Emission Reduction
POSSIBILITIES With Structural Castings
Magna International and Ford Motor Co.’s multi material lightweight vehicle embodies the full possibilities of weight reduction using lighter materials and the metalcasting process. SHANNON WETZEL, MANAGING EDITOR
conducted by Magna International and Ford Motor Company, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), started with a “What if ?” question: What if, in order reduce vehicle weight, we did a comprehen- sive redesign of the complete vehicle instead of focusing only on a single component or vehicle subsystem? It turns out, a 23.5% weight
L
reduction in a 2013 Ford Fusion can be achieved, leading to the ability to
ike many research and development projects, the Multi Material Lightweight Vehicle (MMLV) Program
downsize the engine and improve fuel economy, leading to a 16% reduction in Global Warming Potential and 16% reduction in Total Primary Energy. “Until you have the opportunity to
design a vehicle from the ground up, you don’t really know what’s possible,” said Tim Skszek, senior manager, government partnerships and principle investigator, MMLV project, Magna International. Magna International is an automo-
tive supplier with 319 manufacturing facilities, including five aluminum vacuum diecasting plants. Magna has worked with its customers on achieving
weight savings for specific parts and vehicle subsystems, but the supplier was curious how far weight could be reduced if given the chance to apply weight-saving principles across the entire vehicle. Based on this curiosity, it applied to lead a U.S. DOE-sponsored research program to lightweight a current model production vehicle and invited Ford to be a 50/50 partner. For the program, which started in
September 2011, Ford’s Fusion was chosen as the baseline vehicle. Te Fusion is a top-selling mid-size car, and, in a change from other similar studies, Ford provided the weights and
Shown is the MMLV concept car, modeled after the 2013 Ford Fusion. 28 | MODERN CASTING September 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60