Structural automotive body components in AHSS steel

BIW components with low weight, high safety, and high stiffness

Developing a car with low weight is easy; developing a car with high safety and stiffness is easy; doing all three simultaneously is a challenge. 

To achieve lightweighting, 5-star safety ratings, and superior handling means optimizing all your model’s structural components. Best practices include early involvement with your AHSS/UHSS manufacturer, who best understands how their steels work – as well as new grades under development you might want to use in the near future.

The roof rail in Docol^® CR1700 martensitic steel is first roll formed and then 3D bent into its final shape (Left image courtesy of Shape Corp., right image courtesy of Ford Motor Company.) 

Roof rail improves car visibility via roll-formed 1700MS

An existing roof rail was a hydro-formed tube in CR100DP steel. The Tier 1 supplier, Shape Corp., proposed to Ford Motor Company a new roof rail using roll-formed and 3D bent Docol^® CR1700M. The new roof rail costs less, improves crash performance, reduces weight, and increases visibility – earning it the Swedish Steel Prize.

Car sill reinforcement uses CR1400M to replace costly hot-forming process

Always looking to reduce costs, an auto OEM took a serious look at the hot-forming process used to make its car sill reinforcements – the specialized presses and furnaces, the material handling, the energy use, the CO₂ emissions, and the extra production time. 

Looking for a material with performance that was comparable to the press hardened steel, the OEM chose Docol^® CR1400M. The cold-rolled 1400 MPa martensitic steel could be cold roll formed in a conventional forming line – eliminating all the disadvantages of PHS – and resulting in significant overall cost savings.

Car sill reinforcement with 1400MPa tensile strength, made by conventional cold roll forming of Docol^® CR1400M steel.