The automotive sector has been expanding immensely over the recent years, with the transforming material choices for manufacturing sturdy and durable automotive structural components. Moreover, the lightweight trend has taken over the automotive sector, thereby boosting the need for automotive structural steel made of lightweight alloys. Automotive structural steel is utilized to provide greater strength to vehicle components. Automotive structural steel manufacturers mix alloys of different elements to achieve greater strength of the automotive structural steel. Furthermore, the superior cold forming ability of automotive structural steel is contributing to its increasing application in the automotive sector in the manufacturing of arms of trucks, boom, and trailer frames. The changing dynamics of the automotive structural steel landscape are expected to influence the material choice for manufacturing automotive structures.
Galvanized Steel: Latest Material Choice?
Galvanized steel is a prominent type of automotive structural steel that is gaining major significance owing to its beneficial factor that includes protection from rust and corrosion, reliability, lower maintenance, and others. There are several developments witnessed in the automotive structural steel landscape centering the galvanized steel product, which are likely to make this product a future material choice for automotive manufacturers. Governments of emerging nations are also bullish over the benefits offered by galvanized steel.
For instance, the Indian Government, under a said proposal by the Road Transport and Highway Ministry aims to mandate the automotive manufacturers to utilize 70 percent galvanized steel for manufacturing car body panels. The galvanized steel is less prone to corrosion, which would thereby offer greater safety to the automotive structures. As corrosion affects the overall safety and durability of vehicles, this proposal of raising the percentage of galvanized steel application from 30 percent to 70 percent, would be a notable step to minimize the corrosion of vehicles.
Apart from government norms, various other developments are being witnessed in the automotive structural steel landscape, wherein companies are expanding their businesses with a focus on the galvanized steel line. For instance, an America-based materials technology company, Material Sciences Corporation expanded electro-galvanizing line at the manufacturing operation in East Chicago, thereby underpinning its commitment of growing its product portfolio of lightweight automotive solutions.
Advanced High-Strength Steel Trend to Redefine the Automotive Structural Steel
The advanced high-strength steel is continually growing and evolving in terms of its application, especially in the automotive industry. Although they have been here for long, the ongoing research activities are further creating advanced solutions. Advanced high-strength steel aid in meeting requirements such as efficiency, emissions, durability, safety, and others. On account of this, new innovations are being introduced in the automotive structural steel market. For instance, SSAB, a recognized player operating in the automotive structural steel landscape, introduced a new range of hot rolled advanced high strength steel that consists of improved ductility required by the automotive manufacturers. Such an offering enables less scrap material and improved cost-efficiency, allowing automotive manufacturers to develop innovation and revolutionary auto-components that utilize the properties of steel completely.
Automotive Structural Steel Market: Investments Reinforcing New Developments
With the burgeoning demand for automotive structural steel for producing high-level automotive structures to further boost the strength of automobiles, several investments are made in this avenue, thereby fueling the growth of the automotive structural steel landscape. Moreover, the need for lightweight automotive components is further fueling such investments.
For instance, AK Steel Holding, a steelmaking company recently received an award of nearly 1.2 million dollars from the US Department of Energy to explore the revolutionary low-density steels that could be used in the automotive structural application. The main goal of the project under the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office program is to conduct alloy design, perform laboratory validations and testing to investigate the low-density steels against the presently available light-weight alternatives such as the advanced high strength steels and others.
The automotive structural steel landscape is witnessing major developments with the increasing demand for effective materials that could boost the capabilities of the automotive structures. Readers can gain an insightful understanding of future opportunities in the automotive structural steel landscapes by clicking here.
