This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
The Aluminium Fuel Tank, a Lightweight Solution
Technical Paper
2001-01-3172
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
A major objective of the European car manufacturers is to reduce the fuel consumption and CO2-emissions of passenger cars by 25% by the year 2008. As the fuel consumption is strongly related to the weight of the car, realisation of this objective will be achieved by long term weight reduction programmes.
The European fuel tank market consists of around 14 Million units in cars, of which approximately 70% contain HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene) fuel tanks, 17% leaded (Terne) steel, 3% aluminised steel and the remainder miscellaneous such as electro-coated Zn-Ni, galvannealed, hot-dipped tin or multi - layers with new substrates.
The future legal regulations for fuel tanks will be dictated by the latest CARB (Californian Air Resources Board) specification LEV II (Low Emission Vehicle II). The main demand is the reduction of hydrocarbon (HC) emission for the total car from 2 down to 0.5 g / day in 2004. This demand appears doubtful for plastics, but is feasible for metal tanks.
Next to the barrier technology and low permeability of the material, other demands are; good recyclability (80% of the vehicle must be recycled by the year 2005), low weight (reduction of CO2), noise, and no toxic metals (terne) by the year 2005.
All these factors favour aluminium as the raw material for manufacturing the fuel tanks of passenger cars. The fuel tank constructions are often very complex in shape because of the residual space left in the designed car, and therefore tend to be made of plastics due to their good formability. New and break through forming processes now make it possible to use aluminium in applications even with very complex shapes.
Although hybrid vehicles and fuel cell technology are making rapid progress, fossil fuels will continue to be used as the primary source of power certainly for the beginning of this new century.
This paper highlights some of the latest technologies and recent product requirements in fuel tanks with respect to the environmental demands, manufacturability and costs.
Recommended Content
Authors
- J. van Rijkom - CORUS Research, Development & Technology
- R. van de Moesdijk - CORUS Research, Development & Technology
- R. Bleeker - CORUS Research, Development & Technology
- J. Bottema - CORUS Research, Development & Technology
- A. Smeyers - CORUS Aluminium Rolled Products
- J. P. Baekelandt - CORUS Aluminium Rolled Products
- B. Charot - CORUS Aluminium Rolled Products
- J. E. Waaijer - CORUS Automotive
Topic
Citation
van Rijkom, J., van de Moesdijk, R., Bleeker, R., Bottema, J. et al., "The Aluminium Fuel Tank, a Lightweight Solution," SAE Technical Paper 2001-01-3172, 2001, https://doi.org/10.4271/2001-01-3172.Also In
References
- CO2 emissions from cars October 1998
- Lash R.J. SAE Paper Number 932341
- MIT sheet hydroforming cost model calculations for a passenger fuel tank car Waaijer J.E. CORUS Automotive 23 09 2001
- Californian Air Resources Board (CARB) specification under LEV II (Low Emission Vehicle II) US specification for fuel (hydrocarbon) emissions
- Aluminium versus steel in the family car - the formability factor Wilson D.V. Department of Metallurgy, Uni of Birmingham Journal of Mechanical Working Technology 16 1988 257 277
- Rietman Numerical analysis of Inhomogeneous Deformation in Plane Strain Compression University of Twente
- van Liempt P. “Workhardening and substructural geometry of metals” Mat. Proc. Tech. 45 459 464 1994
- Steel vs. Plastics: The Competition for Light-Weight Vehicle Fuel Tanks Alvarado Peter J. JOM 48 7 1996 22 25
- CARB's ‘global warning’ sets the challenge 31 EUROPEAN AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN February 2000
- Marketing Review of A.Goodwin BU Development Unit fuel tank project British Steel 14 10