IFHTSE Global 21: heat treatment and surface engineering in the twenty-first century Part 7 – Thermal processing and past, present and future development of automotive sheet steels

Abstract

The alloying, thermal processing, microstructure and properties that have resulted in a remarkable number of new automotive sheet steels developed and applied over the past several decades are surveyed. The powerful forces that have driven the development of new sheet steels, and the coupling of mechanical design, professional society promotion and international technical conferences that have established an extensive knowledge base for present and future developments, are reviewed. Sheet steels, because of differences in chemistries, processing and mechanical requirements from those applied to bar, forged and tool steels, are not typically considered in IFHTSE programming, but the factors that have led to the dynamic changes in automotive sheet steels, and the resulting knowledge base related to heat treatment and thermal processing, deserve to be considered in the context of Global 21.

Keywords:

• SHEET STEEL
• ALLOY DEVELOPMENT
• KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
• THERMOMECHANICAL PROCESSING