Page 17 - MetalForming March 2012

conventional 60,000-psi pumps.
Flow equips the Mach 3 with its Dynamic Waterjet motion system that, say company officials, eliminates the inside corner washout and taper produced by conventional systems, by tilting the cut- ting head to the side and forward during cornering. Penn Stainless processes stainless-steel sheet, plate, bar, structural shapes and pipe and tubular products.
Flow Intl. Corp.: 253/850-3500;
www.flowwaterjet.com
Role of Steel in Future
Automotive Applications
As automakers work to reduce mass and satisfy new fuel-economy require- ments, amid increased demands for improved performance and reduced emissions, the Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) stresses the role that new grades of steel will play in vehicles of the future. According to SMDI, a busi- ness unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute, industry research finds that newly developed grades of advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) significantly outperform competing materials for cur- rent and future automotive applications.
“The mass of a typical light-duty vehi- cle comprises about 60 percent steel, says SMDI vice president, automotive applications Ron Krupitzer. “Indepen- dent research shows that AHSS repre- sents the fastest growing material in auto- motive applications.”
According to SMDI, although steel has always been used in vehicles, the mate- rial continues to evolve, as evidenced by new grades of AHSS. Krupitzer notes that AHSS were first introduced for use in vehi- cles in the mid-1990s. In May 2011, the WorldAutoSteel FutureSteelVehicle proj- ect introduced 20 new AHSS grades that are three to five times stronger than those developed in the mid-’90s.
Krupitzer also notes that advances in manufacturing processes have increased the mass savings achievable with AHSS by 35 percent, keeping steel in the ball- park with aluminum. And, he adds, when
considering a vehicle’s life cycle emis- sions, steel provides considerable ben- efits over competing materials.
SMDI stresses the need to shift the basis of vehicle-emissions regulations from tailpipe-only emissions to life cycle, which includes material and vehicle pro- duction, driving and end-of-life-recycling. According to Krupitzer, most alternative
materials generate emissions during their manufacture that are five to 20 times greater than those generated by steelmaking. And, as tailpipe emissions are reduced through the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles, manufactur- ing emissions become an increasingly larger part of the environmental equation. SMDI: www.autosteel.org
Materials & Coatings
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