ArcelorMIttal to Launch Two New Automotive Steels in 2017

Usibor® 2000 provides additional weight savings for OEMs without compromising vehicle safety. Typical applications for Usibor® 2000 include strength-critical passenger compartment parts such as rail extensions, pillars, and cross members.

Usibor® 2000 has been designed to be compatible with standard press hardening technologies and processes. Industrialization efforts are currently in progress to ensure a worldwide offering to ArcelorMittal automotive customers. Tests on industrial products have shown good laser welding ability of these materials. The combination of both grades in a single Laser Welded Blank (LWB) part allows additional weight reduction.

ArcelorMittal has also been developing lower strength forms of steel that also use hot stamping, such as Ductibor® 1000, an energy-absorbing high strength steel designed specifically to complement Usibor® and offer ductility. Typical applications for Ductibor® 1000 include energy absorption parts such as rail tips and lower B-pillars.

Laser welding Usibor® 2000 and Ductibor® 1000 offers several significant advantages including weight saving, improved crash behavior and cost savings through material and manufacturing optimization.

Jean-Luch Thirion, head of Global R&D for Automotive at Arcelormittal said, “Usibor® is our key product in hot stamping, and has been a major commercial and technical success in the global automotive industry. Today, most vehicles in the world use at least 20% of our coated hot stamping ArcelorMittal products. But this can be increased to 40%, as some OEMs like Volvo have demonstrated with its recently released XC90.

“We will commercialize Usibor® 2000 in 2017, which could typically bring 10% to 15% in weight savings when compared to the existing hot stamping solutions. We will also commercialize Ductibor® 1000, which has an excellent crash ductility at a strength of 1000 MPa, in 2017. The idea behind this is to increase the scope of hot stamping products in vehicles.”