In the automotive industry new and ultra high-strength steels are helping to reduce vehicle weight whilst simultaneously increasing vehicle safety. In rail transport highly stress-resistant high-tech steels can almost double the service life of rails and turnouts. Together with increased track availability, reductions in material input also have a positive impact on the life cycle assessment.
The existing Metal Engineering Division plant in Leoben-Donawitz is designed for minimum production quantities of 68 t, while even lighter, purer, and higher-strength steels are developed at the TechMet where the production units are smaller, at up to 5 t.
Product development at TechMet follows a reduced CO₂ route: electricity generated from renewables provides the power to melt the pre-materials, and this reduces CO₂ emissions at the site by at least 2,800 t each year. The core components – apart from the furnaces also a continuous caster – were supplied by a Styrian plant manufacturer based in Bruck an der Mur. The 2,800 m² research center is located in a former, almost 100-year-old, foundry building at the site in Leoben-Donawitz which has now been comprehensively renovated.
_{(Source: voestalpine AG)}