Meeting the Automotive Sector's Future Needs

摘要

Bar steel products, including forgings, remain critical to successful automotive design and production. And there are opportunities for enhancing that success. Steel long products, including bar, rod and wire products, account for about 20 to 25% by weight of the steel used in North American light and heavy vehicles based on information provided in a 2010 Mega Associates study. Of this total, more than 85% are parts sourced from hot-rolled bar products. Parts made from steel bars represent 400-500 lbs. of an average North American vehicle, and this quantity has remained consistent despite automotive OEMs' ongoing lightweighting programs. The steel bars are manufactured into a wide variety of vehicle components, many of which are forged components, including: gears, connecting rods, crankshafts, injector systems, camshafts, hubs, bearings, transmission shafting, steering racks, steering linkages, stabilizer bars, constant velocity (CV) joints, drive axles, suspension springs, and more.