Voestalpine secures ten-year contract with Rolls-Royce
Voestalpine’s High Performance Metals Division has secured a ten-year contract with Rolls-Royce (Courtesy Voestalpine AG)
Voestalpine AG’s High Performance Metals Division reports that it has secured a ten-year contract with Rolls-Royce. The company has supplied Rolls-Royce for a number of years with high-quality steel alloys for engine components from its site in Kapfenberg, Austria. This new contract is with group company Voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl, marking its first entry into the market for rotating engine disks.
The Voestalpine High Performance Metals Division will supply sophisticated pre-materials for engine disks, which are required to withstand huge forces during flight. High-tech materials and special forgings from the company are already used in structural, undercarriage, wing and engine parts in all major models of aircraft, from Airbus and Boeing to Embraer and Bombardier. The group states that it currently generates revenue of around €400 million in the aerospace market, and this figure is expected to increase to €500 million over the medium term.
Voestalpine’s High Performance Metals Division produces metal powders, tool steels, high-speed steels, valve steels and other products made from special steels, as well as nickel-based alloys and titanium. Böhler Edelstahl produces high-performance steels under its Microclean brand. These high-performance, high-speed and tool steels are primarily used in metal machining (hobs, end milling cutters, broaching tools, screw taps, etc) and in cold work tool applications (such as blanking and punching, fine blanking, forming, embossing), where conventionally produced materials reach their performance limits.
Additionally, hot work steels are used for pressure die casting and high-strength special steels are applied in aircraft applications, turbines in power engineering, medical engineering and in off-shore oil exploitation.
Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of Voestalpine AG, stated, “Over the past ten years, we have established ourselves as a leading global supplier to the aerospace industry as a consequence of our expertise in special steels. In both commercial and technological terms, the contract with Rolls-Royce is the largest breakthrough we’ve had in the engine segment to date and confirms the value of our consistent focus on quality and innovation.”
