A high-strength steel being developed at Missouri University of Science and Technology could help auto manufacturers in their quest to meet future fuel efficiency requirements.
The development of this new steel, known as a “third-generation advanced high-strength steel,” is under way at Missouri S&T’s Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center.
“We are currently refining the steel design to achieve ‘Gen 3′ mechanical property goals while also maintaining manufacturability,” says center director Dr. Ronald J. O’Malley, the F. Kenneth Iverson Endowed Chair of Steelmaking Technologies at Missouri S&T. “This is one of the most promising generation-three steels I’ve seen.”
Under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations, auto manufacturers must improve the fuel efficiency of their vehicles year-by-year through 2020. Regulators have set a tentative goal of increasing fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks by the 2025 model year.
Reviewed 2015-06-30