Products for the automotive and automotive supplier industry

These include our components made from phs-ultraform® and phs-directform®—lightweight vehicle components made from press-hardened, galvanized steel. They are used in safety-relevant locations including A and B pillars, cross-members, and sills.

Our “ultralight” steels help reduce vehicle weight while improving crash performance. The ultra-high strength steels for cold and hot forming are ideal for manufacturing complex modules used in the passenger compartment, autobody parts, seat rails, profiles, and many other areas.

Our tailor-welded blanks in various steel grades and plate thicknesses are used to produce customized component properties—vital for greater crash safety while simultaneously reducing vehicle weight. 

Large exterior body panels are designed to catch the eye on modern vehicles, making them one of the most sophisticated segments in our product range. We manufacture parts from steel or aluminum sheet on fully automated press lines, using tools up to 5 meters in size, for 

• doors,
• side panels, 
• hoods, and
• fenders. 

We also make assembly parts, such as doors, trunk lids, and engine hoods. This involves complicated joining technologies such as laser welding and brazing, clinching, gluing, riveting, and roller hemming. 

voestalpine Böhler Welding products cover the complete range of welding and brazing applications for automotive construction, guaranteeing that all automotive components are securely joined. This includes welding and brazing applications for structural parts, autobody parts, exhaust systems, and brazing applications used in e-mobility, as well as drive components for the powertrain, gearbox, air-conditioning, battery modules, and electric motors.

Almost 60% of all cast parts worldwide are used in automotive construction, as cylinder heads in engines, in air-conditioning systems, in safety belts, etc. We provide manufacturers of extremely thin-walled die-cast components with a complete range of offers. We work with them to develop die casting molds that optimize the cooling phases. As a result, our customers profit from lower reject rates, reduced downtime, and significantly increased energy efficiency. Die-cast components are produced either using conventional manufacturing processes or additive manufacturing (3D printing), as required.

Injection molding is one of the most popular processes used in manufacturing plastic products. This highly sophisticated process can realize a huge variety of extremely precise shapes and structures, predominantly for use in the automotive industry. 

Whether designed to mimic the appearance of wood, fabric, or leather, plastic injection molding tools create perfectly structured surfaces for use in vehicle interiors. Our engineered products for plastic injection molding are produced using either conventional manufacturing processes or additive manufacturing (3D printing), as required.

Our engineered products services are another piece in our long value chain. The High Performance Metals Division has its own sales and service network and offers a focused portfolio of services:

• additive manufacturing,
• coating,
• heat treatment,
• processing and cutting services, and
• warehousing.

Whether powered by electricity, biofuels, or conventional fuels, we apply voestalpine expertise to support all drive systems. They include fuel tank vent pipes and fuel injection pipes, as well as turbocharger shafts made from cold heading wire, all of which play an important role in high efficiency combustion engines. The materials used to construct the inlet and outlet valves used in every combustion engine must be particularly robust. Our valve steels are capable of withstanding the permanent thermal and mechanical stresses as well as corrosive attack from engine exhaust emissions.

In the automotive industry, electrification of the powertrain is a key trend in current developments. We support OEMs and the supplier industry with intelligent technologies and sustainable material solutions. 

Our high efficiency electrical steel strip isovac® and isovac® high strength are designed for compact construction in electric drives. isovac® is our non-grain oriented electrical steel strip and plays a vital role in achieving high levels of energy efficiency in e-mobility. Highly effective insulating varnish on the strip surface enhances performance. Our electrical steel strip is used in constructing stators, rotors, and servomotors.

Group company voestalpine BÖHLER Welding offers special brazing consumables for e-mobility applications. One example is their brazing foils, used for resistance brazing in battery systems and drive components.

Our broad range of lightweight construction products supports OEMs as they strive to expand electric vehicle driving ranges. They include our rotor shafts made from seamless precision steel tubes for weight-saving applications in electric drives.

Drivers should arrive at their destination safely. That’s why we are working across the Group to create products for highly effective safety systems. Our focus lies in the broad range of passive safety components incorporated into a vehicle body, such as bumpers, integral, cross and side members made from high-strength steel which absorb impact forces in crash situations. 

Hundreds of millions of tailored tubes for belt and buckle tensioners, hood lifters, and airbags are helping protect vehicle passengers and other road users worldwide.

In addition to their use in safety systems, tubes are used in many areas of modern vehicle construction, including autobody parts and elements in steering, seating, and suspension systems.