Scientists and engineers working on behalf of the U.S. automotive industry are nearing completion of a multiyear effort to accelerate the incorporation of advanced high-strength steels in American-made cars and trucks. This article reports on work to develop and validate an integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) model optimized for third-generation advanced high-strength steels.

By effectively mitigating the historical paradox between strength and ductility, a new advanced high strength steel with a mixed microconstituent structure enables automotive sheet steel to meet automobile efficiency requirements.

Automobile performance and passenger safety both rely on sound spot welds in advanced high-strength steels. A new, high-frequency ultrasonic matrix phased array probe performs nondestructive inspection of these welds, saving time and cost.