Author : K Harsha Vardhan, V Shubhanyu, U Raj Kumar and D Sai Abhishek

In order to improve our living standards in all aspects, it is an endeavor to find suitable structural materials for efficient functioning with an assurance of catastrophic-free failures and abundant availability of such materials at relatively low cost. Since the humanity, started using iron (and steel) for various applications from that age. As a result, until now, more than 2500 variety of steels have been made. As our understanding of metals and alloys goes deeper and deeper with modern testing tools, we are able to improve properties like strength and ductility and at the same time reducing the weight of the structural steel. Demand for such material is becoming mandatory in industries like sheet metal industry and automotive industry, where the transport vehicles have to be designed to meet the stringent requirements like the safety of human beings in case of collision with other vehicle or any obstacle and emitting less dangerous gasses and thus protect the environment. Keeping this in mind, first- generation Advanced High-Strength steels (1G-AHSS) was produced but it involved hot stamping and reheating sheet. To overcome such treatment at higher temperature, second –generation AHSS (2G-AHSS) was created with alloying elements. Though this steel was made with high strength and good formability, it requires high levels of alloying elements, which are very expensive. Nowadays, the industry is making all efforts to make 3G-AHSS to overcome disadvantages, associated with previous generation of steels, using new concept, namely quenching and partitioning (Q &P) to provide necessary balance between strength, formability and cost.

Keywords: Advanced High Strength Steels, hot stamping, Reheating, formability, Quenching and Partitioning

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.7, No.3 (June-2017)