ToughSteel has been nominated by the Spanish Association for Standardisation (UNE) at the CEN and CENELEC Standards + Innovation Awards 2023. This nomination highlights the standardisation work done during the project, resulting in the creation of a CEN Workshop, CEN/WS ToughSteel, and the publication of two CEN Consortium Workshop Agreements (CWAs).
A total of 38 nominations presented by 17 different CEN and CENELEC members have been announced in the categories of projects, individuals, young researchers and technical body officers. ToughSteel nomination falls into the category of projects and competes with 14 other European research and innovation projects successfully contributed to standardisation. The awards ceremony will take place in Brussels (Belgium) on October 26th, 2023.
Two CWAs to improve the quality, safety and reliability of sheet products and parts
The CWAs boosted by the ToughSteel project help manufacturers and users related to the automotive and other industrial end-user sectors to better predict formability and part performance, enabling them to reduce their production losses and time-to-market for sheet products.
The CWA 18011:2023 “Guidelines for the evaluation of the plane stress fracture toughness of advanced high strength steel sheets in the frame of fracture mechanics” describes the existing methodologies for fracture toughness evaluation in metal sheets.
This CWA compiles relevant findings from research developed in previous and ongoing RFCS projects and academic research. It also provides recommendations to be applied during the planning, design, and operational phases of the manufacture of AHSS sheets and components, as well as successful industrial case studies.
On the other hand, the CWA 18012:2023 “Test method for the determination of a cracking resistance index for advanced high strength steel sheets” describes a new testing procedure to estimate the crack propagation resistance of AHSS sheets using a Cracking Resistance Index (CRI) based on fracture mechanics. The procedure provides a fast and simple method that can be implemented as a routine procedure for in-plant quality control and material selection and/or acceptance.
