Wire Insights - voestalpine Wire Technology Podcast

(0:00 - 4:23) Welcome to Wire Insights, the podcast of the latest developments, innovations and trends at voestalpine Wire Technology. From cutting-edge materials to sustainable production processes, experience exciting insights into current projects that are revolutionizing the industry and find out how innovations made of wire are changing the world. Whether you are a technology enthusiast, an industry professional or just curious about the future, this podcast is for you.

Tune in and join us. A warm welcome to our guests here at the voestalpine Wire Rod Austria site in St. Peter, Freienstein. My name is Dieter Danko and I would like to thank you for giving us and our listeners some valuable insights.

Today we want to talk about the interesting research and development setup available to the voestalpine Wire Technology business unit. And we will hear about some exciting projects. Our experts have already sat down in front of the microphone.

Peter Gruber, Katharina Ragger and Robert Kienreich. Would you please briefly introduce yourselves and give us an insight into your job profiles. Mr. Gruber …

A very warm welcome from my side. I'm head of R&D and innovation within the business unit wire. Therefore, I'm responsible for the operationalization of the R&D program, especially in product and process development, as well as in the area of testing and measurement technology.

In addition, patent management and knowledge management is also part of our department. Mrs. Ragger, would you please be so kind to give us an insight into your job profile.

My name is Katharina Ragger and I am a member of Peter Gruber's team. I'm integrated in the product development group and my job is to design new steel grades, taking into account our customers' requirements and concurrent optimum process parameters. Mr. Kienreich, may I also ask you for a short personal introduction.

Yes, my name is Robert Kienreich and I've been working at voestalpine since 2000 in different technical roles. I'm currently working as a senior expert in application engineering. The focus of my task is customer orientation and quality improvement.

Thank you for the brief round of introductions. Then I would say let's move straight on the research and development department. The wire technology business unit attaches great importance to research and development and there are also unique research facilities available internally.

What characterizes these research facilities? What opportunities do they offer and what competitive advantages do they generate, Mr. Gruber? We offer a unique research and development infrastructure to provide customized wire solutions. Thanks to this existing infrastructure, we can shorten development times and reduce material input costs. On the one hand, we utilize the service of the research service company, for example in material simulations and surface technology.

We also utilize the possibility of the Metlab with 80-kilogram batches for the pre-development and subsequently the creation of prototypes with the help of the Techmet, for example three-ton batches. The customized development is rounded off using special testing equipment in the wire technicum, for example testing the H2 resistance of wires or fastening elements and testing the forming limit behaviors of wire. We also have access to an instrumented drawing line as well as heat treatment units like retort and chamber furnaces.

(4:24 - 5:25) The R&D infrastructure will be expanded in the fiscal year 2025-26 to include a five-stage cold heading line so that we can better understand customer processes. We will then be able to offer customers complete development package. On the one hand, we can offer material expertise around wire and forming tools as well as surface and forming expertise.

The customer can then commission the prototype development from us and can then outsource the development loops completely to us. There is also an in-depth exchange of knowledge between voestalpine Wire Technology and external research institutions such as universities. Could you please tell us more about this? Our research is divided into three main areas product development, process development and testing measurement technology.

(5:27 - 5:54) Our employees work together with various research institutions in Austria, Germany and in special cases also in Europe. This ranges from short-term research contracts or special tests lasting to two to four months to large three to five-year projects. The partner is the consortium leader and take care of the submission of founding programs.

(5:55 - 7:30) We are also participants in so-called CT laboratories. This is where basic research is carried out which forms the basis for our work. As a part of these programs, diploma theses and dissertations are repeatedly supervised.

In best case the graduates are then taken on by the company and so we work closely with the University of Leoben, Graz University of Technology and Vienna University of Technology. This intensive research and development work is also reflected in numerous success stories. Long-standing wire technology customer Hilti even presented the company with an Innovation Excellence Award.

What exactly was this about? In June 2024 Hilti recognized the outstanding R&D and innovation skills of voestalpine Wire Austria with the Innovation Excellence Award 2023 as part of its supplier recognition model. voestalpine Wire Austria was the only company from the steel industry to receive the award at Hilti's Liechtenstein headquarters. The decisive factor was the company's innovation capability, the high level of innovation through sound metallurgical expertise in combination with material development based on partnership, the highest quality and reliability.

(7:31 - 13:32) What other success stories should not go unmentioned in this context? The customized material development for setting nail is a success story. The setting nail are used to fasten corrugated sheets to steel beams. The specific aim here was to improve the local properties of the product, particularly the hardness of tip of the setting nail.

All this had to be done without increasing costs. In addition, this year after years of development work, we succeeded in obtaining approval for wire from a continuous casting production for ball bearing application in the bearing industry. The intensive cooperation across the entire value chain should be emphasized here.

voestalpine Stahl Donawitz, voestalpine Rail Technology, voestalpine Wire Technology and voestalpine Forschungsservice Gesellschaft were involved. And in addition, two patents have been registered in the last two years. One in the field of zirconium boron alloyed steel for fasteners and one in the field of alternative corrosion protection for prestressing steel wires.

And these two patents reflect our expertise in the field of material development and surface technology. Successful projects require many gears to mesh together. In the wire technology development project High Performance Wire, known internally as IGOR for targeted alloy design in very small quantities, there was excellent cooperation within the metallurgy network.

Could you please describe this collaboration for us? Which cooperation partners are responsible for the success of this project, Mrs. Ragger? In my opinion the great success of this project is due to the close cooperation between several companies. These were voestalpine Wire Rod Austria, voestalpine Stahl Donawitz, voestalpine Forschungsservice Gesellschaft Donawitz and as an external partner the chair of steel design at the Montanuniversität Leoben.

Mainly voestalpine Stahl Donawitz was responsible for the production of prototypes on a laboratory scale as well as large-scale manufacturability. The voestalpine Forschungsservice Gesellschaft Donawitz provided simulation support for alloy design and for finding the optimum rolling parameters. Among others the chair of steel design carried out high resolution material analysis.

The overall coordination and the ultimately successful rolling were carried out by voestalpine Wire Rod Austria. In addition, our team was also able to draw on great support from voestalpine Boehler welding and the competence center welding of voestalpine Rail technology as part of a special prototype production. The combination of company-specific expertise ultimately led to the success and thanks to strong efforts on the part of voestalpine Wire Austria's application engineers and the sales department the product has already been successfully placed on the market.

What is the ultimate benefit of the project? The great advantage lies in the direct formability combined with high strength after tempering. This elimination of the classic soft annealing before further processing results in a significant improvement in the co2 balance and it is also more cost efficient. How can we visualize this development? Alloying elements are usually used for heat treatable steels which are generally cost intensive.

It was therefore necessary to find more favorable alternatives but without compromising on the mechanical properties. IGUA based on over 11.000 alloy variants was developed entirely on the computer using simulation processes under the leadership of the voestalpine Forschungsgesellschaft Donawitz. What significance does the project have for future projects? The project can certainly be described as a model for future development projects as it has shown that expertise combined with targeted simulation processes can lead to success.

The next topic is a very specific one. It is about optimized wire quality with simultaneous conservation of resources through thermomechanical rolling. A question that is essential for understanding especially outside of specialist circles.

Mr. Kienreich what does thermomechanical rolling mean? In comparison to the well-known standard hot rolling process thermomechanical rolling is basically rolling with lower finishing rolling temperatures combined with optimized cooling strategies directly from the rolling heat. Microalloying elements like vanadium and niobium are often added to TM-rolled steels and should precipitate as carbides and nitrides during hot rolling and cooling. The goal is always to improve the mechanical properties by additional grain refinement.

(13:34 - 15:39) This process reduces CO₂ emissions but there are also several other advantages that customers benefit from. For example, thermomechanical rolling is also considered a resource saving production process across the entire value chain as further heat treatment steps can be omitted. What are the main benefits? In general, high quality wire rod for cold heading applications is usually produced by hot rolling, controlled cooling and subsequent soft annealing.

I would like to mention four main benefits of the TM rolling process. At first the possible elimination of soft annealing of boron alloyed quenching and tempering steel grades up to strength class 12.9. Second the extended use of micro-alloyed steel grades up to strength class 1000 megapascal without final heat treatment. Third for long slender components straightening can be omitted as there is no hardening distortion with this alternative precipitation hardened micro-alloyed steel grades.

And last but not least the extremely fine-grained microstructure improves the cold forming limit, the low temperature toughness and also the resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Thank you very much for these exciting insights into the world of voestalpine wire technology. Thank you for giving us your time and your expertise.

That's it for this episode of wire insights. Fascinating to see how much innovation is driven by research and development isn't it? Stay tuned because in the upcoming episodes we'll dive even deeper from groundbreaking technologies to the people behind the ideas. We'll show you how visions turn into reality.

Don't miss out the best is yet to come. voestalpine one step ahead.

(0:00 - 0:35)

Welcome to Wire Insights, the podcast of the latest developments, innovations and trends at voestalpine Wire Technology. From cutting-edge materials to sustainable production processes. Experience exciting insights into current projects that are revolutionizing the industry and find out how innovations made of wire are changing the world.

Whether you are a technology enthusiast, an industry professional or just curious about the future, this podcast is for you. Tune in and join us. Welcome to Wire Insights, the podcast where we explore the fascinating journey of wire production, innovation and expertise.

(0:36 - 3:48)

Today we turn our attention to the focus topic from raw material to excellent wire. My name is Dieter Danko, I'm your host and today we are joined by three outstanding guests who each bring unique perspectives from across the wire technology. Before we dive into today's topics, let's start by getting to know our guests.

Could each of you briefly introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about your role and what drives your passion for wire? Let's begin with you Mr. Huemer. Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your role at voestalpine Stahl Donawitz and how it connects to the broader wire production process?

Yeah, thank you. I'd love to. I'm the melt shop manager in the steel plant and together with my team I'm also involved in the development process. As steelmaker we supply the material bases for rails, for seamless tubes and for high quality wire products. You can say we are kind of translating our customer needs in the steel making process.

Mr. Tischler, what's your background and what parts do you play in shaping the journey from steel to wire within the voestalpine Wire Technology? First of all, hello to everybody. I am key account manager at the voestalpine Wire Rod Austria in St. Peter/Freienstein. I'm mainly responsible for the key accounts in Middle and East Europe and we produce wire rod at the highest level in the world's modernst rolling mill here in St. Peter/Freienstein.

Interesting for me is from iron ore to the finished wire we deliver quality wire rod with tight tolerances with an excellent surface and also this in maximum flexibility. We have different state-of-the-art technologies, integrated heat and surface treatment and very important for us is the worldwide unique R&D department or R&D center.

And finally Mr. Strohhaeussl, tell us a bit about your current role and what excites you most about working in the world of wire technology.

I'm Head of Sales and Application Engineering departments at the wire drawing plant in Bruck an der Mur. In this role I am responsible for all customer interactions at both on technical and commercial level. What excites me most about our work is that wire appears very inconspicuous at the first glance.

On a closer inspection you realize what a high performance product we actually manufacture with properties that are precisely tailored to customer requirements. That fascinates me anew every day. Thank you all for those great introductions Mr. Huemer, Mr. Tischler and Mr. Strohhaeussl.

It's a pleasure to have you with us today and we are looking forward to diving deeper into your areas of expertise.

(3:49 - 5:16)

Let's start right at the beginning of the value chain with the raw material. Mr. Huemer, voestalpine Stahl Donawitz plays a key role in supplying high quality steel for voestalpine Wire Technology.

From your perspective what are the essential contributions your site makes to ensure the foundation for excellent wire products? Well, I would say the first thing is to listen what the customer needs, to have a bigger picture or a good picture of the best solution for his product. And I would really say this is a strength of our value chain here within voestalpine. Our partners can really benefit from our short throughput times which allow us to react very quickly to customer requirements.

We can offer customized development and production processes. For example, development can take place in a laboratory scale or up to our unique 5 ton trial steel plant of which we're very proud by the way. Our different steel production routes are always aligned to the required product properties and not to forget the customer needs for his processing of the steel.

And let me add one more thing. We may be aware of our long history here in Donawitz but as our predecessors we have a focus on the future and this is a clear commitment to the future of steel production with a significant reduced carbon footprint.

(5:17 - 8:07)

Mr. Tischler, your wire rod is produced at voestalpine Wire Rod Austria in St. Peter/Freienstein in the world's most advanced wire rolling mill.

On your website the wire rod is emphasized for the highest quality standards. Can you tell us more about this? Yeah, highest quality from the world's most modern rolling mill. Our world is the world of wire.

We are specialized in customer-oriented and tailor-made wire production. As an innovative partner with a unique research infrastructure we can guarantee you high quality material solutions in the market environment. Based on our core values of quality, flexibility, innovation and sustainability we live out performance in wire at every stage of the process.

You guarantee the highest quality, the tightest tolerances and maximum flexibility. Do you have more details about this? Wire rod at the highest quality requirements for us integrated production in a value chain that is unique in the industry from the ore to the finished wire product. Best mechanical and technological properties.

Extended dimensional range from 5 millimeters to 52 millimeters is wire rod in coils. Best surface quality and tight diameter tolerances. We have also the possibility coil weights up to three tons and we have also an integrated surface and heat treatment production here in St. Peter/Freienstein.

We have state-of-the-art logistics concepts from steel production up to the customer. We are very orientated in long-term relationships with our customers. We have a good R&D department in voestalpine Wire Technology which means we have possibilities for individual solutions.

Small-scale productions via METLAB up to the TECHMET and further on to the voestalpine Stahl Donawitz in the steel production continuous casters 3 and 4. voestalpine Wire Rod Austria supplies wire rods with various surface treatments and you are constantly developing new solutions for surface treatments. What is particularly worth mentioning here? In regard of the surface treatment we have the possibilities for pickling, phosphating, liming, soaping and polymer coating and in addition as a sustainable solution a phosphate-free coating. And heat treatments also play a major role.

We have also a heat treatment production for 130 000 tons per year.

(8:08 - 13:19)

Mr. Strohhaeussl, do you have an example of how all the process steps in your company take place as a one-stop shop? Yes, definitely. Anyone who has perhaps ever had to deal with the task of building a house or similar in their private life understands what it can mean to have to coordinate different trades.

They have probably also experienced what can happen. You often wish for a one-stop shop. Aside from the reduced workload for the customers, however, I see above all the possibility of being able to make adjustments to all aspects of the manufacturing process.

That is the biggest advantage for the customer. It also enables us to implement new creative and innovative approaches in order to find the best possible solution for our customers. What can customers expect when they start a project with voestalpine Wire Technology? Firstly, I would say full commitment.

When we start joint projects we stand behind them and endeavor to implement them in the best possible way. Then I would like to emphasize our holistic expertise. Our teams and departments have a broad range of expertise and are complemented by our technological capabilities.

I think we are certainly top-in-class here. Talking about voestalpine Wire Technology as a supplier doesn't really do your company justice. But what distinguishes your company from a classic wire supplier? I think we are not really just a supplier.

Rather, we are a partner for our customers. We try to live this at all levels. Whether these are development partnerships with our technological capabilities and our expertise or simply partnership-based behavior.

This can also involve short-term requirements such as to win an important new project, which we support and accompany as flexible as possible. This is also reflected in the length of our customer relationships. Just recently we received a gift from one of our long-standing customers for our 60 years partnership.

That makes me very proud. How does the material influence the subsequent wire performance and how do you select it? The material itself is of course one of the most important building blocks for the successful realization of a customer project. However, I also believe that the importance of optimized and coordinated process management should not be underestimated.

I generally follow a personal scheme and start with the rough requirements for the material. For example, there are special requirements for hardenability, strength, wear resistance and so on. This narrows down to the selection further and further.

In the majority of cases, the requirements for the material are summarized in the customer specification. But that's where things start to get tricky, isn't it? In order to really be able to select the ideal material within these boundary conditions, you have to understand what exactly the customer wants to achieve with it. This only works if you have a good dialogue with the customer so that you can also understand their needs.

It is also interesting to note that we should actually believe that we no longer have any control levers as the customer defines the material properties in their specification. Nevertheless, we are still finding ways to fine-tune our materials so that it works even better for our customers. This is also the reason why we offer around 400 different steel grade variants.

Even so, our customers may only request around 100 different ones on paper. Every process step from the raw material to the finished wire solution must be customized to the customer. How do you ensure this? You have three criteria for this.

Yes, that's right. This only works if three criteria are met. Firstly, we must understand our production process down to the last detail.

This is in our own hands. We can look back on decades of experience in this area, but we also continue to learn every day. I think this is also what sets us apart that we are still open to further development and do not believe that we have already reached the end of wisdom.

Secondly, we need to understand exactly what our customer needs are. This requires sometimes intensive clarification and openness on the part of our customers. This is where dialogue is of enormous importance.

The more mutual understanding we build up here, the better solutions can be derived. And last but not least, we are dependent on feedback. Without feedback, we cannot develop further.

In a nutshell, what is your personal guiding principle in customer communication? Let's be courageous together, treat new paths, and find innovative solutions. Because standard or middle class should not be our aspiration. And that brings us to the end of this episode of Wire Insights, from raw material to excellent wire.

(13:20 - 14:01)

A big thank you to our guests, Mr. Huemer, Mr. Tischler, and Mr. Strohhaeussl, for sharing your expertise and giving us a deeper look into the journey from steel to high-performance wire. Your insights have truly enriched today's discussion. To our listeners, thank you for joining us.

Our upcoming episode will offer new insights and viewpoints as we continue our journey through the world of voestalpine Wire Technology. Stay curious and see you next time on Wire Insights.