Patents by Inventor Akihiro Uenishi

Akihiro Uenishi has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20210164082
    Abstract: What is provided is a high-strength steel sheet having a large bake hardening amount and a uniform bake hardenability is provided according to the present invention, the high-strength steel sheet comprising, by mass %: C: 0.13% to 0.40%; Si: 0.500% to 3.000%; Mn: 2.50% to 5.00%; P: 0.100% or less; S: 0.010% or less; Al: 0.001% to 2.000%; N: 0.010% or less; and a remainder consisting of Fe and impurities, wherein martensite is 95% or more in an area ratio, and residual structure is 5% or less in an area ratio, a ratio C1/C2 of an upper limit C1 (mass %) of Si concentrations to a lower limit C2 (mass %) of the Si concentrations in a cross section in a thickness direction is 1.25 or less, precipitates having a major axis of 0.05 ?m or more and 1.00 ?m or less and an aspect ratio of 1:3 or more are included in a number density of 30/?m2 or more, and a tensile strength is 1300 MPa or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2019
    Publication date: June 3, 2021
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mai NAGANO, Koutarou HAYASHI, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Publication number: 20210040588
    Abstract: A steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition and a metal structure represented by, in area fraction, polygonal ferrite: 40% or less, martensite: 20% or less, bainitic ferrite: 50% to 95%, and retained austenite: 5% to 50%. In area fraction, 80% or more of the bainitic ferrite is composed of bainitic ferrite grains that have an aspect ratio of 0.1 to 1.0 and have a dislocation density of 8×102 (cm/cm3) or less in a region surrounded by a grain boundary with a misorientation angle of 15° or more. In area fraction, 80% or more of the retained austenite is composed of retained austenite grains that have an aspect ratio of 0.1 to 1.0, have a major axis length of 1.0 ?m to 28.0 ?m, and have a minor axis length of 0.1 ?m to 2.8 ?m.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Publication date: February 11, 2021
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri TODA, Eisaku SAKURADA, Kunio HAYASHI, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Patent number: 10907235
    Abstract: A steel sheet according to an aspect of the present invention has a chemical composition within a predetermined range; in which a metallographic structure at a thickness ¼ portion includes, by unit area %, ferrite: 10% or more and less than 50%, granular bainite: 5% or more and less than 50%, and martensite: 20% or more and less than 60%; in the metallographic structure at the thickness ¼ portion, a total of upper bainite, lower bainite, residual austenite, and pearlite is 0% or more and less than 15% by unit area %; at the thickness ¼ portion, a product of an area ratio Vm of the martensite and an average hardness Hv of the martensite is 12,000 to 34,000; and a tensile strength is 980 MPa or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri Toda, Kunio Hayashi, Katsuya Nakano, Hiroyuki Kawata, Akihiro Uenishi
  • Publication number: 20210017622
    Abstract: A hot dip galvanized steel sheet and hot dip galvannealed steel sheet improved in uniform ductility and local ductility, yield strength and tensile strength, and low temperature impact property, characterized by having a predetermined chemical composition, having a metal structure containing, by volume %, retained austenite: over 5.0% and tempered martensite: over 5.0%, having retained austenite containing C: 0.85 mass % or more, and having a ratio [C]?gb/[P]?gb of an amount of segregation of C (number of atoms/nm2): [C]?gb to an amount of segregation of P (number of atoms/nm2): [P]?gb at prior austenite grain boundaries of 4.0 or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun HAGA, Kohichi SANO, Koutarou HAYASHI, Kunio HAYASHI, Masaharu KAMEDA, Akihiro UENISHI, Hiroyuki KAWATA
  • Patent number: 10895002
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes a predetermined chemical composition and a metal structure represented by, in area fraction, ferrite: 30% to 50%, granular bainite: 5% to 20%, martensite: 30% to 55%, bainite: less than 35%, and retained austenite and pearlite: 10% or less in total. Preferably, of the steel sheet, a tensile strength is 1180 MPa or more, elongation is 10% or more, and a hole expansion value is 20% or more. Further preferably, a VDA bending angle in the case where a thickness is set to t (mm) is “7.69t2?38.4t+109” or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya Nakano, Kunio Hayashi, Yuri Toda, Eisaku Sakurada, Akihiro Uenishi
  • Publication number: 20210002741
    Abstract: A steel sheet including, in mass %, C: 0.05% or more and 0.30% or less, Si: 0.05% or more and 6.00% or less, Mn: 1.50% or more and 10.00% or less, and the balance: Fe and impurities, a steel sheet structure is composed of, in area ratio, 15% or more and 80% or less of ferrite and 20% or more and 85% or less in total of a hard structure composed of any one of bainite, martensite, or retained austenite, or any combination thereof, and to a steel sheet thickness t, an area ratio of a maximum coupled ferrite region in a region from a t/2 position at the steel sheet thickness center to a position at a depth of 3t/8 from a surface is 80% or more in area ratio to a total ferrite area, and a two-dimensional isoperimetric constant of the maximum coupled ferrite region is 0.35 or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Publication date: January 7, 2021
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shohei YABU, Koutarou HAYASHI, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Patent number: 10876181
    Abstract: In a cold-rolled steel sheet having a predetermined chemical composition, a metallographic structure contains 40.0% or more and less than 60.0% of a polygonal ferrite, 30.0% or more of a bainitic ferrite, 10.0% to 25.0% of a residual austenite, and 15.0% or less of a martensite, by an area ratio, in the residual austenite, a proportion of the residual austenite in which an aspect ratio is 2.0 or less, a length of a long axis is 1.0 ?m or less, and a length of a short axis is 1.0 ?m or less, is 80.0% or more, in the bainitic ferrite, a proportion of the bainitic ferrite in which an aspect ratio is 1.7 or less and an average value of a crystal orientation difference in a region surrounded by a boundary in which a crystal orientation difference is 15° or more is 0.5° or more and less than 3.0°, is 80.0% or more, and a connection index D value of the martensite, the bainitic ferrite, and the residual austenite is 0.70 or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kengo Takeda, Kunio Hayashi, Akihiro Uenishi, Masafumi Azuma, Takayuki Nozaki, Yuri Toda
  • Patent number: 10822672
    Abstract: A steel sheet according to an aspect of the present invention has predetermined chemical composition, in which a structure at a thickness ¼ portion includes, in terms of volume ratios, tempered martensite: 30% to 70% and one or both of ferrite and bainite: a total of 20% to 70%, in the structure at the thickness ¼ portion, a volume ratio of residual austenite is less than 10%, a volume ratio of fresh martensite is 10% or less, a volume ratio of pearlite is 10% or less, and a total volume ratio of the residual austenite, the fresh martensite, and the pearlite is 15% or less, a number density of iron-based carbides having a major axis of 5 nm or more in the tempered martensite at the thickness ¼ portion is 5×107 particles/mm2 or more, a ratio of the number of ?-type carbides in the number of the iron-based carbides having the major axis of 5 nm or more at the thickness ¼ portion is 20% or more, and a tensile strength is 780 MPa or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri Toda, Masafumi Azuma, Akihiro Uenishi, Hiroyuki Kawata, Naoki Maruyama, Genichi Shigesato
  • Publication number: 20200332397
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes, as a chemical composition, by mass %: C: 0.05% to 0.30%; Si: 0.2% to 2.0%; Mn: 2.0% to 4.0%; Al: 0.001% to 2.000%; P: 0.100% or less; S: 0.010% or less; N: 0.010% or less; Ti: 0% to 0.100%; Nb: 0% to 0.100%; V: 0% to 0.100%; Cu: 0% to 1.00%; Ni: 0% to 1.00%; Mo: 0% to 1.00%; Cr: 0% to 1.00%; W: 0% to 0.005%; Ca: 0% to 0.005%; Mg: 0% to 0.005%; a rare earth element (REM): 0% to 0.010%; B: 0% to 0.0030%; and a remainder of Fe and impurities, in which a metallographic structure contains, by area ratio, 95% or more of a hard structure and 0% to 5% of residual austenite, by mass % in a cross section in a thickness direction, C1/C2 which is a ratio of an upper limit C1 of a Mn content to a lower limit C2 of the Mn content is 1.5 or less, and a bake-hardening amount BH is 150 MPa or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mai NAGANO, Koutarou HAYASHI, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Patent number: 10808291
    Abstract: A steel sheet according to an aspect of the present invention has predetermined chemical composition, in which a structure at a thickness ¼ portion includes, in terms of volume ratios, tempered martensite: 70% or more and one or both of ferrite and bainite: a total of less than 20%, in the structure at the thickness ¼ portion, a volume ratio of residual austenite is less than 10%, a volume ratio of fresh martensite is 10% or less, a volume ratio of pearlite is 10% or less, and a total volume ratio of the residual austenite, the fresh martensite, and the pearlite is 15% or less, a number density of iron-based carbides having a major axis of 5 nm or more in the tempered martensite at the thickness ¼ portion is 5×107 particles/mm2 or more, a ratio of the number of ?-type carbides in the number of the iron-based carbides having the major axis of 5 nm or more at the thickness ¼ portion is 20% or more, and a tensile strength is 780 MPa or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri Toda, Masafumi Azuma, Akihiro Uenishi, Hiroyuki Kawata, Naoki Maruyama, Genichi Shigesato
  • Publication number: 20200325554
    Abstract: A steel sheet having a chemical composition of the base metal including, in mass %, C: 0.17 to 0.40%, Si: 0.10 to 2.50%, Mn: 1.00 to 10.00%, P: 0.001 to 0.03%, S: 0.0001 to 0.02%, Al: 0.001 to 2.50%, N: 0.0001 to 0.010%, O: 0.0001 to 0.010%, Ti: 0 to 0.10%, Nb: 0 to 0.10%, V: 0 to 0.10%, B: 0 to 0.010%, Cr: 0 to 2.00%, Ni: 0 to 2.00%, Cu: 0 to 2.00%, Mo: 0 to 2.00%, Ca: 0 to 0.50%, Mg: 0 to 0.50%, REM: 0 to 0.50%, the balance: Fe and impurities, wherein the steel sheet has an internal oxidized layer in which at least one part of a crystal grain boundary is covered by oxides, and in which a grain boundary coverage ratio of oxides is 60% or more in a region from the surface of the base metal to a depth of 5.0 ?m.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Publication date: October 15, 2020
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kengo TAKEDA, Kunio HAYASHI, Akihiro UENISHI, Hiroyuki KAWATA, Chisato YOSHINAGA, Yasunobu MIYAZAKI, Toyomitsu NAKAMURA
  • Publication number: 20200283869
    Abstract: A high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet which is a steel sheet having a tensile strength of 980 MPa or more has a predetermined chemical component composition, a metallographic microstructure of the steel sheet contains, by area ratio, ferrite and granular bainite: 10% or more and 50% or less in total, one or both of upper bainite and lower bainite: 10% or more and 50% or less in total, tempered martensite: more than 0% and 30% or less, retained austenite: 5% or more, and one or more of pearlite, cementite, and martensite: 0% to 10% in total, and an area ratio of the ferrite with respect to a total area ratio of the ferrite and the granular bainite is 25% or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2017
    Publication date: September 10, 2020
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri TODA, Kunio HAYASHI, Katsuya NAKANO, Eisaku SAKURADA, Akihiro UENISHI, Kengo TAKEDA
  • Patent number: 10745775
    Abstract: A steel sheet for galvannealed steel contains, by mass %, C: 0.25 to 0.70%, Si: 0.25 to 2.50%, Mn: 1.00 to 5.00%, Al: 0.005 to 3.50%, P: 0.15% or less, S: 0.03% or less, N £ 0.02%, O £ 0.01%, and optionally one or more selected from Ti, Nb, V, Cr, Mo, Cu, Ni, B, Ca, REM, Mg, W, Zr, Sb, Sn, As, Te, Y, Hf and Co, a balance being Fe and impurities. The microstructure consists of, by vol. %, retained g: 10.0 to 60.0%, high-temperature tempered martensite3 5.0%, low-temperature tempered martensite3 5.0%, fresh martensite £ 10.0%, a: 0 to 15.0%, P: 0 to 10.0%, a balance being bainite. Total volume ratio of tempered martensite and bainite is 30.0% or more, tensile strength is 1470 MPa or more, tensile strength×uniform elongation is 13000 MPa % or more, and tensile strength×local elongation is 5000 MPa % or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kohichi Sano, Jun Haga, Koutarou Hayashi, Hiroyuki Kawata, Riki Okamoto, Akihiro Uenishi
  • Publication number: 20200071801
    Abstract: A high strength steel sheet containing a large amount of Mn which has bendability suitable as a material for auto part use and a method of producing the same are provided. A high strength steel sheet comprising a center part in a sheet thickness and a softened surface layer part on one surface or both surfaces of the center part in the sheet thickness, characterized in that, the center part in the sheet thickness has an average Mn concentration of greater than 4.0 mass % and less than 10.0 mass %, each softened surface layer part has a thickness of 0.1% to 30% of the sheet thickness, and the softened surface layer part has an average Mn concentration of 2.5 mass % or less, a recrystallization rate of 90% or more, and recrystallized structures with an average crystal grain size of 0.1 ?m or more and 40 ?m or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shohei YABU, Koutarou HAYASHI, Genki ABUKAWA, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Publication number: 20200040435
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes a predetermined chemical composition and a metal structure represented by, in area fraction, ferrite: 50% to 95%, granular bainite: 5% to 48%, martensite: 2% to 30%, and upper bainite, lower bainite, tempered martensite, retained austenite, and pearlite: 5% or less in total.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2017
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya NAKANO, Kunio HAYASHI, Yuri TODA, Eisaku SAKURADA, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Patent number: 10543521
    Abstract: Disclosed is a press forming method press forming a workpiece between a die and a punch, while pushing the punch into the die by means of a relative motion of the die and the punch, the method includes: producing an intermediate molding (100B) having ridges (100d) formed in predetermined parts of the workpiece, and then press forming the intermediate molding (100B) into a final shape, to thereby substantially thicken and work-harden the predetermined parts of the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shigeru Yonemura, Akihiro Uenishi, Shin Toyokawa, Takuya Kuwayama, Takashi Ariga
  • Publication number: 20200024706
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes a predetermined chemical composition and a metal structure represented by, in area fraction, ferrite: 30% to 50%, granular bainite: 5% to 20%, martensite: 30% to 55%, bainite: less than 35%, and retained austenite and pearlite: 10% or less in total. Preferably, of the steel sheet, a tensile strength is 1180 MPa or more, elongation is 10% or more, and a hole expansion value is 20% or more. Further preferably, a VDA bending angle in the case where a thickness is set to t (mm) is “7.69t2?38.4t+109” or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2017
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya NAKANO, Kunio HAYASHI, Yuri TODA, Eisaku SAKURADA, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Patent number: 10501832
    Abstract: A base material (13) included in a plated steel sheet (1) includes a structure, at a ¼ sheet thickness position, represented by, in volume fraction: tempered martensite: 3.0% or more; ferrite: 4.0% or more; and retained austenite: 5.0% or more. An average hardness of the tempered martensite in the base material (13) is 5 GPa to 10 GPa, and a part or all of the tempered martensite and the retained austenite in the base material form an M-A. A volume fraction of ferrite in a decarburized ferrite layer (12) included in the plated steel sheet (1) is 120% or more of the volume fraction of the ferrite in the base material (13) at the ¼ sheet thickness position, an average grain diameter of the ferrite in the decarburized ferrite layer (12) is 20 ?m or less, a thickness of the decarburized ferrite layer (12) is 5 ?m to 200 ?m, a volume fraction of tempered martensite in the decarburized ferrite layer (12) is 1.0 volume% or more, a number density of the tempered martensite in the decarburized ferrite layer (12) is 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koutarou Hayashi, Akihiro Uenishi, Masaharu Kameda, Jun Haga, Kunio Hayashi, Kohichi Sano, Hiroyuki Kawata
  • Publication number: 20190368002
    Abstract: A steel sheet with a high concentration of contained Mn having an excellent uniform elongation characteristic and high strength is provided. A steel sheet characterized by containing, by mass %, C: greater than 0.10% and less than 0.55%, Si: 0.001% or more and less than 3.50%, Mn: greater than 4.00% and less than 9.00%, sol. Al: 0.001% or more and less than 3.00%, and a balance of iron and unavoidable impurities, wherein a metal structure at a position of ¼ thickness from a surface in an L-cross-section of the steel sheet comprises, by area %, 25% to 90% of tempered martensite, 3% or less of ferrite, 10% to 75% of residual austenite, and 5% or less of bainite.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2018
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koutarou HAYASHI, Hiroshi KAIDO, Riki OKAMOTO, Akihiro UENISHI
  • Publication number: 20190338389
    Abstract: When a zone surrounded by a grain boundary that is measured to be 5.0° or more by an EBSD analysis is assumed to be a grain, and when a K value is a value obtained by multiplying an average value of Image Qualities in a grain by 10?3, a Y value is an average crystal misorientation (°) in the grain, a metallic phase 1 is a metallic phase the K value of which is less than 4.000, a metallic phase 2 is a metallic phase the K value of which is 4.000 or more and the Y value of which is 0.5 to 1.0, a metallic phase 3 is a metallic phase the K value of which is 4.000 or more and the Y value of which is less than 0.5, and a metallic phase 4 is a metallic phase that falls under none of metallic phases 1 to 3, there is provided a steel sheet that has a predetermined chemical composition and includes a microstructure including, in area percent, a metallic phase 1: 1.0% or more and less than 35.0%, a metallic phase 2: 30.0% or more and 80.0% or less, a metallic phase 3: 5.0% or more and 50.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2017
    Publication date: November 7, 2019
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri TODA, Masafumi AZUMA, Akihiro UENISHI, Eisaku SAKURADA, Tatsuo YOKOI, Genichi SHIGESATO