Nippon Steel Adopts Lead-free Free-cutting Steel to Auto Parts

Nippon Steel Corporation announced on Tuesday the low-carbon lead-free free-cutting steel and wire rod, which it developed, was applied to printer shafts of major office automation equipment makers such as Fuji Xerox and autoparts for the first time. Nippon Steel secured higher cutting and plating performance without addition of lead throughout that of special elements and well-promoted casting and rolling techniques in production of the new products. So Nippon Steel stopped manufacturing the old low-carbon lead free-cutting steel at the end of March, and it aims at output of the new products being called SUM24EZ of 1,000 tonnes per month for the time being.Manganese sulfide is suspended in structure of the steel product of SUM24EZ. In cutting the steel product with tool to produce SUM24EZ, this minute sulfide becomes high machinable. Asperity of the surface to be finished improved about 40 percent compared with low-carbon lead free-cutting steel. Furthermore, gall of the tool is controlled. The cut scrap’s shape is the same of low-carbon lead free-cutting steel. This is why the customers do not need to increase equipment. Since SUM24EZ does not include the elements inhibiting the function of plating, it is excellent with a plating stabilizer.