For Immediate Release
Public Relations Division
Public Affairs Department
1170 Eighth Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18016-7699
(610) 694-3711 - Phone
(610) 694-1509 - Fax
BETHLEHEM, Pa., December 5, 1996 -- Bethlehem Steel Corporation has received a U.S. patent for a bake-hardenable, vanadium-containing sheet steel which is particularly suited to applications in the automotive market, where its added strength makes it resistant to denting. This new composition was specially developed for the production of bake-hardening steels with a corrosion- resistant coating applied by a hot-dipping process.
Bake-hardenable steels gain strength during the baking treatment that is applied to pre-formed and painted steel products, such as automotive body panels. Bake hardenability is an attractive property because the strengthening occurs after forming. As a result, sheet can be stamped when it is in a softer, more formable condition.
Bethlehem's newly patented sheet steel uses specified amounts of vanadium along with other alloying elements to provide added strength during the baking process. The new steel carries U.S. Patent No. 5,556,485 and recognizes Keith A. Taylor and John G. Speer of Bethlehem's Homer Research Laboratories as co-inventors of the product.
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