The new Ford F-150 is more than 700 pounds lighter than before largely because of an aluminum body, but ArcelorMittal has proven there's more than one way to put a pickup truck on a diet.
The world's largest steelmaker, based internationally in Belgium and domestically in Chicago, has devised designs that can shave 384 pounds off the cab, box, frame and closures of a 2014 model pickup, a 23 percent reduction. New designs for lighter auto parts use advanced steel grades developed by ArcelorMittal researchers, including at Global R & D East Chicago.
ArcelorMittal is ramping up production of those advanced high-strength steel, including by investing $46.7 million in AM/NS Calvert in Alabama, which it jointly acquired with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals Corp. The steelmaker will expand the slab yard and update the plant's No. 4 continuously coating line in order to significantly increase its capacity in North American to make press hardenable steels, chiefly the aluminum-silicon coated high-strength Usibor. As a result of the investment, AM/NS Calvert also will be able to make Ductibor, an energy-absorbing grade of steel that's more ductile.
Currently, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor is the company's only facility in the western hemisphere that makes Usibor and Ductibor. An aluminizing line at Indiana Harbor West, the former LTV mill, has been cranking out the high-strength metals for automakers who need to cut weight out of vehicles to meet stringent new emissions standards.
"This modest investment has significant market implications, increasing ArcelorMittal's Usibor and Ductibor capacity in North America to meet rapidly growing customer demand," said Greg Ludkovsky, vice president of global research and development at ArcelorMittal. "The implementation of established technologies on an existing line, which already offers excellent capabilities, will enhance our product offering and help meet growing customer demand for advanced steel grades critical to both automotive and non-automotive markets."
ArcelorMittal is particularly targeting the North American light truck market, for which it designed two new sets of steel solutions aimed at helping pickup trucks meet fuel emissions targets of 54.5 mpg by 2025, as compared to 28 mpg today. The United States has mandated that an automaker's entire fleet, ranging from dainty compacts to hulking sport-utility vehicles, must reach that average fuel efficiency target a decade from now.
Pickup trucks have been a battleground for materials as aluminum tries to pry away some of the steel industry's market share, since the lighter metal can cut the most weight out of the larger, heavier vehicles. The market segment is huge – an estimated 2.6 million pickup trucks will be built in North America this year.
And the stakes are high: beer and pop cans used to be made from steel in the United States, until the aluminum industry stole that business away.
ArcelorMittal's first set of steel solutions, which build upon the S-in motion program that cut the weight of a car chassis by 22 percent, reduces emissions enough in pickup trucks to allow them to meet regulatory standards in both America and the European Union.
A second set using emerging grades that are still being developed, but which are in the final stages.
"With these latest developments, combined with power train developments, we are now able to help the automotive segment achieve the required weight reductions to meet new fuel emission standards in all types of vehicles," Ludkovsky said. "This is a very exciting development and again shows the enormous innovation potential of steel. Steel is the most cost-effective material for vehicle applications, as well as being the most environmentally friendly."
The steelmaker has been fighting to preserve its automotive market share, working with automakers on lighter vehicles many years in advance. Metallurgists in East Chicago and elsewhere are working on up to 80 new grades of stronger steel at any given time.
Advanced high-strength steel is the fastest growing material in the automotive sector. ArcelorMittal's orders for such advanced grades are expected to rise from 20 percent of total automotive steel orders in Europe today to 35 percent in just the next five years.
Though aluminum has been much hyped as a lightweight automotive material, it's still mainly used to make castings in vehicles, said Charles Bradford, a New York City-based steel analyst. Rumors have swirled vehicles such as the Ford Explorer will switch to an aluminum body, but use of the lighter metal won't become too widespread because it's too expensive and there just isn't enough smelting capacity, he said.
Steel, which today accounts for about 57 percent of the average vehicle weight, will continue to dominate the market, but use of advanced high strength steel will continue to grow, Bradford said. Steelmakers will still suffer from dwindling volumes and revenue because if vehicle weigh 20 percent less, automakers will order 20 percent less steel.
"If the steel industry beats off aluminum, they're going to lose anyway unless they can convince automakers to pay more for value," he said. "Let's put it this way, there's never been good pricing from the automotive companies. Just a few weeks ago the CEO of Chrysler made a statement that its suppliers were making too much money. He was talking about parts suppliers and not steel, but that's the attitude."
Source: http://www.nwitimes.com