A precision-formed, shaped wire profile is used for retainer profiles in air suspension systems. Thanks to its special profiling, it ensures that the air spring bellows is held securely in place on the shock absorber, thereby improving passenger comfort and maximizing safety.
For pawls, the locking devices in car door locks, Waelzholz supplies steels for hardening and tempering that are optimized for fine blanking. Thanks to the use of soft steel materials, customers can achieve up to 100 percent smooth edges when fine blanking. Piece hardening is then used to achieve the final degree of hardness required.
Retractor springs like those used in automotive belt retractors are made of sorbitically hardened and tempered steel strip. This is because of its tremendous longitudinal tensile strength, which results in the required direction-dependent spring tension – combined with an extremely long life.
Locking springs used in car seats prevent the seat backs from tilting. The challenge is that soft materials that are subsequently piece-hardened do not achieve the necessary tolerances. Pre-hardened strip from Waelzholz, on the other hand, offers excellent formability with a strength of up to 1,500 MPa, eliminating the need for piece hardening.
High-strength, corrosion-resistant steel is used to manufacture locking discs for window regulator motors. The special characteristic of this material is its high ductility, which allows complex forming operations despite its high strength. In addition, the material from Waelzholz guarantees tight tolerances.
During the transmission of torque in automatic gearboxes, the steel strip used must be high-strength and extremely flat. With our micro-alloyed, fine-grained steels, we can achieve strengths of more than 1,000 MPa with excellent flatness.
In a windshield wiper’s rubber profile, a spring rail made of flat wire inconspicuously enhances safety – slightly bent and under tension, it presses the rubber profile onto the windshield. Rolled from wire with robust natural edges, the material offers high strength and bending uniformity.
Particularly thin precision steel strip made from stainless steel is used for bipolar plates in a fuel cell system. Our stainless bipolar plate steel grades (BPP steel grades) stand out for their excellent formability and flatness. This makes it possible to create complex shapes and serves as the basis for exceptional dimensional stability.
The material used to produce bucket tappets must be extremely stable and stiff. To ensure that these products can still be formed well over several production stages, phosphate-coated steel strip is used for these products. This has a phosphate layer that is chemically bonded to the surface of the steel strip as a lubricant system.
Stainless precision steel strip is used for hose clamps in the engine compartment. Its main advantage is the combination of high-strength material properties and high residual ductility. Thanks to the evenly adjusted rust resistance, there is no need for a further anti-corrosion coating.
Seat tracks in automobiles must be able to absorb enormous forces. This resilience conflicts with the goal of saving weight. The high-strength RAWAEL® grades meet both requirements and enable weight savings of up to 50 percent compared to conventional grades with the same strength.
Waelzholz’s NO grades are the first choice for medium to high-speed electric automotive drive systems. Our thin, non-grain-oriented electrical steel strip from a nominal thickness of 0.1 mm offers a high power density with excellent permeability and low core losses.
Guide sleeves in dual clutch transmissions are made from non-earing DC grades or case-hardening steel (NE strip). The fine grain structure of the material results in uniform flow behavior both longitudinally and transversely to the rolling direction and therefore makes it possible to produce the long and rotationally symmetrical guide sleeves without any earing.
High-precision and wear-resistant – materials used for timing chains in motors must meet both of these requirements. Flat wire products from Waelzholz are ideally suited for this purpose. Rolled from wire and hardened and tempered using the flash martensite process, the result is a more resilient material with an absolutely homogeneous structure.
Due to political guidelines, consumer expectations, and new competitors in the mobility space, the automotive industry is currently facing unprecedented challenges. As a supplier of steel materials, we help our automotive customers meet these challenges with innovative solutions in fields such as electrification and lightweight construction. Significant changes in market conditions can occur at any time, even during a vehicle’s development cycle. Which means it’s good when flexibility gives you the freedom to make rapid changes. With our material solutions, we work hand-in-hand with our customers toward achieving this singular goal. Regardless of whether the focus is on high-strength concepts, functional surfaces, or magnetic properties – we create customized steel materials. With our individual logistics models, we also guarantee flexibility and rapid response times – resulting in a real competitive edge for our customers.
