Kobe Steel, Ltd.'s aluminum side-impact door beam is being used in
Mitsubishi Motor Corporation's Lancer Evolution VIII MR, a four-door sports
sedan that went on sale earlier this year in Japan. This is the first time the
aluminum extrusion has been adopted by Mitsubishi. In comparison to door beams
made of high strength steel sheet rolled into the form of a pipe, aluminum
side-impact beams reduce the weight of a four-door car by roughly 3.5 kg.
Owing to growing demand, production of 100 metric tons a month
is expected to rise to 150 metric tons a month in the second half of fiscal
2004. Aluminum side-impact beams have been used in Japanese cars for over 10
years in 10 models amounting to 1.7 million automobiles.
Door beams protect passengers by absorbing the energy in side
collisions. While side collisions in traffic accidents occur relatively less
frequently, side collisions of passenger cars by SUVs, which are growing in
popularity, can result in serious accidents, heightening the necessity for
side-impact beams. Aluminum is drawing greater attention as automakers seek to
make lighter cars to improve mileage and reduce emissions while maintaining
safety.
Kobe Steel is Japan's only manufacturer of the aluminum beams.
It holds 15 patents in Japan, five in North America, and five in Europe. In
addition to domestic carmakers, Kobe Steel supplies a number of Japanese
automotive transplants.
The first applications of the aluminum beams were in Honda Motor
Co., Ltd.'s all-aluminum NSX and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s Rasheen, an SUV. As
Japan's top manufacturer of aluminum for cars, Kobe Steel aims to further expand
applications of aluminum side-impact beams. Other automotive aluminum products
that Kobe Steel makes are sheet for body panels and forgings for suspension
systems.
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