ULSAS - Improving Performance Through Light Weight Automotive Suspension Systems: Phase 1 - Benchmarking and Initial Design Concepts

A Consortium of steel producing organizations has been working to reduce the mass of automobiles. An initiative identified as ULSAS (UltraLight Steel Automotive Suspension) is in progress which considers automotive rear suspension systems. The programme has evaluated and established the current status of material and process technology utilization and its application to rear suspension systems. Extensive studies have generated over fifty five design ideas which provide an indication of the potential opportunities for performance improvement that could be realised through the focused application of steel technologies. Work is in progress developing these ideas and quantifying the performance improvements.