High Purity in Steels as a Criterion for Materials Development

Abstract
This summarizing report discusses the materials and application prospects for higher purity in steels, which will make possible further advances in materials behaviour and workability. Improvements in purity and homogeneity permit in particular more rational production of thin foils and wire, one-piece shaping of complicated bodywork components and the drawing, wall-ironing and flanging of two-piece beverage cans. Welded designs in plant and mechanical engineering can be fabricated with less effort and less weight. Difficult component geometries and shaping processes can be more easily mastered. Steels with optimized fracture toughness can be exposed to more extreme loads at even lower temperatures : applications worthy of mention include offshore engineering and large-diameter linepipes for use in arctic regions and at great underwater depths. Liquefied-gas transport vessels can be made more resistant to brittle rupture. The bending fatigue strength and service-life of valve-spring and rolling-bearing steels can be significantly increased. High-purity surfaces on piston rods and cylinders guarantee reliability in hydraulic systems, and high-purity calendering rolls permit defect-free embossing of paper surfaces.