Voestalpine : Special steel all around

The special steel plant opened in Kapfenberg on October 18 produces 205,000 tons of special steel grades and custom high performance materials every year.

Whether for high heat-resistant turbine blades in long-haul jets or in surgical instruments, voestalpine special steel is designed and crafted for an extraordinary range of customer requirements. The new high-tech facility gives voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl even greater flexibility in applying its range of special steel grades.

voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl supplies a broad variety of different industries around the world from its new plant: aerospace and automotive; oil, gas, and energy companies; tool manufacturers; the metal cutting, medical, and food industries; and engineering companies. The composition and complex manufacturing lend the materials excellent properties: purity, uniformity, and resistance to chemical and physical stress. This demonstrates their suitability for highly demanding areas of application:

Air and space travel require wings, turbines, and chassis that can withstand incredible loads. They must offer unwavering safety, for example for engine disks, which are critical components to ensure the functionality and safety of air travel.
Tools and production aids for these highly resilient parts, such as forging molds, trim dies, and milling attachments, are made from the special steel produced in Kapfenberg.

To manufacture chassis parts, wheel rims, seat frames, steering components, headlamp reflectors, and airbag systems in their millions, the automotive industry requires the very best special steel for tools and molds.

Compressors, steam and gas turbines, and generators for producing energy are subject to extreme and continuous thermal and mechanical loads. High heat-resistant steel grades and alloys from the special steel plant help to constantly improve the efficiency of turbines.
The oil, gas, and chemicals industry rely on top-quality materials, from highly corrosion-resistant steel grades to nickel-based alloys. Where do they come from? Kapfenberg.

Special steel types owe their hardness, strength, and ability to take a high polish to their incredibly consistent composition, their purity, and their alloy. And their suitability is demonstrated when optimally smooth surfaces are achieved in tool manufacturing, for example when making plastic molds for the production of smartphones. Stringent purity requirements apply when working at both extremely high and extremely low temperatures.

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High speed steel is often used for tools like drill bits and cutters. The metal cutting industry relies on high resistance to wearas this ensures long, uninterrupted life spans, lower machine setup costs, and reliable manufacturing processes.

High-end applications are increasingly making use of the opportunities offered by additive manufacturing. Powders for 3D printing are also among the products supplied by voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl, and are experiencing increasing demand.

Special steel grades are high-tech materials whose properties are required in many other areas of application, from medical technology to watchmaking. One example is the anti-allergenic special steel developed in partnership with Chopard that is used in the Swiss watchmaker's collections. Biocompatibility is a feature of the special steel grades that are turned into surgical instruments around the world. Martensitic steel produced at the Kapfenberg site has a structure that lends it a particular hardness and strength, making it ideal for the reliability demanded in medical settings.

The High Performance Metals Division produces special steel at four sites:

• Villares Metals, Sumaré (Brazil)
• Buderus Edelstahl, Wetzlar (Germany)
• Uddeholm, Hagfors (Sweden)
• voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl, Kapfenberg (Austria)