Nippon Steel developed a 2.0 GPa-class aluminum-coated hot-stamping steel sheet with excellent resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, and it has been adopted for lower-body structural reinforcement components in Nissan Motor's new Elgrand. It is also being applied to vehicle body components made by overseas automakers. The material is said to demonstrate competitiveness as a next-generation high-strength hot-stamping material.
Nippon Steel announced that it had developed a 2.0 GPa-class aluminum-coated hot-stamping steel sheet with excellent resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, known as the 2.0G AL-HS material, and applied it to lower-body structural reinforcement components in Nissan Motor's new Elgrand. It has also been adopted for reinforcement components in the upper bodies of vehicles made by overseas automakers.
While the use of high-strength steel sheets is considered effective for reducing vehicle weight, overcoming hydrogen embrittlement, in which exposure to hydrogen reduces strength, has been a challenge. The new material is said to be the result of optimizing the manufacturing process to address this issue.
Nippon Steel regards this adoption as evidence of its competitiveness in the global market for high-strength hot-stamping materials and has indicated that it will continue seeking to expand the material's application to a wider range of components.