Cold-rolled, high-strength sheet steels for auto applications

Several groups of cold-rolled, high-strength sheet steels have been developed to optimize the required strength and formability levels for automotive applications. Multiphase steels offer new opportunities where high-strength levels are demanded. The future in steel development will be determined by the physical modeling of properties and by adapting new process routes such as thin slab casting and in-line rolling. In this article, developments in traditional strengthening concepts (e.g., microalloying and substitutional hardening with phosphorus) and more recently developed concepts (e.g., bake hardening and strengthening of interstitial-free steels) are reviewed.