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    Unit 2

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    gauravkumar bhandari
    The choice of materials is the most important factor in automotive design. Lightweight materials are especially important for reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency. Vehicles are constructed from a variety of materials including steel, aluminum, copper, glass, rubber, and fibers. Steel remains a common material due to its strength, but aluminum and other lightweight metals are increasingly used to reduce weight. Advanced materials like carbon fiber provide high strength and stiffness at much lower weight than steel, but are more expensive. The optimal material depends on factors like cost, weight, durability, and manufacturability for a given vehicle design and application.

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    Unit 2

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    The choice of materials is the most important factor in automotive design. Lightweight materials are especially important for reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency. Vehicles are constructed from a variety of materials including steel, aluminum, copper, glass, rubber, and fibers. Steel remains a common material due to its strength, but aluminum and other lightweight metals are increasingly used to reduce weight. Advanced materials like carbon fiber provide high strength and stiffness at much lower weight than steel, but are more expensive. The optimal material depends on factors like cost, weight, durability, and manufacturability for a given vehicle design and application.

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    The choice of materials is the most important factor in automotive design. Lightweight materials are especially important for reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency. Vehicles are constructed from a variety of materials including steel, aluminum, copper, glass, rubber, and fibers. Steel remains a common material due to its strength, but aluminum and other lightweight metals are increasingly used to reduce weight. Advanced materials like carbon fiber provide high strength and stiffness at much lower weight than steel, but are more expensive. The optimal material depends on factors like cost, weight, durability, and manufacturability for a given vehicle design and application.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    57 views10 pages

    Unit 2

    Uploaded by

    gauravkumar bhandari
    The choice of materials is the most important factor in automotive design. Lightweight materials are especially important for reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency. Vehicles are constructed from a variety of materials including steel, aluminum, copper, glass, rubber, and fibers. Steel remains a common material due to its strength, but aluminum and other lightweight metals are increasingly used to reduce weight. Advanced materials like carbon fiber provide high strength and stiffness at much lower weight than steel, but are more expensive. The optimal material depends on factors like cost, weight, durability, and manufacturability for a given vehicle design and application.

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    The choice of materials for a vehicle is the first and most important factor for

    automotive design.
    Lightweight, this criterion is the most important one for an automotive company, in the context
    of the high emphasis on greenhouse gas reductions, reduction of emissions and improving fuel
    efficiency.

    What is the material used in car body?


    Cars are made of a wide variety of materials, such as steel, aluminum, copper, glass,
    rubber, and special fibers. First, a raw material production company takes individual
    raw materials and turns them into materials that can be used to make car parts, and
    delivers them to parts production companies or to Toyota.

    What raw materials are in automobile industry?


    Automobiles require a wide variety of raw materials for their production, including the
    iron used for steel, aluminum, glass, the petroleum products used to make plastics,
    rubber, and special fibers. First, raw materials are mined or otherwise extracted from the
    earth.

    What is meant by the term yield stress when applied to materials used in vehicle
    manufacture and construction?
    Yield stress is how much force needs to be applied to an object to cause it to change
    from elastic deformation to plastic deformation. Some materials have a sharp increase
    in strain without a noticeable increase in stress, called the yield point.
    Aluminum
    Aluminum is used in the making of the modern car because it is light. In many cases it
    replaced heavy metals such as iron in car manufacturing because it is has the strength
    needed for the part without the excess weight. Parts of a car that are typically made
    from aluminum include the engine and wheels.

    What is the best material for a car?


    There are many materials available for manufacturing a car body, from wood to steel,
    magnesium alloys to kevlar. These days manufacturers are using aluminium for their
    car frame as it is light weight & easy to manufacture. Without any doubt Carbon Fiber &
    its composites.

    Why are cars made of steel?


    Today, the body of many cars is still built from steel because of its strength.
    Today, most of the weight of a vehicle still comes from steel and iron but other materials
    have been substituted as well. Aluminum. Aluminum is a relatively new material in the
    world of auto manufacturing.

    What are the types of raw material?


    Raw materials are substances that are extracted directly from natural objects. They can
    be classified into three categories: animal: wool, silk, hides. vegetal: cotton,
    wood, cork, linen.

    What are the types of materials in manufacturing?


    In manufacturing of a product, a raw material is converted into a finished product. There
    are various types of classifications available in the literature. Materials come under three
    basic categories: metals, ceramics and polymers. A mixture of these fundamental types
    forms a composite.

    What are car seats made of?


    A car seat is the seat used in automobiles. Most car seats are made from inexpensive but
    durable material in order to withstand prolonged use. The most common material
    is polyester.

    What is shear strength of material?


    In engineering, shear strength is the strength of a material or component against the
    type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails in shear. A
    shear load is a force that tends to produce a sliding failure on a material along a plane
    that is parallel to the direction of the force.

    Are cars made of steel?


    The car industry uses a tremendous number of materials to build cars, including iron,
    aluminum, plastic steel, glass, rubber, petroleum products, copper, steel and others

    How much steel is used in cars?


    Approximately 55% of a car's weight comes from steel, according to The World Steel
    Association. In 2007, the average car contained 2,400 pounds of steel, and the average
    light truck or SUV 3,000 pounds of the metal. GM alone buys 7 million tons of steel for
    itself and for resale to its suppliers each year.

    What kind of fabric is used for car seats?


    Fabric car upholstery is generally of two kinds: nylon or polyester. Nylon usually appears
    as fabric and is one of the most common materials manufacturers use for car seat
    upholstery. It is a very durable fabric, but also very porous.

    Which is the best material for a car body?


    Steel. It’s inexpensive, it provides great protection in accidents, and the technology to form
    it into all kinds of crazy shapes has gotten really good. The technology to repair it is also
    widespread and mature, and it’s a completely recyclable (and usually recycled) material.

    There’s a reason why everyone serious in the auto industry uses it.

    Notwithstanding the enthusiasm of Indian kids not in the auto industry for carbon fiber,
    which is tacky, labor-intensive, expensive, fragile, impossible to usefully repair, and
    impossible to produce at scale.

    As we move beyond the era of high-energy-density fuel, and designers take weight more
    seriously, some will continue to push steel ever thinner, while others try to make aluminum
    serve in its place. Aluminum is more expensive, softer, and much more difficult to repair.

    And there will likely always be plastic parts as well, since it’s useful for small, difficult
    shapes, in places that are likely to get dinged a lot, like rear-view mirrors, bumpers, et
    cetera.

    The Carbon Fiber


    It is five times as strong as Steel and twice as stiff.
    The icing on cake is its weight which is two third less.

    The Car Fiber is manufactured by using carbon yarns which can be twisted or bent like
    hair.
    Using Carbon fiber, we can shave off 60 percent of car's weight translating to better
    performance and efficiency.

    Why it's not popular?


    Cost.
    It costs around $10 per pound for CF whilst less than $1 for Steel.
    Also, If a car crashes, steel can be recycled but CF recycling is tough and won't give
    same strength as new.
    Just FYI, Performance cars like Audi R8, BMW M6 are using carbon fiber.

    Metals and Carbon Fiber used in Vehicle Manufacturing

    As auto technology evolves, so does the materials from which vehicles are made. Many
    different metals, plastics, and carbon fiber are used to manufacture the various
    components of a car. Manufacturers may try different materials because each material
    can affect things like production cost, fuel efficiency, safety, and more.

    In collision repair, sometimes, the parts of a vehicle need to be replaced. Regardless of


    what your vehicle is made from, it helps to know a little about auto manufacturing
    materials so that you can make an informed decision as to replacement parts.
    Steel & Iron
    Most antique vehicles are made from steel. Today, many vehicles are still made with steel and iron
    – but not nearly as much of it. Steel is still strong, durable, and readily available. Modern science
    and technology have led to new combinations of materials that allow the same durability and
    protection that steel can provide while increasing safety and fuel efficiency of a car.

    While steel and iron provided a strong and sturdy vehicle, they did not necessarily provide a safe
    environment for a person in an accident. Today, the body of many cars is still built from steel
    because of its strength. However, many different kinds of steel are used, like steel that can crumple
    on impact to soften the force of the impact on a passenger.

    Steel and iron are also extremely dense and heavy, which did not allow for maximum fuel
    efficiency. Today, most of the weight of a vehicle still comes from steel and iron but other
    materials have been substituted as well.

    Aluminum
    Aluminum is a relatively new material in the world of auto manufacturing. It is a very lightweight
    metal, and while not necessarily as durable as iron, it can be very beneficial in high performance
    vehicles. The light weight allows for faster acceleration and better fuel mileage. One of the biggest
    benefits of aluminum is that it is resistant to rust.

    Titanium

    Titanium is strong, but not quite as strong as steel or iron. It is lightweight, but still heavier
    than aluminum. It is also resistant to corrosion, which is why it is a valuable metal to use
    in vehicle manufacturing.

    Carbon Fiber

    Carbon fiber is another modern material in the auto manufacturing world. It’s used mostly
    in high end vehicles, and is commonly used in brakes. It is much stronger and lighter than
    steel, but it is also many times more expensive. However, in modern cars, it is used
    increasingly to replace formerly metal parts.

    Which Material is Best?


    When it comes to collision repair, it might be best to use parts that are the same as your
    original vehicle parts. But what happens when original parts aren’t available? Using
    substitute materials on your vehicle is not necessarily bad, but it is a discussion you should
    have with your collision repair shop.

    Lecture 6: Case Study: Materials Selection for Vehicle Body

    For many years Wood was the most favorable choice for construction of Vehicle-bodies
    in the transportation sector.

    Let us look at the reasons behind this choice:

    ▪ Traditionally wood was used in the transportation sector for building Chariots,
    Animal drawn Carts, Palanquins etc. – hence it became the natural choice for
    building bodies of the automobiles, omnibuses etc. at the first phase of industrial
    revolution.

    ▪ Wood has impressive mechanical properties. The elastic modulus of wood is in


    the range of 8-20 GPa which is as good as materials like PMMA and GFRP. The
    density of wood is about 0.6-75 Mg/m3 – lighter than most of the polymers
    except polymeric foams. The strength of the wood is about 30 MPa which is
    again comparable to high-performance polymers.

    ▪ Other advantages of wood are recyclability, ease of machining and aesthetically


    pleasing quality.

    With the advent of mass-scale production and automation in car-industry, it became


    necessary to replace wood by metals and metallic alloys. Typical metal shaping
    technologies like sheet forming which can handle large batch size (105 to 106 units per
    batch) became very much suitable for the mass scale production of vehicles.
    There were two-choices in terms of use of metals and metallic alloys: Steel and
    Aluminium Alloys. Why these materials became so popular for Car-design? Let us find
    the material indices most relevant from car-body construction point of view. It is
    observed that three most significant issues in car-body design are:

    i. Stiffness of the sheets which is expressed as an objective to minimise mass


    against a specified deflection limit. Minimisation of mass directly implies the
    use of less amount of material and hence less cost per unit. Also, mass
    minimisation would increase fuel efficiency of the vehicle. For a flat panel of
    size (LxB), thickness t, modulus of elasticity E and density ρ, this would involve
    the search for a material having maximum value of an index
    (E1/3/ρ). Later we will discuss about the origin of such indices.
    ii. Another important consideration is dent resistance. A similar study would
    indicate that this requires the maximisation of an index (σy t4/k), where σy is the
    yield strength and k is the stiffness of the panel.

    Case Study continued: Materials Selection for Vehicle Body

    The third important issue is the resistance against crack propagation. This is indicated by the
    parameter called ‘fracture toughness’ or KIC (MPa-m1/2)

    Now, let us look at the values of these parameters for four materials: Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel,
    Aluminium Alloy, PMMA and GRFP (Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic).

    E1/3/ρ
    σy KIC
    Material (E – GPa, ρ-Mg/M3)
    (MPa) (MPa-m1/2)
    Carbon
    Steel 0.75 250 12
    (0.4 $/Kg)
    Stainless
    Steel 0.77 170 12
    (1.2$/Kg)
    Aluminium
    Alloy 1.63 30 18
    (1.3$/Kg)
    PMMA 72 1.6
    1.34
    (2.4$/Kg) (max) (max)
    GFRP 150 20
    1.55
    (9$/Kg) (max) (max)
    The Table above clearly explains why Carbon steel was tolerated for a long time in Car-body
    construction. It was the cheapest among all available materials having reasonably good material
    indices. However, the massive growth of automobile use in the Europe and USA caused
    tremendous environmental problems. As a result, in 1975 a new rule was established by CAFE
    (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulations, which set a target of fuel economy up to 27.5
    miles per Gallon of fuel). The average fuel efficiency of steel-based Cars at that time was only 14
    mpg. The new rules have shifted the favour towards Aluminium. In terms of specific stiffness, it
    is even placed better than steel. The Table also shows that from all round consideration GFRP is
    even better than Aluminium. However, the cost of GFRP is still much higher than Aluminum
    prohibiting its use in mass-scale manufacturing of automobiles.

    Advantages of using Aluminium in automobiles

    ▪ There is a marked increase in the use of aluminum in automobiles over the years. Following
    the report of the Aluminum Association in the 2002 North American Light Vehicle
    Aluminum Content Study, for 2002, the average aluminum content for passenger cars and
    light trucks combined is about 125 Kg while the average for all vehicles sold in 1999 was
    about 113 Kg.

    ▪ It is also noted that lower energy consumption and gas emissions is possible through
    reduced weight, for example, extensive use of aluminium can result in up to 300 kg weight
    reduction in a medium size vehicle (1400kg).

    ▪ For every 100 kg reduction in the automotive sector, there is a cut of 20% lower exhaust
    gas emissions and proportionally reduced operating costs.

    ▪ One of the major challenges in Aluminium industry is to machine complex components


    out of thick plate replacing parts previously machined from die forgings or fabricated
    from sheet and extrusions. This would reduce the cost of manufacturing as well as
    enhance the application of complex shapes.
    ▪ The picture below shows a Jaguar Car which is having almost complete body and frame
    made out of Aluminium.

    In this lecture, I will provide you an overview of a group of material properties


    important for the designer. You may be aware of many of them; however, for the
    sake of completeness and to avoid ambiguities at a later state we are going to
    define the relevant properties here.

    The following properties are considered for this purpose:

    1. Relative Prices
    2. Mechanical Properties: Density, Modulus, Damping, Yield Strength,
    Tensile Strength, Hardness, Fracture Toughness, Fatigue Strength,
    Thermal Fatigue Resistance, Creep Strength
    3. Surface Properties: Oxidation, Corrosion, Friction, Abrasion & Wear
    Thermal,
    4. Ease of Manufacture, Joining
    5. Aesthetic Properties: Appearance, Texture, Feel
    Relative Prices of Materials

    In the Table below, we have provided the relative prices of the materials commonly used
    in mechanical design. This will give you an approximate idea about the price range. The
    absolute prices (US $/ton) could be obtained by multiplying the values with a base value
    of $3,30,000.00. In fact this is the price of Boron epoxy composite (US$/ton) which was
    used in Space Shuttle.

    Material Relative Cost (x 10-4)


    CFRP 6060
    Tungsten 787
    Cobalt 521
    Titanium Alloy 385
    Polyamide 306
    PMMA 160
    High Speed Steel 121
    Nylon 96
    GFRP 100
    Stainless Steel 93
    Polycarbonate 77
    Aluminium Alloy 73
    Epoxy 50
    Rubber 43
    HDPE 37
    PS 39
    Mild Steel 14
    Soft Wood 13
    Cement 01

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