The ToughSteel project has been disseminated at the 6th International Conference on Steels in Cars and Trucks (SCT 2022), celebrated from June 19th-23th in Milan (Italy).
Daniel Casellas, Scientific Director of Eurecat, partner coordinating the ToughSteel project, delivered the presentation “New approach to evaluate edge cracking resistance and crashworthiness of thin metallic sheets” within the framework of the session “Hydrogen embrittlement / Edge cracking I”.
The presentation explained a methodology patented by Eurecat that proposes a new form of fracture toughness analysis of thin advanced high strength steel (AHSS) sheets and high strength aluminium alloys based on the Essential Work of Fracture (EWF) method. During the last years, Eurecat Technology Center has worked intensively on the application of this method to evaluate fracture toughness in a more cost-effective way. The EWF methodology has shown to be suitable to readily measure the fracture toughness of high-strength sheet materials and the results can be used to understand their cracking behaviour during forming or in crash situations.
Two other related works were presented at the conference by Eurecat members, Sergi Parareda ( “Fracture toughness to assess the fatigue notch factor of high strength steels for chassis parts”) and David Frómeta (“3rd Gen AHSS for high crashworthiness automotive applications”). Apart from the presentations, all these contributions will be published as part of the conference proceedings.
During the conference, ToughSteel also strengthened links with partners from CuttingEdge and Crash&Tough, two of ToughSteel’s sister projects addressing the fracture toughness of AHSS for edge cracking and crash performance prediction.
