Products and Technical Applications

Contact person: Menno van der Winden

This department specialises in aluminium product development, and characterisation and experimental support for both Steel and Aluminium.

• The Molten Aluminium Processing group focuses on identifying relevant technological developments in primary and secondary aluminium production, and on processes for casting molten aluminium to rolling ingots and extrusion billets.
• The Aluminium Metallurgy group develops new or improved aluminium products for specific markets.
• The Metallography and Surface Analysis group performs micro-structural, chemical and morphological characterisation of metals, interfaces and coatings.
• The Technical Experimental Support group provides experimental support using a wide variety of thermo-mechanical testing facilities, including the Tata Steel Research Multi Mill. The group supports the development of industrial production methods, instrumentation and equipment for Tata Steel RD&T, Tata Steel hubs and their customers. This includes producing prototypes or models used to visualise design concepts. The group also provides advice on the application and corrosion performance of materials, as well as failure analysis.
  
  

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Contact person: Nico Langerak

The Automotive Applications department provides the technological knowledge and skills to enable Tata Steel hubs to achieve a leading position in the Automotive market. The department carries out research projects on material properties and behaviour as well as structural and corrosion performance of cars.

• The Mechanical Performance of Products group aims to provide the knowledge and skills on mechanical performance of car parts and assemblies.
• The Joining Technology group provides the knowledge and skills to determine the optimum ways of joining of products for the Automotive market. The group is especially strong in laser and arc-welding.
• The Stamping Technology group provides expertise on stamping technology to support automotive customers in applying the products of the hubs within Tata Steel. The group also provides technological support to a variety of markets using expertise on design and forming. As well as generating ideas for new products, the group covers problems related to use of metals in areas like transport, furniture and domestic appliances
• The Plasticity, Tribology & Forming group provides the combined knowledge and skills in the area of plasticity of metals and tribology of forming processes, thereby establishing a sound scientific knowledge basis, notably for the more practice-oriented stamping group.

For further information go to www.tatasteelautomotive.com.

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Contact person: Jon King.

Text to be published

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Contact person: Michael Steinhorst

The emphasis here is on the application and general performance of metallic and organic coatings.

• The Surface Science group focuses on surface science and developing techniques for surface analysis and electron microscopy. The group works on plasma deposition and chemical vapour deposition, foam composite panels and surface analysis, including laser and spark based techniques, and gives technical support to a variety of markets.
• The Metallic Coated Strip Products group focuses on coatings technology for metallic coated strip products and on the identification and development of new products and coating technologies. The emphasis is on galvanising technology, product development using new coatings and physical vapour deposition techniques.
• The Organic Coated Products group uses knowledge in the fields of organic and inorganic coating technologies on new product or process development and product and process improvement.
• The IJmuiden based Surface Technology and Durability group aims at improving corrosion resistance, enhancing (in)organic coating performance, and engineering the surface appearance of aluminium and steel strip systems.
  
  

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Contact person: Hans van der Weijde.

The Packaging Applications department provides the technological knowledge and skills to enable Tata Steel to achieve a leading position with products for the packaging market.

• The Coatings Technology group aims at developing front running technologies for the design and application of metallic and organic coatings on steel and aluminium. The emphasis in the work of the group is on process research in the areas of electroplating, polymer coating and lacquering.
• The Containers Technology group aims to investigate processes and equipment to produce steel packaging, create new product ideas and to improve existing products.
• The Packing & Performance group’s main objective is to generate new concepts for metal packaging by integrating new developments in food technology with materials technology. The group combines expertise in food technology, polymer technology and corrosion technology and looks at the interactions between those fields, including degradation mechanisms in processing and in service
  

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Contact person: Arunansu Haldar

The Steel Metallurgy/Industrial and Construction Applications Department comprises the following knowledge groups:

• The Strip Metallurgy - Automotive and Packaging group focuses on the development of strip products for the automotive and packaging markets. The group provides support and advice regarding product optimisation through metallurgical expertise on product and process interaction, develops new steel grades, and studies how steels behave in different applications.
• The Strip Metallurgy - Construction, Transport and Engineering group focuses on strip and coil plate product development for the construction, transport and engineering markets.
• The Long Product Metallurgy - Engineering and Transport group concentrates on product enhancement and development in the areas of engineering steels, rod/wire, stainless steels, and rail steels.
• The Long Product Metallurgy - Construction group works on product optimisation and development mainly for the construction market: sections, plates, piling, tubes and pipes.
  
  
• The Construction, Design & Technology group focuses on developing new construction systems as well as IT solutions and specific software to support the use of all sorts of (Tata Steel) construction material and to calculate structures. The group also provides expertise on structural design, including fire engineering, stability and stress analysis of structures. It assesses the performance of structures and develops new products for use in construction
• The Prototyping and Product Development group concentrates on product development and rapid prototyping of new products and systems, such as floor systems. With hands on work they support the other groups in the department.
• The Fracture and Fatigue group specialises in the knowledge needed to optimise the fatigue and fracture properties of the products of Tata Steel and its customers. A well-equipped laboratory enables the group to perform structural integrity testing in three main areas: standard fracture and fatigue tests; high rate and crack arrest testing: and specialised fracture and fatigue testing.
• The Structural Integrity group provides expertise on the integrity of materials and structures to safely exploit their properties and maximise their life. The work focuses on evaluating the significance of defects under a wide variety of applications, developing new analysis methods and performing engineering critical assessments in a wide area.
• The Joining Technology group provides expertise in the area of joining steel and aluminium for application areas such as trains, planes and ships, yellow goods and other non-automotive areas. The group is involved in the development of new welding techniques such as laser hybrid and twin wire fusion, and product development using welding.
   

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