Reinforced Plastics Magazine that found readers believe “the biggest challenge in the composites industry today is ‘Poor knowledge of composites in end-user industries.’” “One of the things we need to get smarter about,” she said “is
how to take what we know about aerospace to automotive. Aero- space structures are very rigid, but cars shouldn’t be, so we may have to use different materials in auto composites than in aero. “We also need to know,” Richardson said, “about the ma- chine tools out there so we know what can be done on what.”
Digital Solutions Dassault played a role in creating the composite-bodied
BMW i3. “It is a big effort. I think the entire supply chain knows
what a big effort goes into something like the BMW i3,” Richardson said. “Tere is still a lack of knowledge on the part of many people about the soſtware available to manufacture composites for automotive.” Stiff as these challenges from emerging materials may be,
reports of steel’s demise are greatly exaggerated. While the Aluminum Association’s Richman notes that
steel’s role is diminishing from the commanding position it once held, even the Ducker report admits that steel will remain as the principal material used in the average light vehicle produced in North America. Part of this is due to the lower cost of steel (at least currently) as well as the massive capital investment that has been made in the material over a couple of centuries.
In addition, steel is not giving up without a fight. Te companies that make up Big Steel, in conjunction with
automakers, have been researching and developing new, stron- ger and, yes, lighter types of steel for decades. Yet, it may be Little Steel that rides to the rescue. Really, really little steel. NanoSteel, in fact.
Advancing the Science of Steel NanoSteel Company Inc. (Providence, RI) designs pro-
prietary nano-structured steel material. Te company has researched, developed and commercialized surface coatings and foils since its founding in 2002. Tese products have been used in the oil & gas, mining cement/concrete and power in- dustries. Now NanoSteel’s Advanced High Strength Steel sheet is on the verge of being used in automotive bodies in white (BIW). NanoSteel has developed a new class of nano-struc- tured advanced high strength steel (AHSS) which delivers high strength and high ductility in a cold-formable steel. “It will allow automakers to use thinner gages of steel to
lightweight vehicles without compromising safety,” said Craig Parsons, NanoSteel Automotive president. “Tis material provides the unique combination of high tensile strength and high ductility properties resulting in performance beyond the boundaries of existing AHSS sheet materials.” Furthermore, he said, it can be used cost effectively in
the existing automotive parts manufacturing infrastructure. “Our new material can take advantage of the steel industry’s current capacity,” Parsons said. “Aluminum requires new
BMW i3 has its carbon fiber reinforced composite body bonded to an aluminum frame that holds the vehicle’s batteries. A front subframe contains the front suspension, a rear subframe holds both the rear suspension and the i3’s electric motor.
Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing 13
Photo courtesy BMW Group
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