CORUS SUPPORTS RICARDO WITH AEROSPACE STEEL FOR ULTIMATE RACING AND SPORTS CAR TRANSMISSIONS
12 January 2005 - Corus Automotive

Corus’ Engineering Steels business, based in Rotherham, will supply Ricardo’s Midlands Technical Centre in Leamington Spa, UK, with steel usually exclusively supplied to the aerospace industry. This high quality product is extensively used by manufacturers of helicopter transmissions because of its proven integrity and structure. Ricardo will use Corus’ steel to manufacture small numbers of high performance sports car and motorsport transmissions, including the gearbox for the new Bugatti Veyron supercar.

Commenting on how Ricardo will benefit from Corus’ extensive material experience gained in other industry sectors, Chris Dale, sales manager, Corus Engineering Steels, said: “For over five decades Corus has been developing and supplying the very highest quality products to meet the exacting demands of its aerospace customers, where any premature failure of critical components could have potentially catastrophic consequences.”

Mark Barge, Director Ricardo Motorsport adds: “The transmission is one of the most highly stressed components in any vehicle and never more so than in a sports car or in the high performance motorsport arena where stress loads are unparalleled. Mechanical integrity and reliability are paramount to a transmission’s success and the quality of materials we use is critical which is why we are delighted to be using Corus’ proven aerospace steel.”

Racing cars fitted with Ricardo designed and manufactured transmissions have enjoyed immense success over the last few years, including a recent 50th win for the Le Mans Audi R8 sportscar and dominance at last year’s Silverstone 1000km Le Mans Endurance Event, where teams using Ricardo transmissions won the top six places in both the race and qualifying sessions.

Corus’ aerospace gear steel is manufactured at the company’s Stocksbridge plant in South Yorkshire using specialised vacuum arc re-melting technology. The process involves the slow, controlled re-melting, under vacuum, of high quality steels initially produced by conventional steelmaking techniques. This additional process removes impurities and improves the microstructure of the steel, which in turn improves material integrity and reduces the risk of fatigue failure.

Corus’ Stocksbridge facility, which currently boasts four vacuum arc re-melting (VAR) furnaces, has recently enjoyed a series of investments worth approaching £10 million that will see the installation of a new furnace in 2005.

Corus’ Chris Dale added: “The new VAR furnace will increase our capacity to manufacture these specialist re-melted products and will provide us with a strong platform for further growth in the automotive sector.”

Ricardo will also benefit from Corus Engineering Steels’ ‘Just in Time’ service developed in association with the company’s Aerospace Service Centre in Bolton and established to meet the current high demand from the aerospace industry for high quality re-melted products.

Ricardo’s Mark Barge concluded: “In addition to the quality of the material, we were also impressed by the quality of service Corus could offer. We are confident that they can supply us as and when required within 24 hours of an order being placed to meet our specific manufacturing schedules.”

Corus Engineering Steels currently supplies gear steels to many of the industry’s leading transmission manufacturers including Xtrac, Quaife, Cosworth, BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Eaton, Ford, GM and ZF.

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