Archive for March, 2019
Bailo Receives SMDI Community Hero Award
It wasn’t only vehicles that were honored by the Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI). Its Community Hero Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose work using steel impacts the quality of life of the community. This year’s recipient was Carla Bailo, president and CEO, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and a member of the Lightweighting World […]
2019 Vehicles—Lighter with AHSS Structures
Many 2019 model year vehicles introduced in 2018 have something in common—an advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) structure. More than 65 AHSS-intensive vehicles debuted at major auto shows last year. AHSS was represented in the composition of every vehicle segment and size, including the popular SUV, CUV and truck markets. “As vehicles evolve to become stronger, […]
AK Steel Receives DOE Research Money
AK Steel will be receiving up to $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office program. The company will investigate innovative low-density steels in the laboratory, which could ultimately be used in automotive-structural applications. The three-year project will be conducted in collaboration with […]
Demand for Automotive Lightweight Materials Soaring
The Transparency Market Research Reports predicts the global automotive lightweight materials market will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2 percent from 2018 to 2026, reaching $260,000 million by 2026. Most revenue will be from the Asia-Pacific region. This is due to the developing nations recently starting up automotive lightweight materials industries. […]
Kenaf—Natural Fiber for Lightweighting
Fast-growing, sustainable and easy on the environment “Someday you and I will see the day when auto bodies will be grown down on the farm.” Henry Ford, 1934 That someday has yet to come—but it’s getting closer. Ford did try his hand at a “plastic car made of soybeans” in 1941. It had 14 plastic […]
New Scandium Alloy Developed
Siberian Federal University (SFU) scientists, in cooperation with Russian aluminum company Rusal, have come up with a low-cost, high-strength aluminum-magnesium alloy that contains scandium and zirconium. The record low percentage of scandium is what makes this development so potentially important. Because scandium-content alloys reduce weight and metal density in steel structures, they are good for […]
GMC CarbonPro for Pickups
Industry-first carbon fiber composite box America is in love—with the pickup truck. The first one sold 209 units in 1917, the initial year of its production. Compare that to the first half of 2018 when 1.4 million pickups were sold. In the 1950s, the pickup went from a work vehicle meant for hauling to a […]
Researcher Uses Cookie to Explain Making HSS Lighter
Metal researcher Aniruddha Dutta won the German Science Slam Championship 2018. With a comparison between Oreos and high-strength steel, the 28-year-old gave the most entertaining scientific lecture in the competition, earning the loudest applause from the nearly 5,000 in attendance. Dutta works at the Max Planck Institute for Natural History. His 10-minute talk, “Stealing weight […]
Hyundai Introduces New Fuel-Cell SUV
Hyundai has a new, technologically advanced vehicle on the road—the 2019 NEXO with what it calls the industry’s most diverse SUV powertrain lineup. The NEXO also has the only mass-produced fuel-cell SUV for the U.S. market with an estimated range of 380 miles. It offers advanced driver assistance systems with remote smart parking and lane-following […]
Enlighten Awards: Most Weight Reduction is Powertrain Agnostic
Weight efficiency benefits for ICE, EVs and hybrids Perhaps the most well-known automotive award for vehicle-weight reduction, referred to as lightweighting, is the Enlighten Award, presented by Altair. The award is given each summer at the Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) by Altair, in collaboration with the CAR (Center for Automotive Research) Group, which governs the […]
