Tata Steel says it has expanded its Serica premium surface finish portfolio for automotive exposed panels. With Serica 29 (0.29µm after forming), Serica 32 (0.32µm after forming) and Serica 35 (0.35µm after forming) the company claims carmakers can tune the required waviness level of their outer panels to minimise the visible contrast in paint appearance between adjacent parts.
Serica 29 is available up to 1,630mm wide for the hot-dip, galvanised, bake-hardening 180 grade (BH180), says Tata. Capability for the bake-hardening steels BH220-260 is under development.
According to the company, multiple levels of guaranteed waviness are achieved by specific modifications to the steel manufacturing process. Adjustments in chemistry, rolling parameters and galvanizing settings result in tightly controlled roughness properties and stability of these properties during deep drawing.