The development of ultra high strength steel has been an important part of the Innovative Research and Development of New Structural Materials, a national project of Japan. The project, with Japan's NSSMC, JFE Steel and Kobe Steel as the major participants, aims at developing an ultra high-strength steel sheet which can achieve the performance of tensile strength of 1.5GPa and elongation of 20% simultaneously by the fiscal year of 2020. Currently, due to the smooth progress of the research and development, the project is expected to achieve the target ahead of schedule in the fiscal year of 2017.
The mid-term goal for the project is to develop a steel sheet with tensile strength of 1.2GPa, elongation of 15% in the 2015 fiscal year. But in the fiscal year of 2014, the three companies had a successful trial in the laboratory. It is reported that compared with the traditional 590MPa-level steel, the ultimate goal of 1.5GPa-level ultra high-strength steel can reduce the weight of auto parts by 30%.
Japan’s national project, the Innovative Research and Development of New Structural Materials, designed to lighten the weight of cars, planes, trains and others, and to promote high-performance of raw materials, is expected to revolutionize the technologies in six fields including steel, aluminum, titanium, magnesium, carbon fiber and other raw materials. The period for the project is 10 years (from 2013 to 2022). Three whole-process steel companies, 36 non-ferrous metal companies and other research institutes have participated in the project.
From: World Metals