A New Role for Micro-Alloyed Steels:Adding Economic Value

Micro-alloyed (MA) steels have matured during the past 40 years into an important class of high-strength structural materials. Their cost-effectiveness has been enhanced by the growth of steel making electric-arc-furnace (EAF) and the thin-slab-casting process. A recent project involving an ultra-light-steel auto body (ULSAB) concluded that high-strength-steels are the materials o f choice for the automotive industry. This study showed that replacing cheaper carbon steels with high-strength steels allowed automakers to reduce the weight of an auto body at the same or at potentially lower costs. The same economic principles can be applied to other applications. The strengthening effects of vanadium make microalloyed steels particularly suited for high-strength-steel applications. By effectively combining grain refinement and precipitation hardening, vanadium maximises the strengthening process and is compatible with current steel-processing technology. To dramatise the cost effectiveness o f these high-strength-steels in potentially new applications, a series of demonstration projects are needed involving the co-operation of steel producers, fabricators, and users. In many applications, the decision to replace plain-carbon steel with higher strength vanadium-bearing microalloyed steel can be shown to improve the profitability of both the steelmaker and the steel user.