Tata Steel UK explores new products from EAF
Alongside three UK universities, Tata will develop automotive and packaging steels from its electric arc furnace.
Tata Steel UK's research initiative is aimed at developing a new generation of advanced steel products from its electric arc furnace (EAF), to transform automotive and packaging applications – from car bodies to food cans.
The research centre – Accelerating the Development of Automotive and Packaging steel Technology for Electric Arc Furnace production (ADAPT-EAF) – is intended to address a key challenge in using high-recycled-content steel.
This challenge is how to control and optimise residual elements that can affect performance in demanding applications such as some automotive components and packaging.
This will be integrated with rapid alloy prototyping and testing to generate the data required, as well as to pioneer automotive and packaging steel grades suited to EAF processing.
The project is backed by £7mln from Tata Steel UK, Cambridge University, Imperial College and Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick, and a contribution from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Prosperity Partnerships programme.
ADAPT-EAF is one of 23 new Prosperity Partnerships to tackle key industry challenges in areas from drug manufacturing and artificial intelligence to cybersecurity.
EPSRC is funding the partnerships with a £41mln investment, matched with a further £56mln from businesses and academia.
The five-year programme will also fund 13 PhD studentships across the three universities to conduct leading research into the advanced manufacturing of steels and steel products suited to EAF steelmaking.
Professor Howard Stone, University of Cambridge, lead academic for the project, says, 'This partnership will enable us to unlock the full potential of electric arc furnace steelmaking, combining advanced data science with metallurgical expertise. By working closely with Tata Steel, we aim to deliver practical solutions that support a more sustainable future for the UK steel industry and beyond.'
