A big appearance at the IZB

‘Empowering Partnerships’ is the motto of this year's International Suppliers Fair (IZB) in the Allerpark in Wolfsburg. The title says it all: here, VW suppliers exchange ideas with VW board members, purchasers and developers about the latest innovations in the automotive supplier sector. Visitors to the KIRCHHOFF Automotive stand 6102 will learn a lot of new information about current research results in the areas of safety and improvement of the CO₂ balance.

Special highlights:

• The first use of the revolutionary ‘SIBORA’ silicon-boron steel grade, developed in cooperation with Volkswagen AG and successfully tested on various prototypes
  Hot forming is a forward-looking, effective technology that can significantly reduce the CO2 footprint of a component. The use of materials plays a crucial role here. Together with VW, KIRCHHOFF Automotive has therefore worked on the material and process development of a silicon-boron steel grade called ‘SIBORA’ for a modified hot forming process, the so-called BQP process. SIBORA is a new steel grade that exhibits high strength in the press-hardened state and, due to the content of bainite and metastable residual austenite, also higher residual formability. Tests on a B-pillar made of SIBORA material that was hot formed under series production conditions show that an improvement in crash safety can be achieved due to higher energy absorption while simultaneously reducing the body mass.
• Safety-relevant products made of new CO₂-reduced steels for an improved ecological balance
  With special body-in-white solutions, KIRCHHOFF Automotive ensures safe mobility, primarily through the high strength of special steels. An additional advantage: less material is needed for products made of such steels. This saves weight and effectively contributes to the reduction of the CO₂ footprint. In cooperation with leading steel producers, we have validated the use of new CO₂-reduced steels. This enables us to significantly improve the CO₂ balance of our products.
• Innovative steel module cross-car beam in open shell design
  The advantage of this construction is the high level of function integration, which contributes to a cost reduction.

Visitors can experience the innovative solutions for less weight, fewer CO₂ emissions and more safety from 22-24 October 2024 at KIRCHHOFF Automotive booth 6102 in hall 6.