Focus on Suitable Materials

The affordability and competitiveness of European vehicles is of paramount importance which in the future will depend on the application of light, smart, innovative materials in addition to the new technical solutions for propulsion and safety. Consequently the development of design criteria for weight reduction plays a major role for further improvements in efficiency and lower energy consumption. Increasingly innovative, sustainable solutions can only be developed by following in an integrated approach which takes into account the entire lifecycle of the vehicle when developing intelligent design concepts and new material and process technologies. In the future, series production models will require significantly lighter solutions which offer the best balance in terms of performance, cost, weight, volume and functionality criteria.

Improving the energy efficiency of powertrains

Since conventional powertrains will continue to play a major role in road transportation over the next decades, lowering fuel consumption by reducing friction and the weight of rotating parts will remain a vital issue for future research.

Successful market launch of new materials for weight reduction

There is a common need for automobile companies to perform research on super-light materials for many of the systems and components on the vehicle which meet stringent performance and end-of-life specifications and cost requirements, and which are suited to efficient manufacturing processes.

In many cases the market position of a single vehicle manufacturer is not sufficiently strong to influence the supply industry to initiate the scale of research activities currently required. Therefore in order to strengthen the market position of individual automobile companies, joint collaborative activities are essential in this area. Holistic research activities should include analysis and simulation across the entire value chain from the raw materials to the final vehicle product while focusing specifically on recycling issues and lifecycle-analysis. From this perspective, required in particular is intensive research which focuses on the vehicle interiors.

Relevant material domains are:

• fibres and plastics: carbon fibres, natural/glass fibres
• high strength steels and aluminium
  magnesium technologies
• hybrid materials
• new joining technologies suitable for mass production.

Lighter and more compact seating systems A common need exists for the development of new seating systems and other interior components and sub-systems which are lighter and occupy less space within the vehicle compartment taking into account present and future safety standards. Research into new solutions must focus on combining new materials and include functional integration, manufacturing and design aspects. Additionally, simulation tools need to be developed in order to enable optimisation of mechanical, thermal, electrical and additional functional properties with respect to the lightweight materials used and the adaptation of manufacturing technologies.

Graphic: Innovative materials and light-weight-structures are used for further improvement of the vehicle's efficiency.

Smart acoustic insulation and damping

New technical solutions for improved acoustic comfort and reduced noise emission need to be developed for future vehicles which focus on weight reduction with respect to conventional damping and sound insulation. New material concepts (e.g. hybrid polymer systems and nanostructures) together with advanced structural construction approaches must be investigated, with special focus on concepts using smart materials and solutions aiming to reduce structure-borne sound propagation in lightweight vehicles while exploiting the potential offered through increased electrification of the vehicle.

Innovative functional integration of interior components

Enhanced interior comfort and further improvements in perceived quality will be possible by performing collaborative research into integrating new functions such as

• scratch resistance,
• self cleaning,
• self healing,
• smell reduction,
• haptic quality,
• optical effects (e.g. interior lighting) and
• thermal properties (e.g. Infrared absorption and reflection, thermal capacity etc.)

Sustainable material processing along the entire value chain

This research area focuses on the development of advanced lightweight concepts with regard to lifecycle analysis constraints and the optimal utilisation of raw materials and their re-use at the end of life.