Innovations of Steel for Automobiles

Group 2: Corey Dixon, Matthew Edringston, Mina Isak, & Shanaya Johnson

Agenda
Introduction Body Structure Front Rail B-Pillar Body Side Outer Closures Wheels

Introduction
Innovation has taken place on automobiles to fulfill regulations to protect pedestrians, meet crash test standards , obtain customer satisfactions, and for the vehicle to be easy to repair. These requirements often conflict which makes it challenging to achieve.

Body Structure
Vehicles skeleton
Body structure Closures

Innovation from mild steel

To meet stringent crash requirements Improvement on fuel usage

Front Rail
Provides structural support for powertrain components. Important part for crash energy absorption.
Reducing chances of serious injuries to passengers.

B-Pillar
Made with advance high strength steels
Formability Must meet side impact, side pole, and roof crush crash requirements.

Sandwiches reinforcement
Inner & outer panels Part of the body side outer

Arc furnace- A steel melting furnace in to which heat is generated by an arc between graphite electrodes and the metal. Both carbon and alloy steels are produced in electric arc furnaces, and scrap rather than molten metal is used as the base material. Annealing - The cold rolling of steel strip hardens the material. Although it can be used in this condition (Known as hard bright), most strip requires annealing in order to soften it for further processes such as forming. The softening process or annealing, takes place in a furnace where the temperatures and the rates of heating and cooling are carefully controlled. To avoid scaling it is necessary to exclude oxygen from the furnace which is replaced with an atmosphere containing nitrogen or hydrogen as the predominant gas.

Metallurgical factors that influence steel strip formability

Metallurgical factors that influence steel strip formability

Austempering- heat treating process that consists of quenching a ferrous alloy from temperature above the transformation ranges, in a medium having a rate of heat abstraction sufficiently high to prevent the formation of high-temperature transformation products and in maintaining the alloy, until transformation is complete, at a temperature below that of pearlite formations and above that of martensite formation. Ductility - The property of metals that enables them to be mechanically deformed when cold, without fracture. In steel, ductility is usually measured by elongation and reduction of area as determined in a tensile test

Geometrical factors that influence formability of steel strip

Bend radius- The inside radius of a formed feature. The bend radius should be equal to, or greater than, the material thickness. A small bend radius can create fracturing at the bend due to the natural thinning that does occur at the bend radius. Also called inside radius.

Corrosion protection options

Galvanizing - Coating steel with zinc and tin
(principally zinc) for rustproofing purposes. Formerly for the purpose of galvanizing, cut length steel sheets were passed singly through a bath of the molten metal. Todays galvanizing processing method consists of uncoiling and passing the continuous length of successive coils either through a molten bath of the metal termed Hot Dipped Galvanizing or by continuously zinc coating the uncoiled sheet electrolytic-ally Hot dip galvanizing - The process of applying a zinc coating to fabricated iron or steel material by immersing the material in a bath consisting primarily of molten zinc. The simplicity of the galvanizing process is a distinct advantage over other methods of providing corrosion protection. The automotive industry depends heavily on this process for the production of many components used in car manufacturing

Corrosion protection options

hot melt wax- are thermoplastic corrosion prevention compounds. They have a solvent or waterborne formulation. hot melt waxes have been used extensively on underbody structural components to provide corrosion protection and enhance vehicle durability. Hot melt waxes are usually applied through a dipping process. The wax is preheated to a temperature between 125 and 195 degrees C (257 and 383 degrees F). Following an alkali cleaning and water rinsing operation, parts are immersed in the molten wax. The thickness determined by preheat and time immersed. Parts then returned to ambient temperature. Holt melt wax coating can withstand up to 293 F.

Corrosion protection options

Electrocoating ( e-coat) -is the process by which a metallic work piece is submerged in a paint or water bath and electricity is used to deposit paint onto the work piece. The electro deposition process is the most automatic, controllable, and efficient method for applying a corrosion inhibiting primer to a metallic work piece

Corrosion protection options

Powder Coating- is the technique of applying dry paint to a part. 2 main techniques, The item is lowered into a fluidized bed of the powder, which may or may not be electrostatically charged, or The powdered paint is electrostatically charged and sprayed onto the part The part is then placed in an oven and the powder particles melt and coalesce to form a continuous film. There are two main types of powder available to the surface finisher, Thermoplastic powders that will remelt when heated, and Thermosetting powders that will not remelt upon reheating. During the curing process (in the oven) a chemical cross-linking reaction is triggered at the curing temperature and it is this chemical reaction which gives the powder coating many of its desirable properties.

Body Side Outer

Made of 5 piece tailor blanket
Tailor thickness & strength of steel Greater efficiency and weight reduction

Innovation of advance strength steels

Closures
Doors, decklids, hoods, and hatches Technical Issues
High quality finish for paint application
Pleasing to the customers eye

Dent resistant
Effects warranty cost, factory handling, and customer satisfaction

Joining Automotive Parts

Resistance Welding
Commonly used to join two or more metal parts together in a localized area by the application of heat and pressure. The heat is produced by the resistance of the material to carry a high amperage current.

Types of resistance welding: Flash welding High-frequency resistance welding Percussion welding Projection welding Resistance seam welding Resistance spot welding Upset welding

Steel Grade
Going by the standard 18 gauge used, using 20 gauge Dual Phase steel at a very thin gauge can reduce mass by over 25%. Dual Phase steel contains ferrite and martensite microstructures, so it is very strong. Going by the current average standard of 140 microns, a thickness of 100-105 microns of a galvanized acrylic urethane coating. I chose this coating because it has a good combination of thickness, strength and durability.

Sheet Metal Thickness Gauges

Wheels
What used to be aluminum wheels are made of steel for performance reasons. Microalloy wheel prototypes tested at 11% lighter and 18% cheaper than its aluminum counterparts.

Recap
Reducing the mass of automotive components is desirable to meet stringent crash requirement, When using thinner, higher strength steel strip for auto body panels technical issues arise for the surface to be Class A, high quality finish, and be dent resistant.

Recap
Many finishing process have been developed to increase the life of the coating on the automobile. Steel grade and joining methods are also important because most of the car is made of steel so it affects alot; specifically cost!

Conclusion
The challenging requirements have been achieved using advanced high strength light weight steel.