Technical expertise for customized product development

Research & Development (R&D) at voestalpine Wire Technology means practical support for your product development.

With state-of-the-art laboratories, our own technical centers, and a strong network of universities and partners, we accompany you from the initial idea to series production and ensure that materials and processes are precisely tailored to your requirements.

This results in customized, innovative wire solutions that not only impress technically, but also accelerate your entire development process and open up new application possibilities for demanding areas of use.

The MetLab is the heart of our development of new alloys and special steels. It enables fast, flexible development and testing of new materials – even for individual customer requirements.

Equipment & possibilities:

• Laboratory samples for preliminary tests from 8 kg to a maximum of 50 kg
• Vacuum induction melting plant for special alloys
• Flexible block formats for individual requirements (up to 6 individual molds)
• Working under protective gas (argon Ar, nitrogen N2) or vacuum (up to 5 x 10⁻² mbar)
• Precise sampling and alloy adjustment in a vacuum

TechMet offers large-scale testing facilities under realistic conditions. From laboratory scale to industrial casting format – optimal transition from development to series production.

Equipment & capabilities:

• Induction furnace (5–6.5 t billets), combined ladle furnace (plasma) and vacuum degassing system (VD)
• Vertical continuous casting machine for various formats (230 mm or 270 x 360 mm)
• Plasma-heated distributors and comprehensive measurement technology for practical trials

Wire products are comprehensively tested, simulated, and further developed at the Technical Competence Center Wire. Practical simulation and testing of all relevant properties - from formability to surface quality.

Equipment & capabilities:

• Forming machines for mechanical-technological tests
• Step load and relaxation tests, dynamic load tests
• Heat treatment systems (retort furnace, batch furnace with gas purging)
• Automated coating systems and coating robots that can automatically apply laboratory coatings or perform pickling and cleaning tests
• Drawing machines with various measurement techniques such as high-speed cameras, eddy current testing, and structure-borne sound measuring devices for inline testing in advance

• Digital simulations and material modeling:
  • Numerical models for mapping real processes, parameter studies, and optimization without costly physical experiments.
• Material and process development, from steel to drawn wire:
  • From steel composition and heat treatment to surface modification.

• Trial drawing facility:
  • Wire prototypes up to 12 mm in diameter, without interrupting production
  • Force measurement, media monitoring, drawing agent and drawing die tests
• Special tests for forming behavior, corrosion mechanisms, and hydrogen sensitivity:
  • Limit forming behavior (e.g., cold heading)
  • Hydrogen sensitivity and corrosion mechanisms (step load test, corrosion cell)
  • Inline crack detection with AI-supported optical inspection
• X-ray fluorescence analyzer (XRF):
  • Fast, non-destructive material analysis for samples, components, and process monitoring
• Automated coating robot:
  • Development and optimization of surface coatings, pickling and cleaning tests
• Thermal camera:
  • Mobile, contactless temperature measurement and process monitoring

We cooperate closely with leading research institutions and universities, including:

• Montanuniversität Leoben
• Graz University of Technology (TU)
• Christian Doppler Laboratory (CDL)
• Material Center Leoben (MCL)
• European research projects
• RFCS (formerly ECSC)
• Brite Euram