 Corus develops metals which empower designers and engineers to create cars that are beautiful, reliable, safe, and sustainable.
The properties of Corus’ steel and aluminium products are tailored for the expression of styling and the realisation of performance in the modern car. In a very real sense, these metals have become ‘intelligent’ for their purpose.
The company’s dedicated approach is based upon a deep involvement in automotive design, a close relationship with the automotive industry, and many activities that encourage and reward design and engineering excellence. Expressing the car in metal Change in appearance The appearance of the car has changed dramatically in the hundred or so years of its life. What a car looks like has become as important as how it performs. Today, design is a key differentiator in marketing the car.
The materials and methods of construction that express the car have had much to do with the change in its appearance. Steel and aluminium have evolved into highly versatile and flexible mediums. Corus continues to play a significant part in that evolution. The aim is to empower designers and widen the scope for expressing the car. Shaping the car The shape of a car has long been a significant factor in consumer choice. Highly formable steel and aluminium products from Corus are increasing the freedom to shape car styling. These metals, together with technologies such as laser-welded tailored blanks, allow large stampings with complex geometry and dedicated properties in particular areas of the part.
Shape, however, is influenced by a host of performance requirements, such as the high priority given to safety. Here again, steel and aluminium and their technologies are addressing the challenge for safety without increasing mass. Structural requirements are being met with elegance in design. High-strength metals and new processing technologies are giving the same or greater strength with less metal.
Hydroforming, together with steel or aluminium tubular blanks, can increase strength and rigidity yet allow a continuously changing cross-section in a component originating from a single, tubular piece of metal.
The low unit weight of aluminium combined with its high strength makes possible very slim designs from aluminium extrusions.
Special aluminium alloys are available which have excellent hemming properties. These alloys allow panels to meet with very narrow gaps between them, improving the flow of shape across the surface of the car.
But appearance is more than shape.
The finishing touch Car finishes have come a very long way in the relatively short history of the motor car.
The showroom finish expected as a matter of course by consumers involves a highly demanding process starting with the surface of the metal. In order to achieve high-quality paint finishes, metals are produced with a high-precision surface morphology, guaranteeing the maximisation of critical parameters such as gloss and image distinction. The result is a lustrous, mirror finish in the showroom.
Such metals must are also compatible with the pre-treatment and paint systems used by the world’s car manufacturers.
Customers expect that showroom finish to last.
Keeping up appearances Steel and aluminium keep their appearance. Steels coated with zinc and with organic materials have transformed the durability and therefore the appearance of today’s cars. Aluminium alloys have inherent resistance to atmospheric corrosion afforded by their oxide film. These metals help keep cars looking good and they reduce the effects of scratches.
Stainless and plated steels have long been a by-word for steel that looks good and lasts.
Part of keeping up appearances is resisting the incidental knocks that are part of the life of the car. Bake hardenable metals, for example, remain highly formable during pressing, but gain strength and dent resistance in the paint stoving process.
The look of the future Freedom of design is a relative expression. The appearance of the car is influenced by many factors including consumer desires, performance, safety, cost, and the environment.
Through research and development into metals and technologies, Corus is dedicated to expanding the scope for designers to express the car. | 
