SBIR Phase I: 4th Generation Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) Produced via Novel High-Temperature Deformation Manufacturing

该小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将专注于开发一种新的纳米工程低合金钢系列，该系列钢在高强度（2,000 MPa拉伸强度）和高延伸率（20%）方面超越了最先进的水平。 该项目的成果将是创建一个国内设计和生产的，成本较低的先进高强度钢（AHSS），基于低合金化学和较低的能源强度制造工艺。非商品化的第四代AHSS结构材料系列的商业化将为美国钢铁制造商提供巨大的价值，这些材料具有高强度和韧性，而不会牺牲伸长率。这些具有成本效益的低合金钢可以取代目前的AHSS和其他特殊材料，如铝，金属或陶瓷基复合材料，以及纤维增强复合材料，用于国防，非公路和汽车行业的各种应用。此外，所提出的制造技术可以很容易地改造到目前的钢板和片材生产线，最少的新设备。美国的AHSS市场超过50亿美元，预计在未来五年内将翻一番。目前先进的高强度钢（AHSS）采用高合金含量，增加了它们的成本，并在强度和延展性之间进行权衡。将开发一种新的钢铁制造工艺，将获得专利的超高强度钢等温淬火工艺与晶粒变形相结合，使钢纳米结构化以提供高伸长率。拟议的第四代钢的纳米工程变形和热处理工艺已在实验室中得到验证，并大大提高了结构性能。其他工业钢晶粒纳米结构化手段已经显示出抗拉强度的改善，但表现出低伸长率，并且它们的制造方法还不容易转化为片材生产。预计拟定的制造工艺可用于制造板材、薄板和净形钢产品。这项工作的完成将产生一个优化钢材性能的技术模型，一系列原型钢材，以及一条原型生产线的设计，该生产线可以在第二阶段扩大规模，以打入数十亿美元的AHSS市场。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will focus on the development a new family of nanoengineered low-alloy steels that surpass the state-of-the-art in coupling high strength (2,000 MPa tensile strength) with high elongation (20%). The outcome of this project will be the creation of a domestically-designed and produced, and lower cost advanced high strength steel (AHSS), based on a low alloy chemistry and lower energy intensity manufacturing process. The commercialization of a non-commodity fourth-generation AHSS family of structural materials with ultrahigh strength, and toughness without sacrificing elongation will provide significant value for the U.S. steel makers. These cost-effective low-alloy steels could displace current AHSSs and other exotic materials, such as aluminum, metal or ceramic matrix composites, and fiber reinforced composites to be used in a variety of applications in the Defense, Off-Highway, and Automotive industries. Furthermore, the proposed manufacturing technique can be easily retrofitted to current steel plate and sheet production lines with minimal new equipment. The U.S. market for AHSS is in excess of $5 billion and is expected to double within the next five years. Current advanced high strength steels (AHSSs) employ high alloy content, increasing their cost, and feature trade-offs between strength and ductility. A new steel manufacturing process will be developed, combining a patented ultra-high strength steel austempering process with grain deformation, nanostructuring the steel to deliver high elongation. The nanoengineering deformation and heat treatment processes for the proposed fourth-generation steel have been proven in the laboratory and have greatly improved structural performance. Other industrial steel grain nanostructuring means have shown improvements in tensile strength, but have exhibited low elongation, and their manufacturing methods have not been easily translated to sheet production. It is anticipated that the proposed manufacturing process can be used to make plate, sheet, and net-shape steel products. Completion of this effort will result in a technical model to optimize steel properties, a series of prototype steels, and the design of a prototype manufacturing line which can be scaled in Phase II to penetrate the multi-billion dollar AHSS market.