Mazda Cold-Stamps Parts From Higher-Strength Steel

Mazda says it has developed the world’s first cold-stamped vehicle body parts made from 1,310 MPa-class high-strength steel.

Until now, cold-stamping of vehicle body structural members has been possible only with 1,180 MPa or lower-classed steel, due to the material’s formability and the difficulty of ensuring dimensional accuracy after processing, the automaker says.

The high-strength steel parts are to be used in Mazda’s new-generation Skyactiv-Vehicle Architecture, which will underpin upcoming models starting with the all-new Mazda3.

Mazda says high-strength steel allows the production of parts from thinner sheet metal while retaining yield strength. This results in a lighter vehicle body, contributing to improved handling stability and fuel economy.

“A strong body is also essential to ensure crash safety performance, and the application of higher-strength steel has been widely anticipated,” the automaker says in a statement.

The new Mazda3 uses the 1,310 MPa-class high-strength steel for the front pillar inner, roof rail inner, hinge pillar reinforcement, roof rail reinforcement, No.2 crossmember and side sill inner reinforcement, saving about 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) over the same parts in the previous model.