EuroBLECH 2018 Highlights

At the 25th International Sheet Metal Working Technology Exhibition, exhibitors presented their new products and innovations on an area of more than 87,000 m² for the visitors from numerous sectors such as commerce, machine construction, the automotive industry and cold rollers.  As a figurehead for the region, Salzgitter AG and its subsidiaries were housed in Hall 17 where they showed various material solutions that can be used in the body, chassis or powertrain, for example.

This year Salzgitter Flachstahl focused on special grade logistics (also called index grades at SZFG) and, as a special highlight, presented this process in a virtual reality environment at their stand. Customers, partners and interested visitors could follow the hot box loading and unloading with index grades in virtual reality. Heat boxes keep the sensitive, high-alloy slabs (so-called index grades) warm in order to avoid stress cracks that could result from cooling. These slabs can be stored in heat boxes for up to five days until they can be processed on the hot rolled wide strip line.
The trade visitors could also obtain information on individual index grades. The characteristics and application areas of 12 different steel grades were presented. These included case-hardened and quenched and tempered steels (51CrV4, 16MnCr5, 22MnB5, 42CrMo4, C35), multiphase steels (DP steels and their xtend^® and xpand^® variants), and higher strength microalloyed steels (AndroSal^®690 and AcalSal^®700), as well as SZBS800 (bainitic steel) and RobuSal^®800 (air-hardening steel).  

We appreciate the many constructive talks and look forward to seeing you again at EuroBLECH in 2020.