[DeTomaso] NPC: Flash Steel

Fri Dec 11 14:48:21 EST 2015

Yes - great question.
If you weld cold-treated steel, it isn't afterwards.
dave

On 12/11/15 11:06 AM, cengles at cox.net wrote:
> 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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