Stalatube Transport Solutions

Stainless steel hollow sections for your bus and coach body frames

Our products enhanced with strength enable the manufacturing of even lighter bus bodies with excellent yield strength, elongations, and energy absorption properties.

The high-strength stainless steel hollow sections offer not only lighter structures but also better corrosion resistance and lower life-cycle costs. Tailored products reduce material waste and keep the cost level stable. Compared to a traditional carbon steel bus, life-cycle costs remain low. Additional benefits come from reduced CO2 emissions, fuel costs, and improved passenger capacity.

Stronger stainless, lighter structures

Stalatube’s high-strength stainless steel products offer higher strength with lighter structures and exceptional elongation properties as well as corrosion and fire resistance. Due to high-strength stainless steel’s mechanical properties, you can have much thinner tube wall thickness without compromising the structure’s functionality, stability, or safety. The high-strength stainless steel hollow section will maintain the same outer dimensions and bending resistance as standard materials.

Stalatube’s high-strength classes offer sustainable choices for every purpose. Weight saving equals less material. Material savings, in turn, are equal to cost savings in the initial investment phase. In addition, less material decreases the environmental impact and leads to a smaller carbon footprint. Lighter structural weight also decreases the carbon footprint of the cargo.

High-strength stainless steel has a higher yield and tensile strength and better energy absorption properties than traditional stainless steel grades or structural steel. While offering undeniable strength in applications, high-strength stainless steel can also be combined with other steel grades.

Ultimate strength and elongation

STALA800

Our newest high-strength stainless steel hollow section called STALA800 (EN 1.4678). It has an exceptional combination of high strength and elongation. The material can absorb a huge amount of energy in case of an accident, making it ideal for roll-over structures and collision guards.

STALA800 is an excellent choice for bus body structures made mainly from carbon steel. It can be combined with carbon steel to strengthen the critical parts of the structure. E-coating is recommended for better corrosion resistance.

Mechanical properties

Min. yield strength 800 MPa (116 ksi)
Min. tensile strength 1000 MPa (145 ksi)
Min. elongation 25%

High-strength and corrosion resistance

STALA630D

High-strength Lean Duplex steels EN 1.4062 and EN 1.4162 lead to considerable weight-save and provide superb elongation and corrosion resistance. Fortifying them with our own strength class STALA630D will ramp up their yield strength to 630 MPa along with excellent elongation and energy absorption properties.

Combining Ferritic and Lean Duplex leads to the most lightweight bus or coach body that is both cost-effective and durable. A 1000-kilogram decrease in the weight of the bus body is possible through not only material selection but carefully choosing the ideal tube dimensions and thicknesses. Life cycle costs remain low – and the difference is quite remarkable compared to a traditional carbon steel bus. Additional benefits come from reduced CO2 emissions and fuel costs as well as improved passenger capacity.

Mechanical properties

Min. yield strength 630 MPa (91 ksi)
Min. tensile strength 750 MPa (108 ksi)
Min. elongation 20%

Cost-efficient

STALA400F

Ferritic STALA400F is a cost-effective and price-stable material. STALA400F is also a sustainable choice due to its significantly lower CO2 footprint compared to galvanized carbon steel.

Ferritic STALA400F square and rectangular hollow sections, components and sheets are a cost-efficient solution providing good structural corrosion resistance and relatively high strength. Ferritic steel offers the benefits of more highly alloyed stainless steels such as strength, corrosion and abrasion resistance, durability and low maintenance. It is weldable and formable allowing it to be fabricated using conventional technique.

Mechanical properties

Min. yield strength 400 MPa (58 ksi)
Min. tensile strength 450 MPa (65 ksi)
Min. elongation 10%

The STALAopti tube offers an excellent combination of flexural strength and light in weight. Increased wall thickness at the end of the tubes allows using higher heat input during welding without the risk of burning through. Reinforcement inside the tube increases buckling resistance significantly.

The optimal solution in those bus body structure areas where stiffness is required. STALAopti offers excellent flexural strength for our customers looking for strength and durability without weight increase and stronger joints. This is a unique solution for strengthening the needed area and eliminating the weight increase at the same time suitable mainly for bus body structures.

Benefits