Gerdau Sidenor continues carrying out research into new steels for the car industry and which give rise to improvements such as reductions in time and costs.

On the one hand, members of the CONFAUTO project are undertaking research on a novel and emerging technology known as thixo moulding. Concretely, this involves a technology that will enable obtaining parts with complex geometry in just one step and with less effort.

In this way, transformation of steel can be achieved in a much more rapid manner, thus significantly reducing costs. On the other hand, also being researched for the project are ways of optimizing continuous casting, as well as how to optimize the choosing of materials in order to obtain higher quality steel.

The aim of the project is to develop new materials and advanced processes for the casting of car components, i.e. for the transformation of special steel into parts for vehicles.

Involved in the project, apart from Gerdau Sidenor, are five other companies given over to automobile component casting, CIE Legazpi SA of the CIE Automotive Group, Jesús Oñate y Hnos SA; a company involved in surface treatment (Metal Estalki SL) and two companies from the TTT Group (Tratamientos Térmicos TTT SA and Tratamientos Superficiales Lontech SA).

The consortium also has the collaboration of three prestigious centers belonging to the Basque Network of Science, Technology and Innovation: Gerdau Sidenor R+D, CIE R&D and Mondragón Unibertsitatea.

(Sourced from www.basqueresearch.com)