During the Thanksgiving holidays, High Temperature Materials Laboratory staff members worked around the clock to assist global automotive parts manufacturer Cosma International in resolving a component materials issue that briefly interrupted its Clinton, TN, operations as well as those at an original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) production plant.
After receiving a call from Cosma, a subsidiary of Magna International, HTML Director Edgar Lara-Curzio assembled a rapid-response team to assist the parts manufacturer in identifying mechanisms affecting materials integrity during automotive components assembly at the OEM plant. Cosma uses hot-stamping to manufacture these high-strength steel components for vehicle structures.
Through fractography, x-ray diffraction, finite element stress analysis, and other analyses, HTML researchers determined the state of residual stresses in the components before and after they were assembled. They then recommended process modifications that enabled Cosma and the OEM to rapidly resume operations with no deviation in material integrity and product quality.
Magna and Cosma officials wrote to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu in March, praising HTML’s quick response and unique capabilities. In the letter, general manager Steve Esman and quality manager Allan Navarro note that they turned to HTML for its expertise, powerful tools, and “most importantly the staff’s understanding of the relationships between manufacturing processes and the microstructure and physical and mechanical properties of materials.”
In addition to Edgar, HTML team members who participated in the effort include Measurement Science and Systems Engineering Division’s Claire Luttrell and Materials Science and Technology Division’s Roberta Peascoe-Meisner, Christopher Stevens, Rosa Trejo, and Thomas Watkins.