Hydrogen effect on the formability of third generation AHSS for future vehicle designs.
Understanding the effect of hydrogen on the formability of 3rd generation AHSS is crucial to fully exploit their great potential as cost-effective and sustainable lightweight solutions for future mobility. Therefore, the main objective of H2FORM3G is to provide the necessary tools to prevent the risk of cracking during the manufacture of automotive components and reduce the risk of delayed fracture after forming.
To reach this goal, the project aims to generate a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between hydrogen and the microstructure of quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steels during the process of forming to ensure its safe application in the manufacture of lightweight automotive parts at affordable costs. The project includes the development of new characterization methodologies and predictive models that will contribute to accelerate the design and optimization of new automotive components made of 3rd Generation AHSS with reduced weight (10 – 20% with corresponding savings in CO2 emissions) and improved crash-safety performance. The application of these new methodologies and models will:
- reduce the time to market of new high performance steel products by reducing the time and cost of prototype validation,
- reduce the number of failed parts during production due to more accurate determination of risk of cracking during forming,
- reduce the amount of material waste (estimated 25% reduction in scrap and failed parts compared to the current situation and 20% GHG emission savings based on machine usage/time reduction) by limiting the use of trial and error methods and encouraging the use of digital predictive models.
H2FORM3G solutions are expected to strengthen the technological competitiveness of the EU steel and automotive industry (accounting for 6.1% of total EU employment), crucial for Europe’s prosperity (the automotive industry alone represents over 7% of the EU’s gross domestic product).
In H2FORM3G project, the role of the French Corrosion Institute is to establish a method for loading and monitoring diffusible hydrogen in the project steels, and to implement this procedure on mechanical test specimens for the project partners, in particular ENSTA and UBS. The French Corrosion Institute also carries out the characterization of hydrogen properties in steels and analyses their susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement.
Participants
| FUNDACIO EURECAT (Spain) is the leading Technology Centre of Catalonia, providing the industrial and business sector with differential technology and advanced expertise. | ALBA SINCROTRON (Spain). CELLS consortium manages the Spanish ALBA Synchrotron light source, which currently operates thirteen state-of-the-art beamlines. |
| Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées BRETAGNE (France) is a multidisciplinary graduate and postgraduate engineering school and research institute, and it delivers training and conducts research activities in high level ICTs, mechanical sciences and human sciences. | Arcelor Maizières Research (France) is ArcelorMittal’s largest research campus with 4 major activities. The automotive product one employs around 200 researchers and focuses on the development of new steel grades and in-use properties namely. |
| VOESTALPINE (Austria) is a business unit in the Steel Division of the voestalpine Group and was founded in 1987. In Linz (Upper Austria), voestalpine Stahl GmbH operates a fully integrated steel mill with an annual capacity of 5.9 Mt steel for flat products. | Centro Ricerche FCA (CRF) (Italy) is an industrial research organization providing R&D and innovation services for the different companies of the FCA group and its automotive suppiers. |
| MA (Italy) is the automotive division for the sheet metal forming of parts for passenger cars and commercial vehicles of the CLN Group | Letomec (Italy) is an innovative SME and a Spin-off company of the University of Pisa, promoting scientific and technological research by developing cutting-edge solutions for Hydrogen Industry. |
| Université de Bretagne Sud (France) is a multidisciplinary university located in 3 campuses over South Brittany in France. | UNIPI Universita de Pisa (Italy) is a public institution of advanced teaching and research with 20 departments, 17 libraries, and 13 museums, besides 26 centers. |
| Institut de la Corrosion (France) is among the largest laboratories in the field of corrosion and corrosion protection of materials and structures. |
Results and publications
Coming soon
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EURECAT : https://eurecat.org/portfolio-items/h2form3g/
This project is co-funded by the European Union in the frame of the RFCS (Research Fund for Coal and Steel) program
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The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the RFCS. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.