Reducing the weight of vehicles is a top priority for most carmakers. Lighter cars need less fuel to accelerate and maintain speed. This in turn boosts gas mileage and decreases emissions, which could contribute to air pollution and climate change.
Lightweight designs also improve performance factors like acceleration, handling, and braking since there is less mass to move around. Reducing weight also lowers the stress on components, enabling things like smaller and more efficient powertrains, brakes, and suspensions.
Nonetheless, achieving significant weight savings from traditional steel construction is extremely difficult without compromising safety, cost, and manufacturing complexity. This pushed the auto industry to explore innovative lightweight material solutions.
Enter Composite Materials
Composites made from combining different substances like plastics, fiberglass, and carbon fiber offer a revolutionary alternative to metal body structures. Advanced composite materials provide automakers a powerful mix of benefits:
- Extremely high strength-to-weight ratios.
- Excellent energy absorption for crashworthiness.
- Exceptional corrosion and dent resistance.
- Design flexibility for complex aerodynamic shapes.
Strategically using composites for certain components means shedding hundreds of pounds from a vehicle’s curb weight while maintaining or even improving occupant safety. This offers drivers better fuel economy, performance, and an overall more enjoyable driving experience.
To access the latest composite innovations, car makers collaborate closely with composite material manufacturers like Axiom Materials. These specialized suppliers develop custom-formulated composite materials that are tailored precisely to meet the stringent requirements of automotive applications.
Composite Use Examples
While not the entire structure, composites already appear in many automotive components today:
- Body Panels: Hoods, roofs, liftgates and trunk lids made from composites reduce weight over metal while resisting dings and dents.
- Structural Parts: Composite materials reinforce key chassis and frame sections in some vehicle designs, drastically increasing strength and rigidity.
- Drivetrain: Composite driveshafts and transmission components offer weight reduction along with reduced noise and vibration.
- Interiors: Composite trim, dashboard carriers and door modules integrate multiple functions into lightweight assemblies.
As manufacturing processes improve, we will see even more widespread adoption of composites in automotive structures.
The Importance of Crashworthiness
While reducing weight is crucial, automotive materials must also provide exceptional safety in the event of a collision. Composites offer excellent energy absorption and dissipation to protect occupants during frontal, side, rear and rollover impacts. The strong yet flexible nature of composite materials allows them to progressively crush and shatter in a controlled manner, mitigating peak force transmission.
Rather than abruptly crumpling like metal, composites help spread and distribute impact forces over a larger area and longer timeframe. This prevents intrusion into the passenger cabin and reduces traumatic deceleration forces on occupants. Automakers conduct extensive crash testing and simulations to validate the crashworthiness of composite designs before implementation. Meeting stringent safety requirements is paramount when specifying composite materials and structures.
Other Advanced Automotive Materials
Besides composites, other innovative materials are reshaping automotive design and manufacturing:
- High-Strength Alloys: New ultra-high-strength steel and aluminum alloys allow using thinner yet stronger sections, trimming weight.
- Magnesium: This super-light metallic material is already found in some engine parts, with expanded usage helping offset battery weight in EVs.
- Hybrid Constructions: Clever multi-material designs combine the best properties of different materials like composites with aluminum or advanced high-strength steels.
Looking Ahead
Future advancements in materials engineering, manufacturing processes and computer modeling will continue driving automotive lightweighting through advanced materials. For example:
- New lower-cost composite manufacturing using 3D printing or injection molding.
- Introduction of ultra-lightweight yet incredibly strong nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes.
- Expanded use of affordable aluminum composites and aluminum foam components.
- Greater implementation of high-strength, lightweight magnesium-aluminum alloys.
Conclusion
Reducing weight through innovative materials remains a huge priority as automakers strive to build safer, cleaner, higher-performing vehicles. Embracing revolutionary new materials means the auto industry is reinventing transportation for the modern world.