BAM coordinates the HYDRO-QP project: how hydrogen and impurities from recycled steel, such as tin and copper, affect high-strength Q&P steels for vehicle components — EUR 1.8 million from the RFCS, until February 2030
On 16 September 2026 Germany’s Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) announced the start of the European research project HYDRO-QP, which it coordinates. Researchers from industry and academia in four countries will examine how hydrogen and impurities introduced through recycling affect the performance of modern high-strength steels — and how automotive steels can be produced in a more climate-friendly way without compromising safety and reliability.
- Background: to cut CO₂ emissions, the steel industry must significantly increase the use of recycled steel, which brings undesirable elements such as tin or copper into the material as impurities; according to BAM, little is known so far about their effect on steels for particularly demanding applications. The project focuses on Quench-and-Partitioning (Q&P) steels — among the most advanced high-strength steels, increasingly used in safety-relevant vehicle components because their high strength and good formability allow lighter vehicle structures.
- Q&P steels are sensitive to hydrogen, which can enter the steel during production or later in service — even small amounts can promote cracking and shorten component life. The researchers will produce model steels with different contents of recycling-related elements and analyse their deformation behaviour under hydrogen using high-resolution microscopy, X-ray methods and mechanical loading tests, complemented by multiscale simulations down to the atomic level.
- The project combines experimental materials research, data-driven simulation and machine learning; the data obtained will feed digital models intended to speed up the development of new materials and better predict their properties. BAM contributes expertise in materials informatics and materials design, simulations and the analysis of degradation mechanisms, and its hydrogen competence centre H2Safety@BAM is involved in the project.
- Partners: thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, voestalpine Stahl, ArcelorMittal Maizières Research, the Materials Center Leoben, Ghent University and the Leibniz-Institut für Werkstofforientierte Technologien in Bremen. The project runs until February 2030 under the EU Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) and is funded with EUR 1.8 million. According to BAM, the results may help increase the share of recycled material in high-value steel applications.