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Performance evaluation of martensitic press-hardened steels by VDA 238-100 three-point bend testing has become commonplace. Significant influences on bending performance exist from both surface considerations related to both decarburization and substrate-coating interaction and base martensitic steel considerations such as structural heterogeneity, i.e., banding, prior austenite grain size, titanium nitride (TiN) dispersion, mobile hydrogen, and the extent of martensite tempering as result auto-tempering upon quenching or paint baking during vehicle manufacturing. Deconvolution of such effects is challenging in practice, but it is increasingly accepted that surface considerations play an outsized role in bending performance. For specified surface conditions, however, the base steel microstructure can greatly influence bending performance and associated crash ductility to meet safety and mass-efficiency targets.

Grey cast iron alloys for brake drum and brake disc applications are being developed with niobium additions and a range of equivalent carbon for commercial, passenger vehicle, and performance applications. The benefit of niobium in cast iron is based on the contribution of strength by matrix refinement for a given carbon equivalence that may permit the direct improvement of wear improvement or allow for an increase in carbon equivalence for a given strength. Proper carbon equivalency and pearlite stabilization contribute to an improved pearlite structure with an optimized distribution of graphite. These structures, when refined with niobium, demonstrate increased service life and reduced wear relative to their niobium-free equivalents as measured by lab dynamometer testing and by on-vehicle testing in passenger bus fleets.