ThyssenKrupp on Lightweight Materials

Automotive IQ interviewed Jýrgen Schramm, Head of Product Management at ThyssenKrupp, on lightweight materials and the TriBond steel material. Mr. Schramm, what is your role at ThyssenKrupp and where do you set your focus in work?

I’m responsible for the product management in our sales department. Me and my team are committed to satisfying the expectations of our automotive customers for products which help them to meet their weight and safety performance targets in a cost efficient way. To reach that we follow the approach of early vendor involvement to keep close contact to our customers and to provide solutions, directly derived from their requirements.

Currently we see a lot of media attention for new and exotic materials in automotive such as composites and carbon fibres. Where do you see steel composites positioned in this?

In general, composite materials combine properties which are not reachable with a monolithic material. In the case of TriBond, a steel clad material, this means a combination of highest strength and high ductility. With the ongoing trend of further lightweight design in cars, modern composite materials will become more and more important.

The speciality of steel composites in this field of materials is the outstanding ecological sustainability and cost competiveness compared to other lightweight solutions. In our opinion, modern car design will be only sustainable by using a high amount of steel composites.

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Where do you see the main advantages for TriBond products in hot forming and through out the full life cycle of a car?

TriBond for hot forming combines the extremely good formability in hot forming process with highest strength and high ductility on the hot formed component. The actual serial material MBW 1500 is, because of its lower ductility on the hot formed part, only applicable for body-parts with high deformation resistance and almost no energy absorption. Because of the much higher ductility of TriBond, this material allows hot forming to access body-parts which are used for energy absorption and therefore improving weight reduction in the car body. By only replacing current cold formed material in the front rails, usage of TriBond leads to up to 20% weight reduction.

ThyssenKrupp announced production status for TriBond in mid-2015. What is the current status in production and what are the challenges in the manufacturing process?

In mid-year of 2015 ThyssenKrupp announced the production readiness for TriBond 1200 and 1400. Currently we are building up a further packaging unit to enlarge our production capacity. So, we are ready for production, and automotive producers can buy the material from now on. Our automotive customers are currently running the approval processes and we are confident that by end of 2018 the first cars made with TriBond will hit the roads.

With the right steels for body in white constructions you are able help car designers and engineers to get every car right, from optimal product safety to greater fuel efficiency. What kind of innovation and solutions are you most interested in?

The good thing with high strength steels and steel composites is, that you do not have to choose either safety or fuel efficiency. All our new developments combine both – safety and improvement of lightweight design.