Engineering the future of automotive steel
Vehicle structures must meet several engineering requirements at the same time. They must protect passengers in a crash, minimise vehicle mass, and remain efficient to be manufactured at an industrial scale.
For the past 25 years, ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks (AMTB) has addressed this challenge by developing tailored steel solutions, combining advanced blanking, forming, and joining technologies.
High-strength steels can be positioned in areas that must resist intrusion during a crash, while thinner or more ductile materials can be used where controlled deformation or weight reduction is required. Whether through tailored welded blanks or shaped blanks, these material combinations can be integrated into a single component, enabling designs that meet structural performance targets while using less steel overall.
Over the past quarter-century, this approach has evolved significantly. What began as a method for optimising material within individual parts has developed into a broader engineering approach that now influences the design of entire vehicle structures.
The tailored blanks business within ArcelorMittal was formed following the creation of Arcelor in 2003, which brought together the laser-welded blank activities of Usinor, Arbed, and Aceralia.
In 2006, the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel created ArcelorMittal and established ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks as part of the new group. Shortly after, a key step in building a global tailored blanks platform came through the partnership with Noble International, combining complementary operations and accelerating the international development of the business.
During these early years, the focus was on industrialising laser-welded blanks for large-scale automotive production. The technology allowed manufacturers to replace conventional monolithic blanks with welded combinations of different steel grades and thicknesses.
This made it possible to optimise material distribution within structural parts such as pillars, rails and reinforcements, reducing mass while maintaining crash performance.
As the technology matured, tailored blanks became widely adopted in body-in-white structures across the automotive industry. At the same time, the consolidation and reintegration of activities strengthened AMTB’s industrial footprint and positioned it as a global engineering and manufacturing partner.
As vehicle safety requirements increased, tailored blank technology expanded to support press hardenable steels (PHS) used in hot-stamped structural components.
Between 2007 and 2010, AMTB industrialised the production of laser-welded blanks for hot stamping through the development of the partial laser ablation welding process.
This process prepares the weld area before joining press-hardenable steels with aluminium-silicon (AlSi) coating, ensuring reliable and forming performance.
The technology made it possible to combine advanced steels such as Usibor® and Ductibor® within a single hot-stamped component.
These materials perform different structural roles during a crash:
By combining both materials within one blank, engineers can design components that include anti-intrusion zones and energy-absorbing zones within the same structural part.
This capability significantly expanded the role of tailored blanks in modern body-in white.
Beyond structural performance, tailored blanks also influence how efficiently steel is used during manufacturing.
A clear example can be seen in the production of an A-pillar component.
In one industrial case, manufacturing a component with a final weight of 5.6 kg required 10.6 kg of steel when produced from a conventional monolithic blank. This resulted in an effective scrap rate of 48 %.
By rethink the blank using two sub-blanks and an optimised nesting configuration, the steel required per component was reduced to 7.3 kg, while the final component weight remained unchanged.
This reduced the scrap rate to 23 %and generated an estimated 26 % reduction in CO₂-equivalent emissions associated with material use. The improvement comes from better use of material before forming.
Tailored blanks allow engineers to divide complex shapes into sections that can be nested more efficiently when cut from a steel coil. These improvements also reduce material consumption and the associated emissions linked to steel production.
As vehicle architectures became more complex, the next step was to apply the same engineering principle at a larger scale. Rather than optimising material within a single part, engineers began to integrate multiple components into larger structural assemblies.
Since 2020, AMTB has developed this approach through ArcelorMittal Multi Part Integration® (MPI) solutions.
MPI combines laser welding, tailored blanks, and hot stamping to integrate several stamped components into one structural part. Instead of assembling multiple parts with numerous spot welds, engineers design a single integrated structure that performs the same function.
Engineering studies indicate that MPI solutions can reduce vehicle structures by up to 32 individual parts and around 450 spot welds, while also lowering mass and simplifying assembly processes.
The same principle that originally optimised material placement within a component is now used to optimise the architecture of the vehicle body itself.
Vehicle structures continue to evolve as manufacturers respond to stricter safety regulations, electrification, and sustainability targets. These challenges require closer integration between materials, structural design, and manufacturing processes.
AMTB works with automotive manufacturers during early stages of vehicle development, supporting the design and validation of tailored blank and MPI solutions through engineering studies, forming analysis, and industrial feasibility work.
After 25 years of development, ArcelorMittal tailored blanks have evolved from a method for optimising steel within a part into a broader engineering approach for designing vehicle structures. And as automotive architecture continues to change, this approach will remain central to the development of lighter, safer, and more efficient vehicles.