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Fundamentals of Automotive Steel Sheets - Steel Material
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The carbon steel sheets used for most of the automobile body account for about 50% of the total weight of a general passenger vehicle. The main reasons steel sheet is used are: availability, ease of manufacturing, and low cost. The ability to alloy steel with other elements allows adjustments to material strength, hardness, and toughness.
The carbon content in the steel greatly impacts its characteristics greatly, with some categories based on the carbon content volume alone.
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Pure iron contains almost no other elements other than iron (Fe) and is very soft, thus its use is very limited. One of the few examples of automotive uses is for electromagnets. Cast iron cannot be wrought, so it is mainly used for cast parts.
Steel can be categorized into carbon steel and alloy steel (special steel). It can also be categorized by purpose of use its shape (stick, plate, pipe, etc.). |
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Most of the steel panels used for automotive bodies are made of carbon steel (alloy of iron and carbon) based on the design requirements of formability, durability, and endurance.
Carbon steel is an alloy with the main composition of iron (Fe) and 0.035 to 1.7% of carbon (C), and small amount of silicon (Si), manganese (Mn), phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S). Among those compositions, carbon has the most significant impact on the steel’s characteristics.
In case of using high-carbon steel which contains a high amount of carbon, the body panels will have a very strong impact resistance but a poor formability and welding capability. Because of this, low-carbon steel is mainly used for body panels. It generally contains a lower amount of carbon (0.1 to 0.4% or less). | | 