A comprehensive design approach to increase the performance of steels under minimal costs and environmental impacts

The requirements for new materials are increasing, as multidimensional criteria should be included in the material design process. A comprehensive approach for designing new steels is presented, where the environmental dimension for each alloying element is considered, besides the technological and economic aspects. A case study focuses on increasing the hardenability of air-hardening steel. Economic and environmental figures expand the technical perspective. It is demonstrated within this study that standard alloying elements used to increase the hardenability significantly influence further selection criteria. It is exemplified that alloying elements like boron provide higher hardenability at lower costs and a lower carbon footprint than, for example, nickel or chromium. This comprehensive design approach can be transferred to other technological optimization phenomena. It might help design future generations of steel by considering further objectives and disclosing possible trade-offs.