Current Trends in Automotive Lightweighting Strategies and Materials

Abstract

The automotive lightweighting trends, being driven by sustainability, cost, and performance, that create the enormous demand for lightweight materials and design concepts, are assessed as a part of the circular economy solutions in modern mobility and transportation. The current strategies that aim beyond the basic weight reduction and cover also the structural efficiency as well as the economic and environmental impact are explained with an essence of guidelines for materials selection with an eco-friendly approach, substitution rules, and a paradigm of the multi-material design. Particular attention is paid to the metallic alloys sector and progress in global R&D activities that cover the “lightweight steel”, conventional aluminum, and magnesium alloys, together with well-established technologies of components manufacturing and future-oriented solutions, and with both adjusting to a transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. Moreover, opportunities and challenges that the lightweighting creates are discussed with strategies of achieving its goals through structural engineering, including the metal-matrix composites, laminates, sandwich structures, and bionic-inspired archetypes. The profound role of the aerospace and car-racing industries is emphasized as the key drivers of lightweighting in mainstream automotive vehicles.

A Novel Manufacturing Concept of LCP Fiber-Reinforced GPET-Based Sandwich Structures with an FDM 3D-Printed Core

“…The most advanced composite solutions are based on carbon fibers or hybrid fiber systems and epoxy resin as the matrix compound [ 52 , 61 , 62 ], while for sandwich structures, part of the manufactured structures can be made from metal (steel and aluminum) in the form of a thin sheet or foam [ 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. The obtained results indicate that this kind of sandwich materials cannot be used in high-demand applications, such as the aeronautic industry [ 67 , 68 ] or automotive and sports products [ 69 , 70 , 71 ]. The results of static measurements indicate no spectacular improvement in the mechanical characteristics of the developed hybrid system.…”

An Experimentally Based Micromechanical Framework Exploring Effects of Void Shape on Macromechanical Properties

“…All fiber centers in the composite material were considered as a spatial point pattern. Two statistical descriptors were utilized, and the first, a second-order intensity function, K(r), originally proposed by Ripley [41], is given by Equation (1).…”

“…The commercial vehicle industry's pursuit for lightweight vehicles is intensifying with the advances of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). Apart from reducing fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions, a lighter structure leaves room for more batteries, increasing the driving range of BEVs [1]. Optimized lightweighting can be achieved through the introduction of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP).…”

Critical Minerals for Zero-Emission Transportation

“…It is of interest that the major materials used for an EV’s body are similar to those used for modern ICE vehicles. As described recently [ 67 ], automotive lightweighting is becoming the mature growth trend, driven by sustainability, cost and performance, that creates the enormous demand for modern lightweight materials. It appears that the emergence of electric vehicles creates even more pressure on lightweighting.…”