As reported by MEPS, and highlighted by SteelOnTheNet, the 2006 global steel output is estimated to be 1.215 billion metric tons. The 1 billionth metric ton is projected to be produced on October 27, 2006, the 300th day of the year. This is 23 days sooner than in 2005, where the billionth metric ton was produced around November 19. Like Christmas sales starting earlier and earlier each year, pretty soon we will reach the milestone at the end of the summer.
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THE WEIGHT OF STEEL WHEELS BENEFITS FROM THE USE OF NEW HIGH-STRENGTH STEELS
A study funded by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) presents some examples of wheels where the steel version was comparable in weight to their cast aluminum counterparts, with the same styling and visual appeal, yet had increased durability and were less prone to damage and leaking. In the examples cited, the rims are made from either bainitic or HSLA steel, with the disks being made from DP 350Y/600T steel.
Of course, there are plenty of examples where aluminum is and should be the material of choice based on properties needed balanced against cost. However, this decision should be made on a case-by-case basis, where the optimized products and processing are considered and compared. In the case of wheels, the steel grades considered should include the conventional and advanced high strength steels (like HSLA, bainitic, DP, etc.) rather than just mild steels.
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RFID tags are being used to track a growing number of products. WalMart expects 600 of their suppliers to have RFID tags all pallets and cases shipped to every store by early 2007. This will aid in replenishing goods when they are out of stock, and reduce inventory. According to the WalMart website, by the end of 2005, more than 200,000 tagged pallets and more than 8.5 million tagged cases had been received. (Privacy rights activists worry that Wheaties boxes will be tracked to your house, but that's another debate.)In our industry, one application is to aid in the tracking of stamped parts through to final assembly. There are times when a steel or stamping defect isn't caught until after assembly and sometimes even paint. An RFID chip would record the details of every processing step (or could be linked to a larger database), which would aid in seeing if other parts processed at the same time are also at risk. This would allow the problem part to be traced back to the incoming coil.As great at this might sound, there is also a big potential downside. The antenna component of these RFID tags are made of either copper or aluminum. If copper antennae are used on RFID tags placed on steel products (car, washing machine, drum, etc.), the resultant end-of-life scrap may not be useable in future steelmaking because of the negative effects that copper has on properties. (Integrated mills typically use around 25% scrap in their furnace charge, while mini-mills use 100% scrap.) This problem does not affect aluminum-based RFID tags. "Radio-frequency tracking tags pose recycling challenge"www.GovExec.com; August 7, 2006"Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags: Copper Content Detrimental to Recycling"www.steel.org; April 2006
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Along the sidebar, you'll see several sets of news headlines. My goal is to have this blog as the one-stop you need to make to keep updated on the latest industry news. The first group is from a list of steel, forming, and manufacturing blogs, including
Stamping Out a Living found at http://www.stampingoutaliving.com/ The Tinbasher Sheet Metal Blog found at http://www.butlersheetmetal.com/tinbasherblog The Fabricator Blog found at http://www.thefabricator.com/Fabricator-Blog/blog/client/index.cfm steelonthenet blog found at http://steelonthenet.blogspot.com/ (steelonthenet.com)
The Steel Strip Industry blog found at http://www.steelstrip.co.uk/steel-strip/feed/
The second group consists of steel and automotive news from Topix.net The third group combines feeds from Yahoo-Finance covering steel, automotive manufacturers, auto parts companies, and metal fabricators. I want to include references to aluminum and non-auto manufacturing, but I really haven't found anything I like yet. If you have any suggestions on what should be added (or deleted), please let me know.
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