Corus Steels spring into a new market

11 Jun 2004

The first fatigue tests of the most performance-critical grade of steel yet to be produced by Corus have been successful.

The new grade of steel has been manufactured to meet the stringent quality requirements of valve springs. These components, used in vehicle engines, are in constant motion when in use, making them one of the most demanding applications for any steel. Around 80,000 tonnes of rod a year goes into this market, but very few manufacturers can supply steel of the required quality.

Corus produced a trial quantity of valve spring steel, which was sent to specialist Swedish valve spring wire manufacturer Haldex-Garphyttan, one of the world’s major suppliers of this special spring wire. With a 35 per cent market share, the company supplies its high-quality wire to many valve spring manufacturers around the world. After continuous fatigue testing over a period of three months, the company reported that the Corus steel had performed well and they were keen to order further trial quantities.

"Valve spring steel is an advanced product, which is difficult to obtain at the quality we demand. However, we were impressed by the performance of the steel in the first trial from Corus," says David Thureborn, Development Manager at Haldex-Garphyttan. "There is a limited supply of steel that can meet such stringent requirements, so we were delighted to discover that Corus was entering the market." Michael Wild, Business Area Manager, Oil Tempered Wire, at Haldex-Garphyttan says: "For us to have a second Europe-based integrated supplier committed to this market would be a tremendous benefit to our business."

John Boddy, technology manager at Corus Wire Rod, says: "We are very pleased with these initial trial results, particularly since valve spring steel is one of the most technically-difficult steels to manufacture. Our successful record of manufacturing steel rod for tyre cord initially gave us the confidence to develop this new grade of steel. Tyre cord is another highly demanding application, and we now supply leading tyre producers around the world, so we knew we were capable of manufacturing very high-performance steels. The demand from customers was there and the timing was right for us to produce steel for valve springs."

The same steel composition that is used for valve springs, can also be used in clutch and suspension springs. Corus has supplied further trial quantities to leading wire drawers for testing in the production of these other spring types. Following successful trials in 2003, one company is now regularly producing suspension springs for the Nissan Micra from Corus steel; the volume in 2004 will be around 2,000 tonnes.

Peter Hogg, director of Corus Wire Rod, says: "We are very keen to put our new steel into full production, but it is likely to take at least 24 months before it is fully approved for valve spring applications. If successful, we would become one of only a ‘handful’ of integrated steel manufacturer’s in the world to supply this quality of steel. The trial programme is ongoing and we are actively seeking partners to join us in this process.

However, with such promising initial results, everyone at Corus is looking forward to exploring this new market for our world-beating steel"

Ends

Corus Automotive media enquiries:
Marco Ferrari +44 (0)207 494 8050 mferrari@automotivepr.com

Laurissa Mirabelli + 44 (0)207 494 8050 lmirabelli@automotivepr.com