Automakers ‘get’ HSS; most car buyers don’t have a clue

Aug 01, 2009 | 05:38 AM |

Whether they're used in steel wagons or station wagons, high-strength steels (HSS) are gaining more and more acceptance from customers. Well, OK, not many station wagons are among North American automobile lines—people prefer minivans or smaller, more environmentally friendly cars that weigh less and have les overall impact on the environment.

But other customers are responding. A Swedish manufacturer of steel wagons for the transport of iron ore, for example, has seen great success with the use of high-strength steels manufactured by Svenskt Stal AB (SSAB), Stockholm.

The new steel wagons are in service between Lulea, Sweden, and Narvik, Norway, where the highest permissible axle load is 30 tonnes, which means that every wagon could weigh a maximum of 120 tonnes when fully laden.

Sweden's LKAB, which manufactures the wagons, has raised its delivery capacity substantially in recent years, and the trend will continue in the immediate future, according to a case study on SSAB's Web site. In order to succeed, transport must take place without disturbances and at high efficiency. The designers have outfitted the wagons for rapid loading and unloading, which takes place while the train is rolling.....