April 5, 2006 — The Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) announced Todd Link and Jeff Grimm, employees at the U. S. Steel Research and Technology Center in Monroeville, PA, as the recipients of the 2005 SAE International/American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Sydney H. Melbourne Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Automotive Sheet Steel.

Link and Grimm received the award for co-authoring a paper presented at the 2005 SAE World Congress titled, "Axial Crash Testing of Advanced High Strength Steel Tubes". Using a drop tower test and a cylindrical tube specimen, the authors evaluated the axial crash performance of five conventional steels and seven advanced high strength steels. Dual-phase and transformation-induced plasticity steels with tensile strengths of 600 MPa and 800 MPa were tested, as were the effects of tensile strength and sheet thickness on crash performance.

Results showed that substituting higher-strength steels of the same thickness can reduce crash deformation. Conversely, for a given level of crashworthiness, weight can be reduced by substituting higher-strength steels with reduced thickness.

Ronald Krupitzer, Vice President of Automotive Applications for AISI, noted, "Todd Link and Jeff Grimm are furthering the knowledge base of the automotive industry by providing data related to crash safety utilizing steel, the material of choice by the automotive community.

"Through this lab experiment on crash testing, the steel industry is able to demonstrate that steel can absorb enormous energy in simulated crash and still contribute to mass reduction."

Don Pether, President and CEO of Dofasco Inc., augmented Krupitzer's remarks. "Sydney Melbourne promoted the advancement of steel applications through improvement in automobile production with steel. This award encourages engineers in our industry to reach beyond current standards to achieve steel technological advancements that benefit the automotive industry, the steel industry and the consumer. The research of Todd Link and Jeff Grimm is a timely contributor to our knowledge base as the demand for automotive safety increases."

SAE is a nonprofit engineering and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of mobility technology to better serve humanity. Nearly 84,000 engineers and scientists who are SAE members develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles, including automobiles, aircrafts, aerospace crafts, trucks, buses, marine, rail and transit machinery. This information is disseminated through SAE meetings, books, electronic products and databases, technical papers, standards, reports and professional development programs.

AISI established this award through the SAE Foundation to honor the memory and accomplishments of the late Sydney H. Melbourne. Melbourne, who was Director of Market Development and Product Applications with Dofasco Inc., was actively involved in enhancing relationships between the steel and automotive industries and participated in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership. Melbourne also actively participated on numerous committees within the AISI Automotive Applications Committee, the Auto/Steel Partnership and the UltraLight Steel Auto Body project.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 33 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 118 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to our customers of the steel industry.

The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC), a subcommittee of AISI’s Market Development Committee, focuses on advancing the use of steel in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been key to the committee’s success. This industry cooperation resulted in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of DaimlerChrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. and the member companies of the AAC.

American Iron and Steel Institute/Automotive Applications Committee members include:

• AK Steel Corp.
• Dofasco Inc.
• Mittal Steel USA
• Nucor Corp.
• Severstal North America Inc.
• Stelco Inc.
• United States Steel Corp.