All Lightweighting articles – Page 8
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ArticleThe aluminium boom
As OEMs seek to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of their vehicles, the lightweight material is becoming an increasingly important solution“In the next five years, you'll see more high-volume, mass-market cars with all-aluminium bodies”. This prediction was made in 2012 by Randall Scheps, marketing director of automotive sheet at ...
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ArticleHigh-strength steel: Strong, lightweight & cost effective
SSAB discusses the benefits of using advanced high-strength steel in vehicle structures “When it comes to cost efficiency, environmental issues and value for money, nothing can compete with advanced-high strength steel [AHSS]. The only problem we have today is that our top product could probably use a more sexy image”. ...
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ArticleSpecial production of lightweight E-Type
UK – Jaguar is to build six reproductions of the original, lightweight E-type that was created in 1963. The original objective of the company’s lightweight E-Type project was to build 18 special GT cars, but only 12 were eventually made. These new cars are the ‘missing’ six vehicles from the ...
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WebinarTrumpf: Laser applications for future lightweight materials
Lightweight design has become increasingly important in many industries. In automotive, it reduces the vehicle weight to meet CO2-emission regulations, and increases the dynamic and speed of machines which, in turn, improves performance.New materials like plastics, fiber-reinforced plastics and hybrid materials with combinations of plastic and metal fulfil the requirements ...
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ArticleInterview with Kenichiro Saruwatari, Mazda Motor Europe
Mazda Motor Europe’s new vice-president of R&D, Kenichiro Saruwatari, leads a team of 80 engineers at its R&D centre in Oberursel, Germany. He took up his post in February, after spending almost five years as programme manager at Mazda Motor Corporation’s Product Division in Japan. Saruwatari joined the company in ...
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ArticleAbsorbing competition
Lightweighting is driving continuous improvement in all materials, but especially steelLighter weight equals less power equals lower carbon emissions. The equation is simple and the quest to find ever-lighter materials for use in automotive production is unending. Aluminium is a lot lighter, plastics are both lighter and easier to form ...
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ArticleAudi teams up with TU Dresden
Germany – The two organisations entered into the strategic partnership “with the goal of making further progress with technical innovations” in areas such as lightweight construction and manufacturing technology. The research will take place at the Technical University of Dresden. As a result of prior co-operation, four doctoral students are ...
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ArticleSternberg to lead DuPont research
US – As global automotive technology director, Jeffrey Sternberg will develop DuPont’s portfolio of renewably sourced materials and fuels for the industry.DuPont currently offers 100 product families for automotive applications and is looking to expand its lightweighting solutions, working with vehicle-makers and tier one component manufacturers. One recent project with ...
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ArticleThe sum of its parts
As OEMs increasingly explore the use of additive manufacturing in production Mike Farish discusses its unique advantagesThe 2014 Chevrolet Malibu from General Motors boasts several neat features intended to increase driver and passenger convenience as well as vehicle appearance and performance. On the former count, there is a redesigned centre ...
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ArticleThe sum of its parts
As OEMs increasingly explore the use of additive manufacturing in production AMS looks at its unique advantagesThe 2014 Chevrolet Malibu from General Motors boasts several neat features intended to increase driver and passenger convenience as well as vehicle appearance and performance. On the former count, there is a redesigned centre ...
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ArticleEditor's note: Getting serious about lightweighting
I’m happy to admit the subject of lightweighting fascinates me, which is a good job since it crops up in almost every item that covers the future of vehicle manufacturing. Being something of a factory ‘geek’ I’m really looking forward to some plant visits to see how this challenge is ...
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ArticleHandling with care
New materials and the drive for greater flexibility in production have created new challenges in handlingWalk through almost any modern automotive assembly plant and the major trends in automotive assembly aren’t difficult to spot. Equally clear to see are the tensions and trade-offs that exist between them. The inexorable march ...
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ArticleJoining the dots
New materials are creating additional challenges in vehicle assembly. AMS reports on the joining solutions being adopted by OEMsLaunched at the New York Auto Show in March 2013, the second-generation Range Rover Sport neatly illustrates the major trends in fastening and joining in automotive final assembly, according to Adrian Ellis, ...
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ArticleA new framework for assembly
As vehicle-makers move towards multi-model assembly lines, a framing innovation enables greater efficiency.Automotive assembly doesn’t get much more fundamental than framing, the point at which body panels and sub-assembly structures come together to be welded into a single body shell.ABB’s gateway to a new type of framingMulti-model framingTraditionally carried out ...
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ArticleMaking sure coatings measure up
Duplex coatings designed to prevent corrosion need to be measured with appropriate equipment, says Peter Neumaier, technical sales manager, Helmut Fischer Measuring Class 2 & 3 coatingsHand-held instrumentationGalvinised steel & lightweighting trendsCorrosion-protective duplex coatings are frequently used in the automotive industry for pipes and wires in brake and fuel systems, ...
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ArticleThe hardened facts
Some OEMs have been quick to take press hardening under their own roof. AMS asks what is still to come for the technique.Press hardening is the integration of a hot-metal forming procedure in which the material, until very recently some grade of boron steel, is heated to a very high ...
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ArticleFuture forming
AMS looks at production techniques and material innovation in the press shopAs director of the Centre for Precision Forming (CPF) at Ohio State University in the US, Professor Taylan Altan is in a prime position from which to comment on developments in metal forming technology and applications. Set up in ...
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ArticleSparking new ideas
AMS takes a look at what visitors can expect to learn about sheet metal processing at this year’s Blechexpo showThe 11th Blechexpo exhibition will take place in Stuttgart on November 5-8. While closely focused on the core processes of sheet metal processing, the event’s almost 1,000 exhibitors span numerous industrial ...
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ArticlePlastics evolution
Lightweight and strong, plastic composites are increasingly used in automotive manufacturing but is Henry Ford’s all-plastic car concept coming any nearer to reality, asks Malcolm WheatleyLocated in a leafy suburb of the Canadian capital of Ottawa, the country’s National Research Council (NRC) is one of the world’s premier scientific and ...
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ArticleLightweight luxury
With lightweighting in vehicle construction being a hot topic, AMS visited longtime aluminium users Jaguar at the company’s Castle Bromwich facility to see how they produce luxury cars from this materialJaguar’s new all-aluminium sports car, the F-Type, has been making the headlines recently, but it’s only the most recent vehicle ...