Top-performance lightweighting
28 grams make a world of difference in automotive engineering. Using the GMH group’s innovative 46MnVS5 material, they can be saved on crack connecting rods. This makes this new grade of steel the reliable solution in lightweighting – and the ideal candidate for parts such as connecting rods in the higher performance categories.
The car of the future will run using steel of the future: high and ultra-high strength, to meet the growing demands made on vehicles, but as light as possible at the same time, in order to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. 46MnVS5 special steel is precisely optimised for these in many cases extreme demands on manufactured components, such as connecting rods, which are subjected to extreme stresses. It makes it possible to produce components that assure high fatigue strength, higher load transmission and maximum strength in compression, while simultaneously permitting efficient, lightweight design.
Lightweight engineering steel 46MnVS5 – the benefits:
- 10% less weight in connecting rods
- Extra-high strength
- Good workability
- Long service-life
- Suppliable without difficulty
New material, ahead of the field
Extra-high-strength PHFP steels, such as the new 46MnVS5 variant, reduce the weight of components significantly. An example – car connecting rods: the fact that it is now possible to reduce the rod cross-section compared to the use of conventional materials, such as C70S6, from 119 mm2 to 92 mm2, makes the connecting rod 28 grams lighter – a material thus predestined for lightweighting.
Lightweighting in connecting rods
The weight savings achieved using material 46MnVS5 compared to C70S6 are visibly significant.
Optimised for industrial use
This new material generates new impulses for the automotive industry. It has been developed for this purpose to readiness for series production in only five years, an achievement only made possible by the close cooperation between the GMH group, a Tier 1 subsupplier and an OEM.
46MnVS5 has a lower carbon content than its “predecessor”, C70S6. Its predominantly pearlitic microstructure thus has a higher ferrite content. Its greater strength results, on the one hand, from its high manganese content, and, on the other hand, from the generation of appropriate alloying elements by means of precipitation hardening. 46MnVS5 thus assures industrial customers of high performance – with a light(weight) and easy step!
10% weight savings
Connecting rods can save up to 10% of weight using our 46MnVS5 material.