PROSTEEL

Enabling early-stage predictions of final material properties and component performance based on chemical composition is a key technology in digitalisation of future efficient material development process chains.

In materials processing and product development it is of utmost importance to control the entire process chain, from raw material to finished component, to ensure quality, robustness and performance of the final product. Future models must be able to couple the chemical composition via microstructure and manufacturing steps to the final properties. This offers a significant advantage for development of competitive high-performance materials for the global market.

PROSTEEL bring together a multidisciplinary consortium including a complete value chain from material development to end user. This project is aimed at developing knowledge, data, and tools to enable a digitalised process chain that can predict final component performance based on material composition and processing route.

This will support both steel, metalworking, and automotive industries in Sweden to strengthen their competitiveness. This feasibility study is expected to result in heat treatment process parameters and increased understanding of the relationship between microstructure, mechanical properties and tribological performance. Multi-dimensional transformation-property diagrams and friction and wear maps will be created. The results will be the foundation for an application to a continuation project.

Project partners

• Luleå University of Technology
• Gestamp HardTech AB
• Scania CV AB
• SSAB EMEA AB

Funding organisation

The project is funded within the Call "Springboard for the metallic materials of the future - Step 1" within the strategic innovation program Metallic materials