A Family of Automotive Formable Hot Rolled Strip Steels-Their Properties and Applications

The Australian steel and automotive industries have been cooperating to rationalise automotive hot strip production and usage in Australia. This has permitted a reduction in the number of required grades from 63 to 7. The 4 most critical grades in this rationalized range comprise the Xtraform Family of Formable Strip Steels. These steels are of nominally 200, 300, 400 and 500MPa yield strength with tensile strengths to meet ‘equivalent’ SAE and JIS standards. This paper details the state of development in mid 1935 and describes the composition structure and properties of the Xtraform series. Excellent results have been achieved in comparison with imported steels in the vital areas of Low-cycle Fatigue and Spot Weldability. Applications of the steels in various automotive assemblies are described in three case studies.