A Multi-Material …..Reality. Where are we now, and where are we going?

1

Mario Greco | Director Ground Transportation-MST | September 11, 2013 13th Annual Society of Plastics Engineers – Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition

Is this what we mean by multi-material?

2

.

Early lessons in architecture and structures..

3

FSAE 1994 First composite mono-coque with stressed aluminum rear sub frame.

From Aluminum to Steel….low volume performance to high volume efficiency.

4

First generation Ferrari space-frame F131 (360 Modena) & ULSAB

A time to experiment.

5

BMW Concept Car Group

Managing Innovations

6

So there is constant tension between design, technology and the established manufacturing paradigm.

7

Evolution of architecture and convergence of design as manufacturing practices and requirements are standardized.

00’s 10’s 20’s 30’s 40’s 50’s 60’s 70’s 80’s 90’s 00’s 10’s 20’s 30’s 40’s

New technology leaps evolve in response to changing market forces and requirements.

8

Product and Technology Evolution

Tech

nolo

gy R

equi

rem

ents

• Unibody • Assembly line • Toyota Production System • Steel

• Unibody & Spaceframe • Platform Engineering • Aluminum & Reinforced Plastics

•Body-on-frame •Batch production •Wood

• Multi-Material Modular Architecture • Module Engineering • Aluminum & C/FRP Composites

Consumers and regulations driving improvements

The automotive industry is constantly faced with considerable pressures rising from a changing global economic and business environments due to, emerging market preferences, fluctuating consumer tastes, environmental concerns, and stringent new regulatory policies. Sources: Consumer Reports, Ducker Worldwide 2011, Aluminum Association, Alcoa analysis

Buyer Behavior Percentage of consumers willing to pay more

for fuel-efficiency

37% of consumers: Fuel Economy is the #1

factor in buying decision!

2008 2011

+29% points

54%

83%

Regulation Change US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (MPG)

2011 2016 2025

54.5

35.5

27.2

+31%

+100%

10

Super Light Car

Automotive drivers of technology

Vehicle architecture will evolve across segments and time to achieve greater fuel economy.

Drivers

CAFÉ Targets

CO2 Targets

Fuel Prices

Lifecycle Benefit

Levers

Aerodynamics

Combustion

Transmission

Lubrication

Mass Savings

Electrification

A SIMPLE approach….

12

Multi-materiial with multi-functions….

Technologie Demonstrater : Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic .

Rear floor also served as integrated exhaust and muffler system.

Technologie Demonstrater : 3D Extrusion Press.

Different paths of optimization have been exploited.

ULSAB/AVC

SLC

FSV

Lotus Study

15

How much more can be gained by tailoring every cm of the structure, and what is it worth?

Tailoring Material Mix Load Paths and Gauge

Aluminum has been part of the solution since the early days.

16

1904 Alcoa builds Aluminium Bodies in New

Kensington for Ford Model T

1923 Casted Aluminium-body of the Pierce

Arrow

Multi-Material solutions have been with us for a long time.

Corvette started life in fiberglass form mostly out of necessity. Only 300 were made in the first production model year and fiberglass is well suited to low volume production since creating the tooling to stamp out steel panels is expensive.

17

From cost effective to high performance.

Modern High Performance cars have converged to similar solutions.

18

Marketing also a key reason.

Bugatti Veyron Lexus LFA

Aston One-77

Mercedes SLR

Ultimate performance….

19

So have super cars…..

McLaren MP4-12c Lamborghini Aventador

Porsche 918 Spider

But higher volume, mass market vehicles also require weight savings.

20

Weight distribution…

This trend continues, balancing cost and performance.

21

New materials will continue to affect the composition.

New applications taking advantage of new joining solutions.

22

FSW and bonding.

Honda Motors

Will we see further tailored approaches in the future?

23

Audi

Development of a “Flat Pack” Chassis,

Antony Dodworth, Mario Greco, Bentley Motors SAMPE 24 Feb 2009

•Low investment •Highly modular and tunable architecture.

•DCFP composite rails •Folded and riv-bonded 6xxx aluminum panels.

Development of a “Flat Pack” Chassis,

Antony Dodworth, Mario Greco, Bentley Motors SAMPE 24 Feb 2009 25

288 kg 136 kg

Development of a “Flat Pack” Chassis,

Antony Dodworth, Mario Greco, Bentley Motors SAMPE 24 Feb 2009

BMW Project i

27

Will this lead to a new paradigm for vehicle manufacturing and assembly?

Parting Thoughts….

Multi-Material solutions have been a reality for a long time. The optimization of the current steel unibody architecture is benefiting with further material substitution. The question will be if new architectural approaches will emerge that leverage specific materials and production processes in order to change the way in which we manufacture vehicles, while satisfying ever increasing requirements, and create new multi-material solutions.

28

29

Thank You