The winner of the prestigious International Swedish Steel Prize has been announced, and this year the honour goes to Italy-based Mantella SrL for its innovative Stratosphere 3.0 rear tipping semi-trailer.
The Stratosphere 3.0 has a chassis with the same weight as an aluminium frame, but with superior mechanical properties. It has outstanding wear resistance, greater fatigue life and offers weight reduction of around 30% compared to previous trailer chassis on the market.
“Mantella has come up with a unique design that represents an entirely new generation in tipper and body solutions. Skilled design work, smart production methods and fully utilizing the advantages of high-strength and wear-resistant steel made it possible,” says Eva Petursson, Chair of the Swedish Steel Prize jury and Head of SSAB’s Strategic R&D.
The chassis is made entirely of high-strength steel with formed Z-beams instead of the classic welded I profile. Eliminating the welded beams gives vital improvements in fatigue resistance as well as production efficiency. It also provides an increase in load capacity, while maintaining a low weight. Additionally, the body of the Stratosphere 3.0 is made from wear-resistant steel, guaranteeing excellent durability over time.
End-users of the Stratosphere 3.0 point out that with the same workload as previous models, they can achieve a greater payload, more on-road stability with a full load, and a significant reduction in fuel and tire consumption.
This is the 19th anniversary of the Swedish Steel Prize, and the winner will receive a statuette by the sculptor Jörg Jeschke and a cash prize of SEK 100,000 to be donated to a charity of the winner’s choice.
The other finalists, CTE S.p.A. from Italy, JAK-Metalli Oy from Finland and Trufab Global from Australia, were runners-up in the Swedish Steel Prize 2018.
Read more about the Swedish Steel Prize on steelprize.com.