Flash Processed Steel for Automotive Applications

The Department of Energy (DOE) has pursued multiple strategies for making vehicles lighter and more fuel efficient. Past efforts have focused on either developing technologies to replace heavy steel components or using high-strength steels to reduce the amount of steel needed for the same load-bearing capacity. However, these techniques have proved problematic because the former requires expensive exotic materials and expensive factory retooling for manufacturers, while the latter involves using high strength steels that require expensive alloying elements or are brittle and unsuitable for automotive applications. SFP Works has developed a novel heat treating process to create low-cost, very high-strength Flash Processed steel from commercial off- the-shelf plain carbon steels. The technology uses a rapid thermal cycle to create a formable and weldable steel that is well suited for the automotive industry. In the Phase I and Phase II, SFP Works developed three grades of high strength Flash Processed Steels from plain carbon steels. In addition, it fabricated numerous automotive parts through traditional cold (room temperature) stamping operations. A prototype fuel shield was fabricated from Flash 1500 (1500 MPa Ultimate Tensile Strength) that was 33% lighter than the current production part, and passed safety testing conducted by General Motors engineers. Understanding tool wear when trimming and stamping Flash Processed steels is the last significant R&D barrier to commercializing Flash processing technology. In Phase IIB, SFP Works will determine if parts made from Flash 1100 and Flash 1500 steels can be economically die trimmed and whether the tooling surface can be fabricated so that they do not excessively wear over hundreds of thousands of stampings. SFP Works proposed to fabricate a progressive die trimming and stamping tool from hard steels commonly used in production tooling and produce 25,000 copies of a representative part to determine wear on the tool’s trimming and stamping surfaces. Commercial Applications and Other Benefit: Flash Processed steel will provide Americans with lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles that also perform as well, or better, in all passenger protection safety tests. Additionally, Flash Processed steels could allow for cranes with longer boom lengths and increased lifting capacity, and farm machinery, military equipment, line pipe, and pressure vessels that are lighter and easier to transport yet just as durable.