AcaSal®500+Z: Hot-rolled, high-strength steel with hot-dipped zinc coating

AcaSal^®500 is a hot-dipped, zinc-coated steel based on thermomechanically hot-rolled strip. AcaSal^®500 is characterized by a high yield point and strength, as well as very good elongation at break. These products are particularly suitable for cold forming processes such as cold bending and folding.

The new brand from Salzgitter Flachstahl is named after the acacia, whose wood displays enormous resistance. The wood is not only hard and robust, it is also very elastic and easy to process. Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH's new steel, AcaSal^®500+Z, offers precisely these characteristics.

What makes AcaSal^®500+Z special is that the high strength characteristics of thermomechanically manufactured grade S500MC steel (DIN EN 10149-2) are combined with a high level of corrosion resistance thanks to hot-dip coating.

While AcaSal^®700 is manufactured in compliance with DIN EN 10149-2, the conditions stipulated in DIN EN 10346 apply to the delivery of AcaSal^®500+Z (transverse test; reference steel grade HX500LAD, hot-rolled strip substrate material).

Salzgitter Flachstahl manufactures the AcaSal^®500+Z steel grade in thicknesses from 2.0 to 3.5 mm and widths from 1100 to 1300 mm (other dimensions by arrangement).

The DIN EN 10143 tolerances apply to the delivery. Narrower thickness tolerances are possible by arrangement.

The available zinc coating thicknesses range from Z100 to Z275. Other zinc coatings are possible upon request. Salzgitter Flachstahl is currently offering this grade only in the skin-passed version (surface type MB) as given in DIN EN 10346.

AcaSal^®500+Z exhibits a microstructure that typically consists of ferrite with small portions of other phases, such as pearlite, for example (Figure 1).

AcaSal^®500+Z is a steel that welds well and that displays outstanding formability in different applications in vehicle construction, e.g., for side and cross members in trucks and trailers, for safety elements in cars (crash tubes) and in rail car construction (Figure 2 with a bend test as an example).

This steel grade is used for cold-formed components with a very wide range of designs in order to utilize the high strength potential, while reducing the element's weight at the same time.