SUSTAINABILITY
Contributing to building a society with reduced environmental burden
Transport Equipment Sector
Vehicles
High-tensile steel sheets are both strong and easy to work.
In the automobile sector,
high-tensile steel sheets are widely used to satisfy the conflicting needs of “weight reduction for environmental load
reduction” and “enhanced collision safety”.
At present, about 30-50% of car bodies are made of high-tensile steel
sheets.
Our electromagnetic steel sheet is used for fuel-effi cient and powerful hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs).
Light-weighted crash box
An automobile’s crash box absorbs crash energy during a collision. Our
crash box is 30% lighter but absorbs more than two times of crash energy than do
conventional ones, contributing to make safer and fuel-efficient vehicles.
Jointly developed with
Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
Steel material for high-strength cracking connecting rods
A connecting rod consists of a rod and a cap and connects the piston motion of the engine to the crankshaft. We have developed a steel material for connecting rods, which can be separated (or cracked) from a forged single part on the same line into two parts. This resulted in a 10–20% reduction of its weight and a signifi cant reduction in the amount of CO2 emissions. (Example of adoption by Honda Motor Co., Ltd.)
Fuel injection nozzle for diesel engines
Diesel engines nowadays excel petrol engines in fuel efficiency, CO2 emission, and black smoke exhaust. Higher compressed fuel injection leads to higher performance. We developed with Usui Kokusai Kogyo KK the first fuel injection nozzles that withstand more than 200 MPa pressure.
Aircraft and ships
The use of titanium contributes to stronger, lighter, and more eco-friendly aircraft. We supply titanium alloy rods used in aircraft engine blades and pure titanium sheet used in pylons that connect wings and engines.
Thick plates are used to prevent fatigue cracks occur in LNG carriers. Our FCA-W steel plates are thinner and lighter but exhibit superior fatigue strength at welded joints. We are an exclusive supplier of this type of steel plate.
NSGP®-1 is a world-fi rst steel plate that shows more than fi ve times greater corrosion resistance to a pitting corrosion of 10mm that occurs on the bottom of a tank in a crude-oil tanker. Non-coating means saving 100 drums of organic paint per vessel.
Trains
High-speed railway transport has a high growth potential. Our wheels and axles have a 100% share in Japan and around 35% share in the global high-speed railway market. Our unique active suspension technology, that reduces car body vibration and improves riding comfort, has been used for the Tohoku Shinkansen Line and the Narita Sky Access Line.