Transformation hardening of steel sheet for automotive applications

Among high-strength steels, transformation hardening steels such as dual-phase (DP) steel and transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel offer a superior relationship between tensile strength (TS) and elongation (El) on a commercial scale. As demand has grown for lighter-weight automobiles, so also has the demand for higher TS, lower yield ratio, and higher hole expansion ratio grown. Recently DP steel has been developed with precipitation hardening and grain refining by TiC. A new TRIP steel composed of 5Mn-2Si and control-rolled with niobium addition suggests the formation of retained austenite (γ _R ) as much as 30% and TS × El = 3,000 kgf/mm²·%.