STAINLESS STEEL FOR AUTOMOTIVE

APPLICATIONS

Dr. T. SUNDARARAJAN
Wheels India Limited

IIT, Madras 27TH FEB 2015

 Auto Sector: Materials Selection

Safety Mass Mfg

COST

Durability
LWT MATERIALS ACROSS INDUSTRIES

SOURCE: McKinsey

Aviation currently uses the most lightweight materials in terms of share,

but automotive will catch up
SS: Superior Specific Strength

High Strength Steel

Fatigue strength is 25% of UTS; Steel 50%

Light Weighting in Auto Sector
Body, Suspension and Wheel
Sn-Zn Coated Sheet for Fuel Tank
Body
440 HSS for
Exposed Panel
Phase Controlled GA

TRIP HSS
1470 HSS Pipe
DP 600

980, 1180 Ultra-HSS Aluminized Sheet for Hot Stamping

780 High Stretch Flangability HSS Power Train

Suspension
780 HSS for Wheel Rim

Wheel DP /HSLA for Wheel Disc

15-22kg of SS are being used / vehicle

Increased Strength: Key strategy on Light weighting
Advanced High Strength Steel
 High Strength Steel & Formability

• Challenges in Forming for High

Strength Steel
• Spring back
• Cracks
• Thinning
• Affects dimension control, quality
and Fatigue life
• Research on Better forming
characteristics on New Generation
steels.
SS: High Forming Capability

• High Strength with excellent

Elongation

• Superior formability

• Strain Hardening effect

• Reduced the No of stage forming

SS For structural Parts; Space frame

Bonding non-structural bodywork, like a skin, to a tubular framework of thin-

wall tube
 Crashworthiness
• Austenitic Stainless Steels being
highly strain rate sensitive.

• Faster the loading is applied the

more the material will resist
deformation.

• Which is important for Crash

worthiness

• Stainless Steel has the capability

to collapse progressively in a
controlled and predetermined
manner.
Bumpers

SS Possess good Toughness and
Formability

Good Energy absorption –
3times than HSS

Used for Bumpers in High End
cars (Volvo) SS could for complicated shape
with less than 10% thinning

DP 800 develops crack on the

same shape
 Thinning: Case Study
Thinning

SPFH 440 SPFH 590

Fatigue life : 179,000 cycles 95,000 cycles

• Fatigue life reduced to half despite increase in Mech Properties

• Focused attention on tool design is mandatory
Hybrid Vehicles

• Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Technology

• High Temperature, High

Pressure Hydrogen Gas

• By Product : Water

• Highly humid and corrosive

environment

• May warranty conductive

coating: Manganese Cobaltite
Proton Exchange Membrane

Bi Polar Plate

Currently Used: Graphite

Brittle, expensive

Difficult to machine channels to transport water and
Gas

Alternate: Conducting Ploymer, Nickel, Titanium SS

Stainless Steel

Less cost, Formability & Known Mfg methods
 High Pressure Hydrogen Tank

• Hydrogen-powered cars will require high

pressure (+700 bar) hydrogen tanks.

• The tanks must be reliable under all

conditions and at -60 and +60°C.

• Major challenges: Insensitive to hydrogen

embrittlement.

• Austenitic stainless steels (316L) meet

this requirement + high strength required
for this application.
Exhaust Valves
• Exhaust valve in combustion engine operate at high temperature.

• Intake gas temperature is low

• Required different grade steel and SS

• Austenitic SS provides optimum performance at low cost

• Optimum mechanical properties at high temperature and oxidation

resistance.
 SS Wool for Noise Reduction
• Used in the Exhaust to reduce the
Vehicle Noise

• Warrants good oxidation resistance

• Grade: AISI 434

• High Performance silencers

• Glass and Cast metallic fiber being

used in normal silencers
Fuel Tank

Must adhere to specifications for spillage,
leakage, mounting, impact survivability, weld
requirements, venting

30 foot drop test : Tank size more than 60

liters (Trucks and Buses)

Low dent resistance Al alloys and Plastics will
not be used in such applications

SS facilitates easy forming of the complex
shape

Challenge: Cold-rolled steel sheets with Zn-Sn
coating
 Wheels

Wheels are normally made of steel
and Aluminum alloys

Mg alloys used in Racing cars

Premium cars uses SS wheels called Steel
wire wheels

Rim and Spoke 304 SS

Nipple Selenium added 316SS
amenable for drilling
Aluminum
alloy
SS Polished wire
wheel
 Piston Ring
• Top ring: Sealing ring
• Conventional: Cast Iron
• Present AISI 440 with Gas Nitriding +
PVD coating
• Improve the Scuff resistance
• Reduces the counter wear (cylinder
Liner)
• Extended service without maintenance
 Bus Body

Steels used range from low-grade (but highly effective) stainless to

austenitic grades such as AISI 301, 304 and 430

This market well established in Italy and South Africa.

In Europe, Volvo and other manufacturers offer several stainless
models.

Advantages include easy manufacturability, increased passenger-
capacity, weight-savings and the self-passivation behavior when
damaged.

Ashok Leyland pursues stainless

steel for bus ‘super structures’
 Rail System

U.S. high-speed trains or Sweden’s X2000 are impressive example of stainless
in rail transport application.

Crash-behaviour and fire-resistance properties

This specific grade has 7% nickel, 18% chromium, low carbon content, and
0.15% nitrogen.

The tiny amount of nitrogen has a major effect in reinforcing mechanical
properties.

This material is very light and strong. It is also highly resistant to corrosion from
the tunnel’s aggressively humid marine atmosphere.