South Korea-based steel makers Tata Steel and Posco will team up to develop and test new tube designs used to create a hyperloop. It has a tube large enough to hold a passenger or cargo capsule at very high speeds, but at very low energy consumption.

Steel is essential to the construction of a hyperloop’s infrastructure, including the tubes through which the vehicle would travel. The huge steel tubes required for the hyperloop have unique features compared to normal tubes. For example, the vehicles must be able to move in an environment with low air pressure. This reduces resistance and also helps keep energy consumption to a minimum. In addition, the tubes must guarantee a rectilinear movement over long distances.

3.5 meter diameter

Tata Steel and Posco will develop custom high-quality steel for use in these large-diameter pipes – up to 3.5 meters. In addition, the parties are pooling their research efforts into innovative tube concepts and designs.

Ernst Hoogenes, Chief Technical Officer of Tata Steel: “Worldwide, hyperloops have a lot of potential to realise sustainable high-speed transport in the future. This makes them particularly exciting projects.”