Gestamp’s innovative lighter design for front lower control arm led to 7 year collaborative effort with SSAB, resulting in new 1000 MPa complex phase steel. This effort demonstrates the power of early design stage and ongoing collaboration, combined with SSAB’s capacity to deliver multiple steel grade iterations to solve challenging lightweighting requirements. In 2014, Gestamp started to develop a new front lower control arm for the Toyota Yaris in Europe. It soon became clear the steel grade required to develop this part did not yet exist. This was when Gestamp approached SSAB.The new complex phase grade not only had to be stronger, for lightweighting via a thinner gauge, it also had to deliver excellent local formability, good fatigue resistance, and durability for the critically important control arm.Over the course of the project, Gestamp worked closely with SSAB on everything from material composition to characterization and, finally, homologation of the complex phase steel for use on the front lower control arm.
Gestamp’s innovative lighter design for front lower control arm led to 7 year collaborative effort with SSAB, resulting in new 1000 MPa complex phase steel. This effort demonstrates the power of early design stage and ongoing collaboration, combined with SSAB’s capacity to deliver multiple steel grade iterations to solve challenging lightweighting requirements. In 2014, Gestamp started to develop a new front lower control arm for the Toyota Yaris in Europe. It soon became clear the steel grade required to develop this part did not yet exist. This was when Gestamp approached SSAB.The new complex phase grade not only had to be stronger, for lightweighting via a thinner gauge, it also had to deliver excellent local formability, good fatigue resistance, and durability for the critically important control arm.Over the course of the project, Gestamp worked closely with SSAB on everything from material composition to characterization and, finally, homologation of the complex phase steel for use on the front lower control arm.
