Tata Steel, Posco team up to develop hyperloop tubes

The two steel majors will collaborate to develop and test steels of various strengths and tube designs, which will be used to create hyperloop tubes that are strong enough to carry a passenger or freight pod passing at speeds of over 1,000 km an hour.

Both the companies will develop high grade steel that can be used for making giant tubes of up to 3.5 metre diameter besides testing innov ative concepts and designs for the hyperloop tubes. They neither gave a time frame nor financial details for their hyperloop project.

These steel tubes while having the necessay resistance and strength for bearing high-speed movements, should also remain strong enough without causing any bend over longer periods of time.

These steel tubes should allow a vehicle to travel in a low-pressure environment, where air is removed to reduce resistance while retaining straightness over very long distances, the companies said.

Hyperloop system uses magnetic levitation to allow near-silent travel, a trip between New York and Washington would take just 30 minutes. That would be twice as fast as a commercial jet flight and four times faster than a high-speed train.

Ernst Hoogenes, chief technical officer at Tata Steel, said: "Globally, hyperloops hold a lot of potential for the future of high-speed sustainable transport and these are very exciting projects. This is an important part of our ambitions towards decarbonisation.

"We are delighted to join forces with Posco. Pooling our joint technical expertise will enable us to scale up our innovation efforts and give our customers the cutting-edge products they need to be successful."

Tata Steel's Europe is one of Europe's leading steel producers, with steelmaking in the Netherlands and the UK, and manufacturing plants across Europe. The company supplies high-quality steel.  

Tata Steel group, an Indian multinational, reported consolidated net loss of Rs4,648.13 crore for fiscal first quater ended 30 June 2020 against a net profit of Rs714.03 crore in Q1 June 2019. Consolidated net sales slumped 32.7 per cent to Rs23,812.50 crore in Q1 June 2020 over st fiscal.

“Posco has been conducting hyperloop related research such as feasibility, design and structural optimisation of various types of steel tubes for more than 10 years,” said Duk-Lak Lee, head of technical research laboratories at Posco.