As featured in Design Product News, March 2002

Laurel Steel makes lead-free steel product inroads

For designers to specify a new kind of material into a product, it had better be proven out and certified to widely recognized standards.

So when Laurel Steel of Burlington, ON, began to offer 12T14, a lead-free steel product to customers last year, it knew it had a product that was SAE Certified as a Potential Standard Grade (PS-68) listed in SAE Standard J1081. Laurel Steel, a division of Harris Steel Ltd. and a supplier of cold-finished steel bar, cold-drawn wire and welded wire mesh, is one of a select few companies worldwide with this "green" steel product that uses tin in place of lead.

Laboratory tests show the 12T14 increases machining productivity 35 to 40%, while speeding feed rates by 10%. The product is in high demand from customers producing screw machine parts and the automotive industry in particular as it tries to increase non-hazardous recyclable part counts. According to Mike Amormino, Laurel Steel VP, manufacturing, "North American automotive customers who have approved 12T14 include GM, Delphi, Ford, Visteon and Borg Warner."

Laurel Steel (laurelsteel.com) is part of the Non-Leaded Free Machining Steel Consortium, LLC, that was founded in 1995 to research a non-leaded alternative to 12L14 steel. Researchers first wanted to discover precisely why lead content in steel contributed to ease of machining before identifying a viable substitute - that turned out to be tin. While tin is more expensive than lead, it is used in much lower concentrations in 12T14, as well as providing no additional processing expenses that 12L14 requires to meet environmental regulations.

Amormino noted that "12L14 has been the longstanding machine industry standard because lead allows chips to break off more readily" in the machining process. However, "new generation machine toolings in the last four years combined with improved tool coatings has allowed the use of 12T14 to expand."

David Tidey, sales manager at Laurel Steel, says the company estimates that 50% or more of its cold-finished bar goes to automotive applications, with the balance going into a variety of different products and markets, including appliances and hydraulics. "We continue to get greater acceptance for 12T14 by automotive OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers."

Laurel Steel supplied 2000 tons of 12T14 grade steel in 2001 and expects to double production in 2002, Tidey said. The company is well positioned to handle any inventory concerns that customers might have, he added.

A 9-storey-high Kasto Automated Storage System holds 2300 storage cassettes with a total load capacity of 16,500 tons of finished goods inventory. A pair of gantry cranes operate independently and, can move up to 328 fpm in longitudinal travel and up to 200 fpm when pulling/pushing the cassettes. "Our customers have tightened up their supply chains," Amormino said, "they know they can rely on us to have the inventory available to meet their JIT needs."

 

Laurel Steel cold finished steel bar transits from the plant floor to Kasto 9-storey automated storage system area (inset).