The NanoSteel Company, Inc.

The bulge test is used to understand bi-axial forming capability. In using steel for real world structures, material has to stretch in multiple directions. Bulge testing is a basic method of understanding a material's capability to be formed into useful shapes. For the test, the material sheet is held in place around its perimeter and a solid tool stretches the sheet into the bulge shape until failure occurs. In some test variants, hydraulic fluid pressure creates the bulge, eliminating tool surface to material friction.

NanoSteel’s portfolio of 3rd Generation Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) for the automotive industry features both high strength for part thickness reduction and enhanced formability for innovative new part designs. This combination of properties can provide vehicle weight reduction while maintaining stiffness, ride quality and safety.

NanoSteel has made a breakthrough in the design of advanced high strength sheet steel by discovering a developmental pathway that delivers the combination of high strength with the formability and ductility needed to stamp automotive components. Through these unique performance capabilities, NanoSteel will allow the use of thinner, higher-strength parts in the pursuit of lighter and more fuel efficient vehicles.

The tensile test is a key basic test used at NanoSteel for initial evaluation of material strength and ductility. In this test, a standard size ASTM specimen is pulled from either end and stretched until failure. The test provides an understanding of a material’s basic uniaxial mechanical properties.

The bend test takes a flat piece of steel and bends it into a U-shape using a tool mandrel of varying radii in a free or tensioned state to determine the ability of the material to withstand the tension or compression placed on the material before failure occurs. In this test, the bending limit is determined when a piece is bent to such an extent that it cracks. It provides an understanding of the limitations on corners and edges.

The hole expansion test is used to evaluate the ability of the material to withstand lambda strain which defines a different formability condition than bending, drawing, or bi-axial forming. In this test, the material is held in a die and then punched to make a hole, which is subsequently expanded until the point of cracking. This test indicates a material's ability to accommodate hole and edge flange forming.