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2007 and Later Dodge Caliber

The 2007 and later Dodge Caliber has Ultra-High Strength Steel UHSS in the A-pillar, B-pillar, and roof-rail reinforcements. The B-pillar is made from a tailor-rolled, hot stamped steel which would tell you that the pillar will have different thicknesses. The two-piece pillar includes a lower section made from mild strength steel, and is combined with a tailor-rolled ultra high-strength steel upper section.

Just in case you were wondering what a Tailored-rolled steel is, here is the answer. A flat piece of metal that is stamped into a part is called a blank. A Tailored blank combines different thicknesses and grades of steel into a single blank.

Posted by Smitty on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Dodge, Extrication, Firefighter, Tailored, UHSS B-Pillar, UHSS Roof

2009 XC60 Body Structure

2009 XC60 body structure.

Posted by Smitty on August 28, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, UHSS B-Pillar, Volvo

Types of Steel (UHSS)

Something that has caught my attention is that automakers are careful on stating that their vehicles have Ultra-high Strength Steel. Some call out a B-Pillar made from Dual Phase (DP) 950 as a High Strength Steel. However, reference the chart below and the Steel Industry considers SP950 as a UHSS, not a HSS.

In my book, DP700 is considered an UHSS. What do you think? Let me know.

Posted by Smitty on August 27, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, UHSS

Buick Enclave UHSS B-Pillar

Here is a another picture of the 2008 + Buick Enclave that shows the B-Pillar. The B-Pillar is made from DP 980 which is an UHSS. The B-Pillar is then spot-welded to an HSLA reinforcement.

Posted by Smitty on August 26, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Buick, Extrication, Firefighter, UHSS B-Pillar

GM Uses Martensitic Steel (UHSS)

First off, Martensitic is a Ultra-high Strength Steel (UHSS). I will throw a little automotive talk into my update today. Many automakers use the same platform to built different model for each of their different brands. General Motors has a platform that is used throughout all of their brands called the Lambda platform. The Lambda platform is used on the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and the Cadillac SRX. General Motors uses Martensitic steel in the outer rocker panel and vehicle underbody on the Lambda body structure. Look at the image below and the yellow parts are Martensitic steel.

After some checking around, I found that the reinforcement for the B-pillar is made from DP 980 which, like Martensitic, is a UHSS. The reinforcement is welded to another reinforcement made from HSLA. If you have to cut the B-pillar of a Buick Enclave or other platform model be prepared for multiple layers of UHSS reinforcements.

Posted by Smitty on August 24, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, Martensitic, UHSS, UHSS B-Pillar

Boron B-pillars in Ford Vehicles

Flex, MKS, Fusion and Milan get some of their core strength from the use of lightweight aluminum-coated boron steel – one of the strongest weld-able materials – in the body structure. The use of high-strength steel in the B-pillars is only part of their robust safety profile.

Posted by Smitty on August 22, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Boron B-Pillar, Extrication, Firefighter, Quick Fact

2010 Mazda 3 High-Strength Steel

Since Mazda is still partly owned by Ford there should be little surprise that the 2010 Mazda 3 is a Volvo-sourced platform. The new Mazda 3 is made up with double the amount of high-strength and ultra-high strength steel.

Posted by Smitty on August 21, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, HSS, Mazda

2010 Lincoln MKT

The new Lincoln MKT has a safety feature named SPACE or Side Protection And Cabin Enhancement Architecture. SPACE helps optimize side-impact occupant protection. The SPACE system integrates a hydroformed high strength steel tube embedded in the floor that runs the width of the vehicle from B-pillar to B-pillar and along the rocker panels to form a safety cage to help protect passengers in side impact incidents.

A vehicle fire side note, the liftgate on the Lincoln MKT is made up of magnesium and aluminum instead of steel. So full PPE as with any vehicle fire!

Posted by Smitty on August 21, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, HSS, Magnesium

2008 BMW X5

BMW wanted to meet the requirements of any side crash test. So Ultra-high Strength Steel was used in many different parts of the body structure. The side frames are made with UHSS and the B-Pillar is reinforced with every one’s favorite steel, boron. The B-pillar reinforcement was made of hot formed boron steel. What is good to know about this reinforcement is the distinctly higher wall thickness in the center area than in the upper and lower ends. You may what to put that knowledge under your helmet!

Posted by Smitty on August 20, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: BMW, Boron, Boron B-Pillar, Extrication, Firefighter, UHSS

2009 Scion xB High-Strength Steel (HSS)

The 2009 Scion xB uses several different grades of High-Strength Steel (HSS) in the body structure. No Ultra-high Strength Steel.

Posted by Smitty on August 19, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, HSS, Scion

Smart Car’s smart fortwo and it’s Safety Cell

The Smart car AKA “smart fortwo” has what smart USA calls a tridion safety cell. The cell is made up with a mix of Ultra-high Strength Steel. The safety cell is reinforced is with over 50% UHSS. Something not really UHSS related, but useful to know during an extrication is the steering column is designed to collapse in the event of a serious front-end collision. If you have seen a Smart involved in an accident send me an email and let me know how bad the car was.

Posted by Smitty on August 18, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, UHSS

2009 Scion xd High-Strength Steel (HSS)

The 2009 Scion xd has a body structure made from High-Strength Steel (HSS). The only Ultra-high Strength Steel used is in the front bumper reinforcement.

Posted by Smitty on August 18, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, HSS, Scion

Ultra-High-Strength Steel Fact Sheet

Ford Motor Company relaeased a “Ultra-High-Strength Steel Fact Sheet” this week that has some very good information. For example, did you know that All Ford vehicles use boron steel in their door intrusion beams? Take a couple of minutes and read the fact sheet.

Posted by Smitty on August 14, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Boron Door Beams, Extrication, Firefighter

2009 Toyota Matrix Ultra-high Strength Steel and Boron

Toyota has used Ultra-high Strength Steel sparingly (UHSS) on the 2009 Matrix. No Boron either! Take a look at the body structure below and you can see the only UHSS is in the A-Pillar and the Side Impact Door Beams.

Posted by Smitty on August 14, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, Toyota, UHSS A-Pillar, UHSS Door Beam

2009 Corolla use of Ultra-high Strength Steel

The body structure of the 2009 Toyota Corolla is strategically reinforced with Ultra High-Strength Steel (UHSS). The Corolla has a UHSS reinforcement in the A-Pillar, side impact beam in the front doors, and a two beams in the rear.

Posted by Smitty on August 13, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, Toyota, UHSS, UHSS A-Pillar, UHSS Door Beam

Nissan Altima and the Smart Car

A quick post on Nissan’s use of Ultra-high-strength steel in the new Altima. The Nissan Altima is made up of 22 percent UHSS, including all side-impact. The Mercedes Smart Fortwo is made with a safety feature called the Tridon Safety Cell. The structural steel components of this protective cage is made with approximately 50 percent is ultra high-strength steel.

Posted by Smitty on August 11, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, UHSS

Toyota uses of Boron and UHSS

Toyota

2009 + Corolla - Uses Ultra-high Strength Steel in the A-Pillar and Door Beams.
2009 + Matrix – Uses Ultra-high Strength Steel in the A-Pillar and Door Beams.

Posted by Smitty on August 11, 2009 • Filed under: extrication, Uncategorized • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter

2009 Jaguar XF has Boron

Just before Ford sold off Jaguar, the XF was redesigned with the latest generation steels. The upper body uses almost every type of advanced steel – including high carbon steels, dual-phase, hot-formed boron steels, and bake-hardened steels – which form safety ‘ring’ around the occupant compartment. Something that should catch a firefighter or rescuers eye is the A and B-pillars are impressively slim. The lower sills use dual-phase DP600 steel, which is a first for Jaguar in that area of the vehicle.

The breakdown of the steel used in the Jaguar XF is; 76-percent mild-strength steels, 15-percent high-strength, and 10-percent super-high-strength. The A-pillar is made with boron-reinforcement. The boron steel in the A-pillars is how Jaguar was able to make the profile thin. Just an FYI if you see one of these on fire, the vehicle is packed with magnesium so make sure you have your full PPE on!

Posted by Smitty on August 11, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Boron, Boron A-pillar, Extrication, Firefighter, Jaguar

2009 Nissan GT-R Ultra-high Strength Steel

Nissan is just like all the other automakers who want to reduce mass for better performance and fuel economy. The GT-R is a mix high power to low weight. Most of the GT-R structure is made from high strength steel. Parts include the front and rear lower rails and the A-pillars. Ultra-high strength steel is used inside the internal structure of the door to increase occupant safety. Look at the images below to see the structure and where different material is used.

Posted by Smitty on August 10, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, HSS, Nissan

Firefighters: Ford Uses Boron and Ultra-high Strength Steel

Like many other automakers, Ford uses boron and other ultra-high-strength lightweight steels in various structural areas on several of its current models. These models including the Ford Taurus, Flex, Mustang, Transit Connect, F-150 and Focus, as well as the Lincoln MKS. When the new Fiesta hits the US market in 2011, Boron will also be extensively used to help protect occupants in the event of a collision. Below is the 2011 Ford Fiesta Body Structure.

Photo from: Ford Motor Company’s photostream on Flickr.

Posted by Smitty on August 9, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Boron, Extrication, Firefighter, Ford, UHSS

Honda and Ultra-high Strength Steel

At Honda, they have significantly upped the amount of high-strength steels used in the new Acura MDX, from 13 percent of the structure to 56.3 percent, including grades 780 and 980, which are in the ultra high-strength steel category. Honda also published results on the use of advanced- and ultra high-strength steels in the basic body-in-white for the RDX and CRV. The body-in-white constitutes 30 percent of the vehicle curb weight in this case:

AHSS will provide the same or better impact resistance as mild steel with one step lower gauge (thickness) providing a typical 13 percent reduction in mass.
UHSS will provide better crash impact resistance than mild steel with two steps lower gauge (thickness) providing a typical 24 percent reduction in mass.
The composite average of AHSS and UHSS regarding reduction in mass is typically 15 percent.

More info here: http://www.sprottmoly.com/pdf/UHSS.pdf

Posted by Smitty on August 8, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter, Honda, UHSS

No Boron used in the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick

No Boron in the current models of the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick
Enclave crossover vehicles. However, other Ultra-high Strength Steels are used.

The only area that Firefighters need to look out for on this vehicle platform are the rocker panels. The rocker panels are made out of Ultra-high Strength Steel.

Posted by Smitty on August 7, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Buick, Extrication, Firefighter, GM, GMC, Saturn, UHSS

Extrication Challenges of Advanced Steel in Vehicles

Ron Moore from University of Extrication at Firehouse.com. Check out his article on:

Extrication Challenges of Advanced Steel in Vehicles: Part 2

Below are the links to all five of Ron Moore’s study on Boron and UHSS at the University of extrication:

The 5 parts are in pdf format (download the Download Adobe Reader if you do not have it) and print them off.

Posted by Smitty on August 5, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter

Boron Steel is used by American Makers

Be careful what you read on the Internet, I have read that some firefighters believe that Boron Steel is not widely used by American Automakers. Unfortunately for us, American Automakers are using Boron and other Ultra-high Strength Steels in various vehicle applications. Many vehicles use boron steel in the pillars, rockers, and roof rails. Do some research to back up what you read. Because when we are on scene of a MVA with entrapment, which is the wrong time to learn halfway through an extraction that you have to deal with Boron!

The Ford F150 is one of the best selling trucks in the United States, and the 2009 and later models have a mix of Boron and Ultra-high Strength Steel in the body.

Here is what Edmunds states about Ford’s use of these metals:

Beneath the all-new sheet metal (including a new contoured tailgate that’s
designed to echo the styling themes of the F-150′s three-bar front grille), the
F-150 rides on a new, fully boxed frame that features hydroformed side rails
made from high-strength steel. A structure of high-strength Boron steel with a
seam-welded roof also surrounds the cab, creating a kind of safety cage.

Taken from Edmunds: First Look: 2009 Ford F-150

Another Ford that uses Boron and Ultra-high Strength Steel is the Ford Flex.

Posted by Smitty on August 4, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter

Firefighters need to know where Boron is Used

There is a great PowerPoint put together by Peter R. Mould of Tailored Steel Product Alliance (TSPA) why automakers are using Boron and other Ultra-high Strength Steels. The presentation shows where boron is used and why. The interesting part of the presentation is the new steels allow automakers to eliminate reinforcements, yet firefighter still have trouble cutting throw the Boron. Take the time to check it out.

Boron and Ultra-high Strength Steel Presentation. File is a PDF.

Posted by Smitty on August 3, 2009 • Filed under: extrication • Tagged: Extrication, Firefighter