US, this represents a mean lifetime energy savings of approximately 328 trillion BTU. Over a decade, the lifetime embodied energy savings of using Flash Processed steel in all the cars sold in the US would exceed 3.28 quads.
- Research Organization:
- SFP Works, LLC, Washington, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0011857
- OSTI ID:
- 1440971
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase II)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-SFPWORKS-SC0011857-Phase-II
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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