On December 4th, the members of the COOPHS project, coordinated by Eurecat’s Metallic and Ceramic Materials Unit, met at Aix-Marseille University (France) to present and evaluate the progress made on the development, characterization, and validation of novel Press Hardening Steels (PHS) with a high component of recycled scrap.
The project focuses on evaluating an eco-friendlier production of PHS, a light and resistant structural material essential in the safety components of today’s cars. In particular, throughout the project, the implications of implementing the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) replacing the blast furnace as the main production route are being studied.
The goal of COOPHS is to deepen the complex effects introduced by residual elements common in EAF production routes on material microstructure and properties. In addition to the structural performance of the material, these trace elements have a great impact on the surface treatments and coatings necessary to achieve a long service life of the component. One of the main objectives of the project is to determine the acceptable amounts of these residual elements in an industrial deployment of these solutions.
The consortium, coordinated by Eurecat technology centre, is participated by seven entities, including actors from the steel industry, the automotive safety sector as ArcelorMittal, Gestamp HardTech AB and Letomec; and research organizations as Aix-Marseille University, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and ALBA Synchrotron (ALBA-CELLS).
