The new research projects will be funded in three areas of materials R&D: predictive modeling of carbon fiber composites, predictive modeling of advanced steels, and developing advanced alloys for automotive and heavy-duty engines.
Projects selected in the first area will involve developing and validating modeling tools to optimize carbon fiber composite performance and cost-effectiveness for use in vehicle bodies, chassis, and interiors. Carbon fiber composites can reduce the weight of vehicle components by up to 50 percent over conventional automotive steel structures.
The second R&D area will concern developing modeling tools to help optimize performance and cost-effectiveness of third-generation high-strength steels to be used in vehicle bodies and chassis. The DOE stated that such advanced steels can reduce the weight of vehicle components by more than 25 percent.
The third area of research has a different goal: to develop low-cost, high-strength alloys for manufacturing engine blocks and cylinder heads used in automotive and heavy-duty trucks. Cast engine components must be strong enough to withstand higher cylinder pressures caused by more efficient engines that also run hotter.
As much as $8.2 million of the funding will be made available in fiscal 2012. An additional $6 million will be available the following year, assuming Congress gives its approval. The projects are expected to take between two and four years to be completed. The Energy Department is accepting applications from a variety of sources, including national laboratories, university led-teams, and industry.
On the Kei car safety record I think it's mostly the fact they stay on surface streets that are far slower and the drivers know if they screw up, not much between you and what they hit, hit by. I've seen and sat in them. The first Honda 600 to the US was a version of one for those old enough to remember that skareboard ;^P
I wouldn't want to get in an accident in them. My point there was it's how, where one drives can make a bigger difference than safety features. I explaining leaves much to be desired at times.
The Composite vehicles though though various strategies can take it to the highway and live as well as a compact car at least.
Another detail is on can put force on something only as much as it weighs. More than that and it just squits away, allowing lighter struture. I do hard passenger shell with crush zone + on each end and massive strength on the sides among other ways.
Foam, 4 point seatbelts, etc are great ways and I have some that are patentable so can't talk about them for now.
In many ways being big hurts like all the 1 SUV accidents which killed more than the weight saved by a large amount.
Mine was, will be able to brake, drive or accererate from getting into an accident as it's CG is 4" lower than a Corvette's from battery placement. This with good set up allows world class handling second to none. The accident you can avoid is easiest to survive.
Build a better mousetrap, and the customers will come - i.e. Apple's iPhone & iPad. Reduced taxes are good for manufacturing development according to NAM. Government funding for "lightweighting" is a poor use of our tax dollars during this period of high deficits!
Jerry, thanks for the info on those two city cars. It stands to reason the Japanese have created the one with the best safety performance, considering their population density, excellence at designing small, and superior application of technology to everyday problems.
Chuck, the very brief announcement doesn't contain any more details. Considering how important cost is in automotive manufacturing, I'd guess that it would be a major factor, as well as performance characteristics, of predictive modeling for both composites and lightweight steel.
2 very small car types do very well in protection. The Kei Car Class of Japan is this size and they are the safest cars there.
Second example is a 1000 lb? F-1 hitting objects at 200mph and walking away.
Here under products then EV safety is a small composite car head on into an Audi 100. Other ones around the site are the exact kinds of composite vehicles of the future, at least for smart people and just like what I'm building.
Introduction : This department specializes in the development of lighweight designs and structures for vehicles driven by electricity or other means, always with a ...
Next in composites they can get 45% weight reduction now using medium tech composites, not 50% but costs are equal or less than steel.
Fact is composites are not used because big auto doesn't want to use them I think because they don't rust away and if become common, anyone could start up a car company for $100M instead $1B for steel. Both just mean less car sales for them.
Build a better mousetrap, and the customers will come - i.e. Apple's iPhone & iPad. Reduced taxes are good for manufacturing development according to NAM. Government funding for "lightweighting" is a poor use of our tax dollars during this period of high deficits!
I think costs is definitely a huge factor in the decision making, regardless if the goal is lightweighting and a more environmentally-friendly outcome. It's still needs to be smart business, after all. All of this jives with the feature I just wrote on designing for sustainability that will appear in the June issue and online. And many of the CAD/PLM vendors are striking partnerships with providers of these materials/sustainability databases, who's bread and butter is this information, and creating tight links so engineers can access the tools while they're in their familiar CAD environment.
Ann: Like Beth, I also took notice of the predictive modeling part of this effort and wondered what it meant. In addition, I'm wondering if there was any talk in this effort to consider where material costs fit in all of this? Will there be a concerted effort to bring the costs down?
TJ, I would think that creating a safety standard for city-only driving would come with a set of problems. Many of our cities have a blend of interstate and surface streets. Los Angeles is a good example. LA's freeways are fully integrated into city driving. Likewise with Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Phoenix.
I agree, we need such a database. Although I think the need is less a slanting problem than it is simply having all performance data, apples for apples and bananas for bananas, for specific components, in one place. I'd hate to try to gather all that now just for evaluating different materials for a single component.
Inspired by the hooks a parasitic worm uses to penetrate its host's intestines, the Karp Lab has invented a flexible adhesive patch covered with microneedles that adheres well to wet, soft tissues, but doesn't cause damage when removed.
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego are designing a robotic arm that takes inspiration from the loose, flexible, yet very strong structure of the armored plates on a seahorse's tail.
Researchers at the Missouri University of Science & Technology have designed a new nanoscale material that can transmit light faster than the 186,000 miles per second it usually takes to travel through air.
It has often been said that as California goes, so goes the nation. This spring, the state's wind power is setting energy generation records and solar energy generation is expected to rise sharply during the second half of 2013.
The latest model of Liquid Robotics' Wave Glider autonomous, unmanned marine vehicle (UMV), the SV3, is reportedly the world's first hybrid wave- and solar-power-propelled unmanned ocean robot.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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