Browse Topic: Lightweighting
Fatigue design is invariably of prior concern for the automotive industry, no matter of the evolution of the mobility market: at first because carmakers must stay compliant with general structural integrity requirements for reliability, notably applicable to the chassis system, then due to the endless competition for lightweighting in order to mitigate product costs and/or enhance vehicle efficiency. In the past, this key performance was often tackled by basic reference load cases, making use of the simplest signal content, e.g. sinus functions, to practice constant amplitude loads on test rigs and for computations, respectively. Nowadays, full time series coming from proving ground measurements, or any corresponding virtual road load data computations, may be applied to feed complex vehicle computations for virtual assessment and complex test facilities for final approval, under variable amplitude loads. In between, the concept of load spectra (i.e. distribution of amplitudes with
A lighter, colorable and fully recyclable thermoplastic body seal from Cooper Standard won the annual Innovations in Lightweighting Award given by the Society for Automotive Analysts. At the society's December meeting, Jay Murdock, senior product development engineer for Cooper Standard, accepted the award and said its FlexiCore product was designed with an eye on strong trends in what OEMs want from suppliers: sustainability, carbon neutrality, lightweighting and recyclability.
Bemis Manufacturing and BASF collaborated to develop a lighter-weight and lower-cost hydraulic tank for compact excavators that was recognized with a lightweighting award traditionally reserved for automotive innovations. Receiving an honorable mention in the Enabling Technology category of this year's Altair Enlighten Awards, the development team leveraged a combination of injection molding and vibration welding techniques to lower costs by approximately 20% and reduce mass by about 5% compared to the traditional roto-molding process. The solution also is more eco-efficient, delivering both environmental savings (reductions in lifecycle CO2 emissions) and reducing lifecycle costs.
Eight arguments for these resins, compounds and composites. Weight reduction in EV battery components is an important factor in optimizing battery energy density, which in turn is critical to extending vehicle range and boosting power and performance. Although traditional metals such as steel and aluminum are widely used in EV batteries, the ongoing push for higher energy density is opening new opportunities for thermoplastic resins, compounds, and composites. The main advantage of these materials vs. metals is their inherent lighter weight - particularly in the case of lower-density polymers. Thermoplastics can be 30-50 percent lighter than metals. They also increase design freedom, which permits further weight-out through part consolidation and thin walls.
Reducing vehicle weight is a key task for automotive engineers to meet future emission, fuel consumption, and performance requirements. Weight reduction of cylinder head and crankcase can make a decisive contribution to achieving these objectives, as they are among the heaviest components of a passenger car powertrain. Modern passenger car cylinder heads and crankcases have greatly been optimized in terms of cost and weight in all-aluminum design using the latest conventional production techniques. However, it is becoming apparent that further significant weight reduction cannot be expected, as processes such as casting have reached their limits for further lightweighting due to manufacturing restrictions. Here, recent developments in the additive manufacturing (AM) of metallic structures is offering a new degree of freedom. As part of the government-funded research project LeiMot [Lightweight Engine (Eng.)] borderline lightweight design potential of a passenger car cylinder head with
This study delves into the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of AlSi10Mg alloy produced through the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) method. The investigation identified optimal process parameters for AlSi10Mg alloy based on Volume Energy Density (VED). Manufacturing conditions in the L-PBF process involve factors like laser power, scan speed, hatching distance, and layer thickness. Generally, high laser power may lead to spattering, while low laser power can result in lack-of-fusion areas. Similarly, high scan speeds may cause lack-of-fusion, and low scan speeds can induce spattering. Ensuring the quality of specimens and parts necessitates optimizing these process parameters. To address the low elongation properties in the as-built condition, heat treatment was employed. The initial microstructure of AlSi10Mg alloy in its as-built state comprises a cell structure with α-Al cell walls and eutectic Si. Heat treatment caused the collapse of the eutectic Si cell walls, and a
Most motor mounts, even for EV applications, are made of metal alloys. It makes intuitive sense: It's a vibration-intensive mounting application that demands durability that matches the life of the vehicle itself. But there is another way. Now, a composite nylon-based motor mount on the Cadillac Lyriq has won the Society for Automotive Analysts' Innovation in Lightweighting Award. The mount is a collaboration between GM, anti-vibration parts maker DN Automotive and chemical company Celanese. It is made with Zytel PA NVH Gen 2, a new polyamide (PA 66). The results not only showed up in development data, but in the end product, which has reviewers raving about how quiet the Lyriq's cabin is - “crypt quiet,” according to Automotive News.
Toyota and its segment-first IsoDynamic Performance Seat were big winners in this year's Altair Enlighten Awards, honored during an awards ceremony at the 2023 CAR Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) in August. Debuting in the 2024 Tacoma TRD Pro, the performance seat's various lightweight structures took the top spot for both the Enabling Technology and the Module Lightweighting categories. Four other category winners, along with runners-up and honorable mentions, showcased how automotive and commercial-vehicle companies are applying advanced technologies and artificial intelligence to create a more sustainable future for the industry. “They demonstrate exceptional leadership in this area, but more importantly they demonstrate how these innovative solutions can be achieved by collaborating with the supply chain,” Richard Yen, Altair's senior VP for product and strategy, said at the ceremony in Traverse City, Michigan. “We are seeing a lot of companies bring the suppliers together to
Plastics, steel and aluminum technologies that reduce weight and emissions recognized with 2023 Altair Enlighten Awards. Toyota and its segment-first IsoDynamic Performance Seat were big winners in this year's Altair Enlighten Awards, honored during an awards ceremony at the 2023 CAR Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) in August. Debuting in the 2024 Tacoma TRD Pro, the performance seat's various lightweight structures took the top spot for both the Enabling Technology and the Module Lightweighting categories. Four other category winners, along with runners-up and honorable mentions, showcased how automotive and commercial-vehicle companies are applying advanced technologies and artificial intelligence to create a more sustainable future for the industry. “They demonstrate exceptional leadership in this area, but more importantly they demonstrate how these innovative solutions can be achieved by collaborating with the supply chain,” Richard Yen, Altair's senior VP for product and
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