[DeTomaso] NPC: Flash Steel

cengles at cox.net cengles at cox.net
Fri Dec 11 14:06:41 EST 2015


Dear Larry,


                You are very well read.   This is a very interesting bit 
of practical metallurgical news.   As you said, " can you weld it?" 
Thanks for sharing.


                       Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles





On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 11:28 AM, Larry - Ohio Time wrote:

> Flash Bainite
> Radically cheaper, quicker and less energy-intensive to produce, Flash
> Bainite is stronger than titanium by weight, and ductile enough to be
> pressed into shape while cold without thinning or cracking. It's now 
> being
> tested by three of the world's five largest car manufacturers, who are
> finding they can produce thinner structural car components that are 
> between
> 30-50 percent lighter and cheaper than the steel they've been using, 
> while
> maintaining the same performance is crash tests. Those are 
> revolutionary
> numbers in the auto space.
> Darren Quick did a good job explaining exactly how
> <http://www.gizmag.com/stronger-steel-in-a-flash/18882/>  Flash 
> Bainite is
> produced in our original story, but in basic terms, you take regular,
> off-the-shelf AISI1020 carbon steel, and instead of heat treating it 
> for 10
> minutes like costly alloyed steel, you put it through a roller-driven 
> system
> that induction-heats and liquid-cools the steel in a matter of 10 
> seconds or
> so.
> Generally, when you choose steel you're trading off between strength 
> and
> ductility. The hardest steels are the martensitic types, but their
> crystalline structure makes them brittle and prone to cracking when 
> you
> press or bend them, so they need to be hot pressed. Flash Bainite 
> breaks
> this rule by delivering a specific strength some 7 percent higher than
> martensitic steel but staying remarkably bendable to the point where 
> it can
> be cold pressed into shapes. The quick heating and cooling stages 
> produce a
> unique mix of fine martensite, bainite and carbides - if you want to 
> get all
> metallurgical
> 
> <http://amp.digitaledition.asminternational.org/i/211830-nov-dec-2013/50>
> about it, knock yourself out
> 
> <http://www.asminternational.org/documents/10192/17082024/Pages+from+HTPro_D
> ecember_2013_amp17111.pdf/61afa899-7863-4f83-9d5e-a7caa5e22eba> .
> With such characteristics, you could theoretically take anything 
> you're
> making out of martensitic steel and make it stronger and vastly 
> cheaper, or
> take many shapes you're cold pressing out of more ductile steel and 
> use
> vastly thinner Flash Bainite to get the same strength. It sounded 
> almost too
> good to be true, but recent testing from a number of different parties
> appears to be validating the original findings.
> In July 2011, US Army tests
> 
> <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:De5vc6d6YPYJ:www.dtic.
> mil/get-tr-doc/pdf%3FAD%3DADA588144+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au>  called 
> it
> "an extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly process" 
> and
> concluded that "the costs to produce Flash Bainite should be extremely
> reasonable and could enable widespread use for applications requiring 
> very
> high strength and adequate elongation, ductility, and toughness. 
> Current
> opportunities for flash bainite include armor and vehicle applications
> requiring ultra-high strength steels for high specific strength, 
> weight
> reduction, and high cycle fatigue enhancement."
> In 2013, a few auto manufacturers (who can't be named due to NDAs) 
> began
> running a series of tests to see how Flash Bainite might perform in an
> automotive setting. Could it be cold pressed into the kinds of 
> challenging
> shapes required by automakers? In short, yes. Flash 1600 
> (Flash-processed
> AISI1020) forms as well as the leading cold-stampable "advanced high
> strength steel" DP1180 that's only 75 percent the strength. Here are 
> some
> sample parts displayed in March 2015, cold pressed with no noticeable
> thinning:
> These parts were created in the same sizes and thicknesses as the OEM 
> parts,
> so there's no weight saving per se, but the simple and 
> energy-efficient
> nature of the Flash forming process makes them 1/3 to 1/2 less 
> expensive
> than the process currently used in manufacture.
> As this data became available, other auto manufacturers have started 
> dipping
> toes in the water as well. The Flash Project's Gary Cola tells us of 
> another
> major manufacturer that used Flash processed tubing to create car door
> impact beams, roof rails and other parts that were built into full 
> cars,
> then roof crush tested to high test results. "This OEM found that 
> Flash 1500 could offer a 1/3 mass reduction and cost
> savings over the 'industry standard' DP1000 known at the time to be 
> the
> strongest hydroformable tube," Cola says. "During this development, it 
> was
> discovered that Flash 1500 (Flash-processed AISI1020) could be formed 
> into
> very tight bends, almost as tight as simply folding a sheet of paper." 
> In Flash 1500 energy absorbing crush in this story's lead image, the 
> bends
> are twice the strength of the DP780 cans in cars today.
> Another major manufacturer "that makes 10 million vehicles per year,"
> according to Cola, tested Flash-processed steel on a structural/safety
> component of a car that is 3 mm thick and 3 lb (1.4 kg) in weight in 
> its
> current form. Using the flash treatment, a part was created that 
> weighs 2 lb
> (0.9 kg) at 2 mm thick, and passes all the same tests - and the OEM
> estimated it could be made at a cost savings.
> There are only <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry> 
> three
> OEMs that can claim that kind of manufacturing capacity in the world. 
> Only
> one of them is headquartered in Detroit where the Flash Bainite team 
> is
> based, and it conveniently happens to be locked in a war of words
> 
> <http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/08/16/how-general-motors-will-co
> mpete-with-fords-aluminu.aspx>  with a competitor that has chosen to 
> go to
> aluminum truck bodies instead of steel. Cola notes, "while aluminum is 
> good
> for hoods, decklids and door skins, Flash offers higher strength per 
> pound
> for structural safety components."
> In short, Flash Bainite is starting to look suspiciously like the real 
> deal,
> pointing the way towards significantly lighter cars that are less 
> expensive
> and more environmentally friendly to produce, and every bit as safe in 
> a
> crash - and of course, that's just in the automotive world.
> Another factor in Flash's favour is an extremely low capital cost of 
> entry
> for companies looking to get involved in the manufacturing process. 
> "The entry point for Flash equipment is about US$300K and a one car 
> garage,
> while large format equipment would only cost $5M to generate about 
> $75M in
> annual sales," Cola tells us. "Imagine if 100s of fabrication shops 
> around
> the country could make higher performing steel than the Big Steel 
> Industry
> can in their $400M seven-story tall furnaces."
> Having said that, there's currently no large scale manufacture up and
> running. Cola and the Flash Project team are working toward developing 
> their
> own commercial manufacturing operation, but hoping to license the 
> Flash
> technology to other entrepreneurs to get it out into the market. If 
> the
> business side is managed well, this looks like a genuinely disruptive 
> shift
> in manufacturing. We'll keep an eye on it!
> Larry (can you weld it?) - Cleveland
>
>
>      ------------------------------
>
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