FOCUS ON COIL PROCESSING
“ Global consumption of stainless steel is growing due to the increasing need for long-lasting and sustainable solutions to the world ’ s most critical challenges .”
MATERIAL BENEFITS
Stainless steel boasts durability , longevity , low maintenance and recyclability for low environmental impact . We highlight two innovative projects using Outokumpu ’ s stainless steel that illustrate the material ’ s clear benefits .
Coil quality control .
Thanks to properties such as durability , low-maintenance and resistance to corrosion , stainless steel is a strong and economically sustainable choice . Finnish stainless steel specialist , Outokumpu , boasts a wide stainless steel product portfolio , modern mills , its own unique source of chrome and 100 years of expertise in metals , technology and mining . Its history began in 1910 with the discovery of copper in Kuusjärvi , Finland , on a hill called Outokumpu ( which literally means ‘ strange hill ’). Over the years , it has mined and refined various metals in Finland and overseas , before focusing solely on stainless steel in the 2000s .
Outokumpu is organised into four business areas – Europe , Americas , Ferrochrome and Long Products . It employs circa 10,000 professionals in more than 30 countries , with its headquarters in Helsinki , Finland .
Global consumption of stainless steel is growing due to the increasing need for long-lasting and sustainable solutions for the world ’ s most critical challenges . The long-term prospects for the increasing use of stainless steel are positive . Outokumpu contributes to a more sustainable world by producing stainless steel out of recycled material , a material with superior durability , longevity and recyclability . In this article , we highlight two examples of innovative applications for rolled stainless steel using Outokumpu products which demonstrate the flexible characteristics of this material .
LIGHT . FOLD for sustainable vehicle design
STILRIDE wants to enable a new value chain for tool-less manufacturing with metallic sheet .
Swedish start-up , STILRIDE , has developed a new process for designing and manufacturing using an innovative metalforming technique developed by Outokumpu . Its first mission is to design a stainless steel electric scooter that is ‘ simple to make , longlasting and affordable ’.
As an industrial designer , Tue Beijer of STILRIDE has created everything from household appliances to industrial machines . But he has always wanted to design an electric scooter that is sustainable , straightforward to make and accessible to as many people as possible .
“ I made my first scooter when I was 19 years old and have always dreamed of building on that experience . But most of all , I wanted it to be cheap and easy to build with simple tooling , and durable and long-lasting materials . That called for straightforward design with fewer components and less welding ,” explained Beijer .
“ Most scooter bodies are constructed with a combination of steel and moulded plastic . I wanted to create the sort of complex shapes associated with classic scooter design but
24 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR April 2021