This image provided by Hyundai Steel Co. shows an electric vehicle body concept using the steelmaker’s premium martensitic steel plate.
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea’s No. 2 steelmaker, said Wednesday it had developed a premium 1.5GPa martensitic (MS) steel plate to be used for eco-friendly vehicles.
The premium 1.5GPa MS steel plate is flatter and has a higher crack resistance than any other in the same product category.
Thanks to such strengths, it can be used for various applications, including battery cases for EVs, bumpers and roof side reinforcements.
In general, the manufacturing of a 1.5GPa MS steel plate requires a rapid cooling process to secure high strength.
Its flatness, accordingly, is lowered and it cracks easily due to hydrogen penetration, thereby being limited in commercial use for vehicles.
To overcome such limits, Hyundai Steel optimized the mixture of alloying elements starting from the production stage of the original material. It also developed a string of new technologies to replace rapid cooling, as well as to minimize hydrogen penetration.
With these breakthroughs, Hyundai Steel succeeded in maintaining the strength of the steel plate at 1.5GPa, while achieving a flatness of 3 millimeters or less.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
