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Steel for vehicle construction

A vehicle frame is loaded by the road, not by a load case. Every kilometre adds cycles to the same welded joints, and every kilogram in the structure is a kilogram that cannot be carried as payload. The two demands pull against each other, and the section is where they meet.

We supply hollow sections and tubes for chassis frames, bodies and special vehicle structures, together with the laser processing, cutting and bending that turn a length of steel into a part ready for the welding jig.
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What a vehicle structure asks of a section

A vehicle structure is loaded continuously, built in repeat quantities and sent out into weather, splash water and road salt. Three requirements decide most material selections.

Load that never settles

Road surface, braking, loading and the twisting of uneven ground act on a frame in alternating directions for its whole service life, with impact loads on top. Hot finished hollow sections are formed at normalising temperature, which gives them a uniform grain structure and hardness across the whole cross section and stable mechanical properties in the corner and weld seam areas. They also behave well at low temperatures, which matters for vehicles that work outdoors all year.

Stiffness inside a weight budget

A closed section resists torsion far better than an open one, which is what a frame needs when only three of four wheels have ground contact. Since structural weight comes directly off the payload, the question is rarely the strongest section but the stiffest one within the permitted weight. Very small corner radii give hot finished sections a larger material cross section, so the structural values rise at the same outside dimension rather than at a larger envelope.

A surface that is attacked from below

Splash water, grit and road salt reach a frame from underneath. A closed section has less area to protect than an open one and no re-entrant corners that collect dirt. Hot finished sections carry no work hardening in the corner areas, a known cause of cracking, so they can be welded and hot dip galvanised without special precautions; galvanising itself follows EN ISO 1461. The filling and venting openings a galvanised hollow section needs can be cut in on the laser in the same operation as the connection geometry.

The range we supply

Hollow sections and tubes in rectangular, square, round, oval and semi-oval profiles. Cold formed sections to EN 10219 suit standard steel construction, while hot finished sections to EN 10210 meet higher demands for load, temperature and wall thickness.

Fine grain grades S355NH, S420NH and S460NH are available alongside J2H qualities. Elliptical and semi-oval sections offer additional design flexibility, particularly for exposed structures.

Special grades, including L qualities for -50 °C impact requirements, and non-standard dimensions can be sourced on request.

Our steel trading products

Hot Formed Hollow Sections

Hot Formed Hollow Sections

Cold Formed Hollow Sections

Cold Formed Hollow Sections

Seamless Tubes

Seamless Tubes

Precision tubes

Precision tubes

Hollow sections to EN 10210 and EN 10219

Square

15 x 15 mm to 500 x 500 mm; EN 10210 hot finished up to 400 x 400 mm with wall thicknesses up to 20 mm, EN 10219 cold formed up to 300 x 300 mm with wall thicknesses up to 12.5 mm

Rectangular

15 x 10 mm to 600 x 400 mm; EN 10210 hot finished up to 500 x 300 mm with wall thicknesses up to 20 mm, EN 10219 cold formed up to 400 x 200 mm with wall thicknesses up to 12.5 mm

Shaped tubes

EN 10219 up to 120/80 and 100/100, wall thicknesses up to 5 mm, length 6,000 mm

Grades

S235JRH, S275J2H, S355J2H, S355NH, S420NH, S460NH, stainless steel and various special grades

Sub grade designations

JR at room temperature, J0 at 0 °C, J2 and K2 at -20 °C, N for normalized fine grain steels, L for specified impact properties at -50 °C

Stock programme

Hot finished in S355J2H and S355NH; cold formed in S235JRH, S275J2H and S355J2H

Stock range and delivery programme

Stock range and delivery programme vary between markets. Your local ALUKÖNIGSTAHL team will confirm what is available for your project. The programme covers hollow sections, tubes and rolled steel. Bridge equipment such as bearings, expansion joints and drainage is not part of it.

Services we offer

Vehicle construction runs in repeat quantities more often than in single pieces. What decides the cost of a frame is not the first part but the hundredth, and whether it goes into the jig without reworking.

3D tube laser cutting

Connection geometries, copes, openings, bolt holes, cable and line feed throughs and mounting aids are cut into the section in one operation, to the same geometry on every part. That removes steps from your own production, gives optimised weld edges for better weld quality, and adds positioning aids that cut out measuring and marking before the frame is welded.

Bending

Cold bending, hot bending, rolling and press bending through our bending partners. This is the route to curved frame members, roof bows, tube arches and protective structures that would otherwise be segmented and welded together from straight pieces. Send the section, the radius and the tolerance and we will come back on what is feasible for that combination.

Sawing and cutting to length

Fixed length cuts as well as single and double mitre cuts. Members arrive in the lengths your assembly needs, which simplifies handling and avoids costly offcuts in your own workshop.

Sandblasting

Removal of rust, scale, soiling and paint residues, so that the surface is prepared for the coating or galvanising step that follows.

Laser processing envelope

Hollow sections and open sections are processed continuously. The finished part lengths cover chassis rails and long frame members in one piece, without a splice.

Laser work is carried out in line with EN ISO 9001, EN 1090-2 and EN ISO 9013.

The vehicle itself stays with you. Type approval of the finished vehicle or body, and the welding certification your production works to, for example to ISO 3834 or, for rail vehicles, to EN 15085, are yours to hold. What we supply is the material and the preparatory operations agreed with it.

Sizing

Enveloping circle diameter up to 610 mm
Hollow sections and oval tubes up to 500 x 300 mm and 400 x 400 mm
Open sections up to 500 x 300 mm
Material thickness, steel up to 22 mm
Finished part length up to 14,000 mm
Weight up to 290 kg/m
File formats STEP, IGES and IFC for 3D model imports, plus DWG, DXF and PDF

For an enquiry, send a STEP file together with a PDF, DWG or DXF drawing. For simple parts a PDF is sufficient. Prefabrication services are available in selected markets.

Where these sections are used

Typical applications for hollow sections and tubes in vehicle and special vehicle construction. If your structure is not among them, the fastest route is a conversation with our steel team.

Trailer and semi trailer frames

Longitudinal members, cross members and drawbar structures, mostly galvanised and produced in repeat quantities.

Bodies and subframes

Tipper, flatbed and box body structures, together with the subframes that connect them to the chassis.

Special and municipal vehicles

One off and small series structures where the section programme and prefabrication decide how quickly a design becomes a vehicle.

Bus and coach superstructures

Ring frames and pillar structures built from hollow sections, where the strength of the superstructure is verified against UN Regulation No. 66.

Equipment carried on the vehicle

Frames for tail lifts, loader cranes, roll off systems and platforms, loaded in impact rather than steadily.

Vehicle fit outs and racking

Interior racking, shelving and mounting frames in service and workshop vehicles, with a high share of identical repeat parts.

Questions we are asked regularly

Projects we support

Our product portfolio serves a number of other sectors as well. The same hollow sections, tubes and prefabrication go into projects with quite different requirements, and each sector page sets out what matters there.

MACHINE CONSTRUCTION

Machine frames, special purpose machinery and handling equipment under dynamic load.

OPEN

PLANT AND STEEL CONSTRUCTION

Columns, trusses and frame structures in plant engineering and structural steelwork.

OPEN

Bridge construction

Load bearing structures with high demands on grade, documentation and traceability.

OPEN

ELEVATORS AND CABLEWAYS

Structures in continuous operation, frequently exposed to weather and low temperatures.

OPEN

AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Equipment and machinery structures in outdoor use, with a high share of repeat parts.

SHIP BUILDING

Sections for hull and deck structures and for onboard equipment.

OPEN

METAL CONSTRUCTION

Fabrication work from balustrades and canopies through to individual steel structures.

Get in touch with us

Send us the frame drawing, the parts list or a model and our steel team will come back with the section, the grade and the prefabrication steps that fit your production and your quantities. On request we will assess the potential of 3D laser processing directly at your site.

Request a quoteTalk to the steel team