Gestamp and SSAB collaboration leads to new Docol 1000CP steel
Gestamp’s innovative, lighter design for front lower control arm lead to 7-year collaborative effort with SSAB, resulting in new 1000 MPa complex phase steel. This effort demonstrates the power of early design-stage — and on-going — collaboration, combined with SSAB’s capacity to deliver multiple steel grade iterations to solve challenging lightweighting requirements.
In 2014, Gestamp started to develop a new front lower control arm for the Toyota Yaris in Europe. It soon became clear the steel grade required to develop this part did not yet exist. This was when Gestamp approached SSAB.
“This is exactly how SSAB likes to work: to be invited right at the start of the project,” said Ben Cook, Sales Segment Manager, SSAB UK.
Dr. Mehdi Asadi, Manager Materials Engineering, Gestamp Chassis Germany, added, “We embarked on the challenging, seven-year journey to develop a new high-strength steel grade that would become Docol 1000CP.”
The new complex phase grade not only had to be stronger — for lightweighting via a thinner gauge — it also had to deliver excellent local formability, good fatigue resistance, and durability for the critically important control arm.
Over the course of the project, Gestamp worked closely with SSAB on everything from material composition to characterization and, finally, homologation of the complex phase steel for use on the front lower control arm (FLCA).
“We were able to try a huge number of different compositions thanks to SSAB’s flexibility and quick turnaround when it came to the prototype materials,” explained Carlota Arenillas, Innovation Project Manager, Gestamp Chassis Spain.
“This new material (Docol 1000CP) has enabled us to deliver a front lower control arm that is significantly lighter than its predecessor,” noted Gestamp’s Asadi.
For more information, please contact:
Daniel Sund, Product Manager Hot-Rolled AHSS
daniel.sund@ssab.com
Josu Pina, Market Development Director SSAB Europe
josu.pina@ssab.com
About Docol Automotive Steels: SSAB innovates advanced high-strength steels for the automotive industry, providing its Docol AHSS steels and expert resources to automakers so they can meet their lightweighting and crash performance goals. SSAB supplies a large number of standard grades of Docol high-strength automotive steels — including AHSS, UHSS and gigapascal strengths — with hundreds of variations to meet specific VDA, SAE, EN, JIS, and OEM standards.
SSAB is a Nordic and US-based steel company. SSAB offers value added products and services developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger, lighter and more sustainable world. SSAB has employees in over 50 countries. SSAB has production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the US. SSAB is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has a secondary listing on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.ssab.com.
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Gestamp is a multinational specialized in the design, development and manufacture of highly engineered metal components for the main vehicle manufacturers. It develops products with an innovative design to produce lighter and safer vehicles, which offer lower energy consumption and a lower environmental impact. Its products cover the areas of bodywork, chassis and mechanisms. The company is present in 24 countries with more than 100 production plants, 13 R&D centers and a workforce of nearly 40,000 employees worldwide. Its turnover in 2021 was 8,093 million euros. Gestamp is listed on the Spanish stock exchange under the ticker GEST.
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