Making Stronger Steel As Light As Aluminum

The world’s largest steel maker, ArcelorMital, says it has come up with a new kind of steel that the world has never seen before. Thanks to nanotechnology, the company says automakers can now match the weight of aluminum cars, but do it in steel at far lower cost.

Specifically, ArcelorMital says it can take 188 pounds out of the body-in-white of a car. The body-in-white, or BIW, refers to the basic structure of a car, including the doors, hood and deck lid. That’s a big number. By taking so much weight out of the structure, other components such as the powertrain, drivetrain, brakes, etc. can be downsized as well. In other words, the total weight savings could be even bigger.

ArcelorMital is already showing this new kind of steel to automakers. It isn’t yet ready to publicly divulge any of the technical aspects of the steel or how it’s using nanotechnology to make it. The company says we’re still two to three years away before we get those kinds of details. And that’s about the time we’ll see this steel show up in production. No word yet on which car company may be the first to use it, but the rumor on the street is that Ford is all over this technology.

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John McElroy is host of the TV program “Autoline Detroit” and daily web video “Autoline Daily”. Every week he brings his unique insights as a Detroit insider to Autoblog readers.

Continue reading Steel nanotechnology can reduce the weight of our cars

Steel nanotechnology can reduce the weight of our cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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