A low-cost and easy-to-produce C-Mn-Cr automotive steel for both cold and hot forming is presented in this paper. The alloying element Cr was used to replace Mn in medium-Mn steel and instead of B in hot-formed steel, in order to achieve microstructure control and hardenability improvement, replacing the residual austenite-enhanced plasticization with multidimensional enhanced plasticization through multiphase microstructure design, grain refinement, and dispersion enhancement of second-phase particles. The products of strength and elongation for the cold-formed and hot-formed steel were 20 GPa·% and 18 GPa·%, respectively, while the tensile strengths were more than 1000 MPa and 1500 MPa, respectively. This new automotive steel was also characterized by good oxidation resistance. The mechanisms of strength and plasticization of the experimental automotive steel were analyzed.
Keywords: C–Mn–Cr automotive steel; cold forming; high product of strength and elongation; hot forming.