Aichi Steel Launches Sales of "ECOSCUT-STEEL," Environmentally Friendly Steel
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| Tokai City, August 23, 2001 -
Aichi Steel Corporation (President: Yuji Shibata) has developed a lead-free steel, called
"Ecoscut-Steel," for cars, that is expected to significantly reduce the cost of
mass-produced parts. The new product is already on the market. Aichi Steel's goal has been
to develop a product with superior-cut attributes. Its new free cutting steel technology
can be applied to many kinds of steel, and may become the foundation for producing
environmentally friendly steel for cars in the future. Lead cutting steel, which is easily cut, has been widely used for crankshafts, connecting rods, and chassis parts. A major issue, however, is that it contains lead, a harmful substance to the environment. Another reason the new steel is considered promising is the growing demand for lightweight auto-parts (which helps realize higher fuel mileage by reducing the emission of CO2). Lighter parts require stronger steel, but it is difficult to cut high-strength steel, which increases part cost. It was therefore essential to develop a new type of strong steel, which is easily cut so that steel parts will weigh less. With this background, Aichi Steel began to develop jointly lead-free steel with superior-cut attributes with Toyota Central R&D Laboratory Inc. and Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd. in 1997, and completed the basic development in 1998. Aichi Steel developed its own refining and molding technologies, as well as heat forging technology for mass production in 1999. In order to promote the use of Ecoscut-Steel, the mass production technology and know-how for heat forging, as well as the steel itself, will be available to the market. Ecoscut-Steel will be used in Toyota vehicles in August, after the auto manufacture examines the durability and its commercialization as a crankshaft.
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| <Outline of Ecoscut-Steel>
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| Product Name: | Ecoscut-Steel
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| Characteristics: | Steel sulfide containing
magnesium and calcium. It is leadless and therefore can be more easily cut than steel
containing lead
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Points of Development: |
1 2 3 4 |
teel can be cut more easily
because its components are generated by adding the proper amount of magnesium, calcium,
and sulfur Sulfide must be finely distributed in steel so as not to degrade part durability Technology to add magnesium Technology to prevent nozzles from clogging in the process of continuous molding
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| Major application: | Auto-parts including
crankshafts, connecting rods, and chassis
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| Patents: | Three patents have been filed in
Japan and one patent abroad
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| Factory: | Aichi Steel, Chita plant
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| Sales method: | Aichi Steel deals with the
entire process, from the steel lumbers to their forging, and directly delivers the forged
steel to companies in principle. (Steel lumbers are delivered on users' demand)
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| Date to start sales: | Sales formally started in August
2001
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| Sales target: | 60,000 tons annually (2005)
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| Inquiry: | Aichi Steel Corporation Part Engineering Development Div. TEL: +81-52-603-9253 |
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