Chongqing – In a recent groundbreaking collaboration involving CITIC Metal, CBMM, and the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, the Beijing Institute of Technology Chongqing Innovation Center has embarked on an innovative venture that has established a cutting-edge platform for the application of niobium micro-alloyed automotive materials and unveiled two international joint laboratories.
The launching ceremony of the niobium micro-alloyed automotive materials application innovation platform. (Photo/qichecailiao.com)
With China’s automotive production and sales soaring to 27 million vehicles in 2022, maintaining its global dominance for 14 consecutive years, the burgeoning new energy vehicle market has taken a significant foothold.
To achieve carbon peak and neutrality in the automotive industry, there is a critical emphasis on new energy and lightweight, posting considerable technological challenges in developing, manufacturing, and integrating high-performance automotive materials and components.
The micro-alloyed technology applied to automotive steel presents a promising avenue to enhance steel strength, toughness, and formability, serving as a crucial pathway toward achieving lightweight yet safe automotive structures. A significant breakthrough has been achieved by the Beijing Institute of Technology Chongqing Innovation Center with the introduction of BriSteel technology.
This uncoated and shot-free hot-formed steel for automotive applications disrupts the patent monopoly held by AI-Si coated hot-formed steel. The Si-Cr-Re system hot-formed steel exhibits extensive utility in automotive structural materials and integrated component manufacturing, substantially elevating product lightweight levels.
These advancements have already made strides in the commercial vehicle sector, where they have been employed in commercial vehicle compartments. They showcase notable lightweight effects and bring about evident cost reductions. Two vehicle models incorporating these technologies are poised to enter the market shortly.
The newly established niobium micro-alloyed automotive materials application innovation platform will be aligned with the demands of the automotive industry. It will focus on developing high-performance niobium micro-alloyed materials, process technology, application, and certification. This aims to establish a research and application platform with international influence.
Chen Lai, Vice Director of the Beijing Institute of Technology Chongqing Innovation Center, emphasized, “The establishment of this platform will leverage each other’s strengths, leading to mutually beneficial outcomes, and foster the extensive application of niobium micro-alloyed technology in the automotive sector.”
This marks a significant move for the center as it delves deeper into the upstream segments of the new energy vehicle industry. It aims to leverage its talent pool and research strengths to explore industry demands comprehensively and unleash its full research potential.