Seminar

on
Materials for automotive
structures
Contents

 Introduction
 Steel
 Plastics
 Polymer composites
 Magnesium
 Plant fiber
 Aluminium and its alloys
 Conclusion
 References
Introduction
In this study we are going to discuss about the materials
selection for automotive structural applications,
particularly in cars. There are many materials which are
suitable for automotive structural applications like steel,
aluminium and its alloys, magnesium, plastics, polymer
composites, natural fibers, etc.
 Steel
 Nitrogenized low carbon steel(bake-hardened )
- YS- 415 to480 MPa.

 Interstial-free (IF) steels

- Press formability, high strength and damage
resistance.
- Additives- Phosphorus and manganese.

 Rephosphorized (0.07-0.12P) low carbon steels

- YS- 275to345 MPa.
- Formability not good but spring back is good.
 High-strength steel (HSS)
- YS - 210 MPa to 550 MPa.
- Cost as much as 50% more than traditional mild steels
- Laser welding, hydro forming, and tailored blanks.

1. High strength low alloy steels (HSLA)

- 0.15C-1.3Mn.
- YS-300-600 MPa.
- Spring back is good.

2. Dual phase low alloy steels (DPLA)

- YS-(300-350 MPa)
- Additives-manganese and silicon.
- Due to work hardening, YS upto 500 MPa is obtained.
3. Ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS)
- YS - 550 MPa.
-Sandwich steel which is made from a
thermoplastic(polypropylene) core.
-Up to 36% lighter and 50% stiffer.
Steel Monocoque chassis
Advantages:
-Cheaper. Ultra light steel auto body
-Inherently good crash (ULSAB) Monocoque
protection. Advantage:
- Space efficient. Stronger and lighter compared
Disadvantage: to conventional Monocoque
- Heavy. without increasing mfg. cost.
Disadvantage:
-Impossible for mass
production. Still not strong or light
enough for the best sports
cars.
Surface treatment of steel

 Phosphate film (primer) applied after welding.

 Electro painting  - Car(cathode) and
electrolyte(anode).
 Elecrolytically deposited zinc(ex. - zinc-aluminum
silicon baths).
 
Plastics
Account for about 10% of the weight of the typical family car.
Large proportion of the plastics used are polyolefins.
polyolefins (i.e. polypropylene and polyethylene) and plastic
foams applications are
- chrome-plated interior trim
- heating ducts
- fuel tanks
- bumpers and battery trays
 Plastic body panels
- Resist corrosion.
- Have a high quality surface finish.
- Better resistance to stone chipping than steel.
Polymer composites
 Reaction injection moulding (RIM)
- Polyurethane and polyurea.
- Mould shrinkage is much reduced.
- Lower product cost.
- Better dent resistance
 Resin transfer moulding (RTM)
- Polyester and vinyl ester
 Sheet moulding compound (SMC)
- 25 to 40 wt% chopped glass fibers in a polyester
matrix.
- Greater stiffness.
 Thermoplastic Olefin( TPO) nanocomposites
Carbon fiber

 Carbon fiber Monocoque Chassis

Advantage:
- Superior stiffness yet lighter weight.
Disadvantage:
-Engine’s vibration is directly transferred to body and
cockpit.
- By far the most expensive.
Used in McLaren F1 (1933), Ferrari F50 (1996),
Lamborghini Diablo GT (1999) and most of today’s
sport cars.
Applications of carbon fiber
 Magnesium
 Why Magnesium?
- Magnesium is abundant. Sea water
contains 0.13% Mg.
- Mg is 36% lighter per unit volume
than Al and 78% lighter than iron (Fe).
- Highest strength-to-weight ratio .
- Better casting properties.
- High part integration.
- Recyclable.
 Mg is used in car doors, Body Chassis
instrument panels, roof rails
etc
a)Unibody and a)Suspension
closures b)steering
 Alloy AM60 b)Glass hardware c)System
Exterior and interior d)Bumper system
- Used especially for doors. trim body e)Brake system
- 40% weight reduction. c)Electrical seats f)Sub frames
d)doors g)Fuel storage
- High strain rate increase YS e)Instrument panel h)system
and ductility, beneficial for i)Chassis
j)Electricals
impact. k)Exhaust system
- Properties of AM60 remain l)Wheels and tires

almost constant from - 40°C

to 80°C.
Plant fibers
 Classification of plant fibers

 Flax/sisal fiber with epoxy resin matrix is used for

door panels .
 Trim parts in Brazilian trucks, made of a mixture
of jute, coffee bag wastes and polypropylene bags.
 Coconut fibers bonded with natural latex used for
seat cushions.
Manufacturing processes
 Compression Molding of
– Resinated plant fiber mats
– Plant fiber/PP hybrid mats
– NMT (Natural fiber mat reinforced thermoplastics)
comparable to GMT(Glass fiber mat. Reinforced
thermoplastics).
– EXPRESS process (extrusion-compression
molding)
 Structural reaction injection molding (S-RIM).
 Injection molding with short fiber reinforcement.
 
Properties of plant fiber

Fig. : Bending test

Fig. : Tensile strength versus impact behavior

 Plant fibers are processable
below 230°C.
 Best results were achieved
with thermoset binders.
 Till now mostly limited to
interiors.
 15% lesser in wt. then
glass fiber.
Aluminium and its alloys
  Density- 2700Kg/m3
 0.8mm thick steel sheet is replaced by 1.2mm thick Al
sheet.
 50% wt. saving.
 Corrosion resistance.
 Easy to recycle- 1/5th of original energy is sufficient.
 Welding(TIG, MIG, Spot) and adhesive bonding are
means for joining.
 Chassis- Unitary construction and Space frame
construction.
Figure above: The unitary construction of the Ford aluminium intensive
vehicle. (Courtesy of the Aluminium Extruders Association).
Figure below : Space frame chassis of Audi A8.
 A1- Mg 5xxx wrought alloy series
- Work-hardened , non-heat-treatable alloys.
- Ex.:- 5251, 5754
 6xxx (A1-Mg-Si) alloys series.
- Bake hardened, heat treatable alloys.
- Strength, formability and corrosion resistance
properties are good.
- Dent resistance.
- Ex.:- 6009 (A1-1.1 Si-0.6Mg-0.35Mn)
6010 (A1-1.1 Si-0.8Mg-0.50Mn-0.4Cu)
TABLE : Typical mechanical properties of some body sheet alloys: Polmear 8 from Starke
9 and Davies and Goodyed.
  
Aluminium used in new European cars has risen from 50kg in 1990 to
132kg in 2005 and is predicted to grow by another 25kg by 2010.

Primary weight savings -

Secondary weight savings - Powertrain, brakes, fuel tank,

crash management systems etc.
Advantages of aluminium
 Crash design is complex
-High mass-specific energy
absorption.
- 50% thicker sections.
- High quality die casted structure.
 Handling
- Reducing body wt. lowers the
centre of gravity.
 Fuel efficiency
-100 kg mass reduction achieved on
a car avoids 9 grams of CO2 per km
at the exhaust pipe.
Conclusion
 So far we discussed how automotive industry is working on
reducing the cost of other automotives (cars), in particular
in the body structure and for chassis, presently used in sport
and luxury cars, so that they can also find their place in
smaller cars.
 In the future there is no doubt that existing trends to
increased reinforced polymer use from bumpers to bonnets
will continue, extending to most bolt-on assemblies.
Certainly the dominance of steel in the automotive industry
is being challenged by plastics and aluminium. In the
longer term aluminium alloy or high strength composite
spaceframe structures may be the key for selection.
References

 Selection and use of engineering by J A Charles, F A A Crane

and J A G Furness (1997).
 Automotive Application of Natural Fibers Composite by Gayer
U. and Schuh. Th. (1996). Automotive Materials: Technology
Trends and Challenges in the 21st Century by Alan I.Taub -
MRS bulletin. Volume 31.April 2006.
 European aluminium association websites
i) www.aluminium.org
ii) www.alucars.org
 Wikipedia
 
 Carbon fiber composite body Structures for the 2003
Dodge Viper by Mark Bruderick, Douglas Denton and
Michael Shinedling, DaimlerChrysler Corporation and
Michael Kiesel, Quantum Composites Inc.
 Steel and Iron Technologies for Automotive Light
weighting by John M. DeCicco, Environmental Defense,
March 3, 2005.
 Potential Automotive Uses of Wrought Magnesium Alloys
by L. Gaines, R. Cuenca, F. Stodolsky,(1) and S. Wu(2) -
Argonne National Laboratory Transportation Technology
R&D Center 9700 S. Cass Avenue Argonne, IL 60439.
 Website-
http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/chassis/tech_ch
assis.htm
Thank you
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