alform® steels: versatile, high performance fine-grained structural steels

alform® steels are hot-rolled fine-grained structural steels with optimal cold formability and excellent weldability. Steels in the alform® series are used in the machinery, automotive, and processing industries, and are ideal for highly sophisticated and efficient construction.

The steels in the alform® series offer the perfect solution for every area of application:

• The steel grades in the alform® laser series offer the best cutability and narrowest flatness tolerances for laser cutting applications.
• The normalized-rolled grades in the N series, as well as the micro-alloyed grades in the M series, offer numerous advantages in a wide range of application areas, such as excellent weldability and narrow tolerances.
• The high strength and excellent processing properties of the x-treme series come into their own for sophisticated lightweight construction applications, ensuring the highest levels of component reliability.

What are the advantages of alform®?

The steels in the alform® series demonstrate their strengths according to the area of application. An overview of the key advantages:

• Cost reduction: costs can be significantly lowered by reductions in the quantities of steel and filler materials.
• Ideal for welding: as a result of its fine-grained microstructure (lower carbon content), the risk of cold cracking during welding is significantly reduced. The voestalpine Group’s alform® welding system is the world’s first coordinated system of steel and welding consumables for high-strength and ultra-high-strength welding constructions.
• Excellent cold forming properties: decisively improved forming behavior with more than twice the minimum yield strength compared to traditional construction steels.
• Excellent cutability: the low material thickness enables faster cutting rates. And due to minimal internal stresses, distortions during cutting are largely avoided.
• Perfect surface: thinner and more homogenous scale layer (oxide layer) compared to QT plates. This forms a “natural protective layer” against corrosion.
• Excellent toughness: the thermomechanical rolling combined with an accelerated cooling results in a fine-grained microstructure and very good toughness.
• Excellent flatness: precision rolling processes ensure excellent flatness behavior. Delivered free of internal stresses, the voestalpine material offers a significant advantage during cutting and subsequent processing. The result is optimum dimensional stability for every component.

Our alform steels are ideal for welding

What are alform® steels used for?

alform® steel is used where maximum strength combined with minimal weight are required:

• Mobile cranes
• Truck cranes
• Spreaders
• Concrete pumps
• Commercial vehicles
• Railcars
• Containers
• Agricultural and forestry machinery
• Tubes
• Sections
• etc.

In what form is it available?

High-strength and ultra-high-strength alform® steels are available as:

• Cut sheets of hot rolled steel strip
• Heavy plate
• Coil and
• Slit strip

Sustainable material for the machinery industry

The sustainable choice of raw material, constant enhancements to the production process, environmentally-friendly logistics, and comprehensive recycling are also a priority in the machinery industry. Lightweight and high-strength components from voestalpine make an important contribution to the safety and sustainability of modern machines and equipment. It is low weight combined with optimal stability in particular which enables machines to consume less energy during operation and thus reduce emissions. In addition, steel can be recycled with no loss of quality.

More information about alform®:

alform®-Website: https://www.voestalpine.com/alform/en