The Acura MDX door ring

In this fifth automotive video episode you will learn more about how Honda partnered with ArcelorMittal and Magna's Cosma to launch the first laser-welded, hot-stamped door ring resulting in significant weight reduction and improved safety.

Crucial in this innovation was the use of Usibor^® hot stamping steel and Laser Welded Blanks technology to replace multiple parts by a single-piece door ring design.

• This new MDX, it's lighter, faster, stronger, more fuel efficient, more comfortable. The body structure is almost entirely new. (...) Through the floor, through the roof, through the doors, we had to rethink how could we distribute these even more concentrated loads in a way that we keep people safe. And one of the ways we did that was with the new hot stamped door ring. The entire structure around the door is made of this super strong high strength steel. To our knowledge, we're the first and only people to apply hot stamping in this way."
  Jim A Keller, 2014 Acura MDX Chief Engineer
• "Probably the most visible way to demonstrate the strength of a car is a crash test. What's unique about our vehicle is that, from day one, it was designed with this new small off set barrier test as part of its design strategy."
  Jim A Keller, 2014 Acura MDX Chief Engineer
• "Currently, only about 30% of vehicles are getting an acceptable or better rating on the small off set crash. The MDX performance in the front off set crash was textbook."
  Todd Baker, President ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks Americas
• "Pride for the fact that our solutions literally saving lives: in reality, these solutions are so powerful that apart from business objectives, they save human lives in a very visible, a very meaningful, and a very dramatic way."
  Greg Ludkovsky - Vice President Global R&D

This three-year innovation was the fruit of:

• Honda's design
• ArcelorMittal Global R&D experts across the globe
• ArcelorMittal’s Usibor^® 1500, a patented hot stamping, aluminium silicon coated steel product with an ultimate tensile strength of 1500 MPa
• ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks’ Laser Welded Blank technology and expertise from our Tailored Blanks teams in Europe and Amercia
• The hot stamping of the door ring by Magna's Cosma International

Footage courtesy of Honda, Magna Cosma International and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Developed by ArcelorMittal USA and Automotive Communications 
© ArcelorMittal 2014