Automotive weight reduction

Strong growth potential – hot forming steels

Strong growth potential – hot forming steels

Hot forming steels are a new variant that can save weight in particular on safety-relevant parts. They are first heated and then cooled rapidly in special forming dies. Hot forming steels are currently the fastest growing materials group in the auto industry. The InCar plus project showed that these steels can reduce part weight by 20 to 30 percent.

Steel composites are another current development. For example, we have developed a steel/polymer sandwich material that reduces the weight of outer panels by up to 33 percent.

The new trend – sandwich steels

The new trend – sandwich steels

TriBond is also a sandwich material. It comprises steels with different properties, for example a core layer of ductile steel between face layers of high-strength steel. This is another way of resolving the conflict between formability and strength – for example for crash-relevant parts.

Successes:

  • Hot forming steels offer weight savings of 20 to 30 percent
  • Hybrid materials reduce weight by more than 30 percent