The Nippon Steel Group developed Three-dimensional Hot Bending and Direct Quench (3DQ) technology to meet the automotive needs of lighter vehicles to reduce CO₂ emissions and greater safety.
It is the world’s first process that can manufacture ultra high-strength automotive parts with three-dimensional shapes in a single operation using steel tubes of various shapes as the raw material. This technology has made it possible to get the ultimate best out of metal.
We have installed a prototype machine at our Amagasaki Works and are carrying out development. The equipment can manufacture actual automotive parts and can handle small lots of prototypes.

We developed a mill that minimizes as much as possible processing strain during pipe forming, in order to meet requests for pipes with better workability from customers who process pipes.
This new mill increases pipes’ elongation value by around 10%, greatly improving workability.

Hydroforming has been gaining attention recently as a new processing technique for making lighter automobiles and reducing costs. We were an early adopter of an experimental hydroforming unit, which we set up at Nippon Steel Corporation to conduct R&D, in order to develop steel tubes that are suited to hydroforming.
The equipment can manufacture actual parts, and we can collaborate with customers in parts development.

Weight reduction has become a top priority issue to improve automotive fuel economy in line with global environmental measures.
In response, we have applied pipes to parts that used to be made from round bar (by hollowing them out) and developed high-tensile steel tubes.

We can accommodate the evaluation of actual parts made with pipes. Our customers make effective use of the test results and data gathered here in their development of parts. (The evaluation facility is located at Nippon Steel Technology Co., Ltd.) Nippon Steel Pipe is the only steel pipe manufacturer capable of conducting various tests extending to the level of parts.