The concept of lightweighting is very important for the current automotive industry. It represents the requirement that all parts of a vehicle be optimized enough to achieve the lowest possible weight. Car manufacturers and suppliers have to face various requirements that seek to reduce gasoline consumption, control carbon dioxide emissions, and reduce production costs.
With this proposal to design new materials, to replace those whose weight is excessive for cars, manufacturers are investing in functional and modern solutions to meet the different needs of their customers, in addition to protecting the environment, a topic of great importance in the industry today.
Main objectives of automotive lightweighting
One of the main objectives of making cars lighter is fuel savings. One of the aspects most considered by consumers when choosing a new vehicle, as they are always looking for the next model they acquire to be more fuel-efficient compared to the previous one.
This year there are strict regulations that have come to transform the industry in different ways. For example, in Europe, the new car models must reduce their CO2 emissions to less than 95g/km, which represents a 40% reduction compared to the standard in 2007. While in the United States, the manufacture of increasingly lighter cars that reach 54.5mpg by 2025 is being sought.
These standards and new measures make reducing production costs more important than a few years ago, mainly due to the numbers regarding vehicle sales in 2015, which was around 87 million vehicles produced and sold. It is estimated that in ten years this number will increase to 115 million units purchased. For this reason, it is necessary to seek more innovative processes that allow increasing production, reducing fuel use, and satisfying a constantly growing demand.
The evolution of car manufacturing materials
With this trend of looking for lighter cars, it is necessary to use suitable materials, which benefit the cost and production time. For this reason, vehicle manufacturers are constantly looking for new alloys, which are of quality for their models. Mainly, looking for them to be attractive to their customers and to improve the safety they can offer in each car, avoiding noise, vibration, and reducing fuel consumption. In addition to strictly complying with environmental regulations, which have become increasingly strict. The lightening of cars seems to be the best way to go and the most important manufacturing trend in the coming years.
Benefits of car lightweighting
Along with this need to create lighter cars, new scientific advances have been sought to generate various benefits such as:
- Generate an improvement in terms of mileage, acceleration, braking, and general handling of each model that is manufactured.
- The development of biocomposites and cutting-edge biomaterials to seek a lighter alloy in bodies.
- The creation of premium aluminum alloys and advanced steel, with the ability to be ultra-resistant, but with less weight than many other options on the market.
- Development of more advanced hybrid and electric cars. Allowing them to be more stable and comparable with diesel cars.
- Creation of the Smart Brake cable brake technology, which will begin to be used in 2025. Achieving an electric braking system and allowing to reduce weight in cars without sacrificing safety.
- Smaller fuel tanks, generating less gasoline consumption and achieving the goal of continuing to remove weight in new car models.
- Change in insulation materials used in vehicles to employ lighter materials such as: aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber reinforced composites.
Importance of aluminum in car lightweighting
In this evolution there is a material that stands out in the manufacture of lighter vehicles, we are talking about aluminum. Products made from this alloy that includes aluminum sheets, aluminum coils, aluminum plates, aluminum bars, and aluminum tubes, are becoming increasingly popular in the industry. It is worth mentioning that two series of this material stand out and are the most used currently:
1. 5000 series aluminum presents a moderate to high strength rating, in addition to having an impressive formability and weldability capability.
2. The 6000 series aluminum, an alloy that adapts to any need, is considered a workhorse in vehicle manufacturing. It has an unmatched combination capacity, in addition to having superior corrosion resistance and solidity worth considering.
It is exciting to see how the automotive industry advances and reinvents itself. The trend towards a better environment and a constant search to use fewer and fewer fossil fuels represents a great technological advance. We just have to stay tuned to the new vehicle production processes and the way they will surprise us.
At Ulbrinox we are proud to supply the industry with aluminum and alloys of the highest quality for the automotive industry in Mexico and Latin America. You can review our aluminum offer and request a quote on this same website. If you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to write in our online chat , where one of our experts will advise you personally. We have more than 20 years providing global solutions.
