For an electrically powered vehicle (a BEV, or battery electric vehicle) lightweight design is a very effective way of increasing range in comparison with other measures, such as improving aerodynamics, reducing rolling resistance or increasing storage capacity. This effect is surpassed in the case of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Intelligent lightweight design makes a contribution here to finding an ideal balance between product requirements on the one hand and the lowest possible specific weight on the other. In view of the fact that the body structure makes up about 19 - 22% of the vehicle curb weight, a lightweight body design takes on a crucial importance. The material of the body, be it steel, aluminum or carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), has a great influence via the body topology on the total vehicle architecture and on the plant's production equipment with its high proportion of one-off expenditures. In Leipzig, parts made of carbon-fiber composite materials are manufactured on the industrial scale in the newly built CFRP production facility equipped with extremely modern technology. The carbon-fiber blanks are first given their subsequent form in the so-called preforming process. Here a heated mold gives the layered package a stable, three-dimensional shape. Several of these preforms can then be joined together to make a larger component. Following making-up and preforming comes the next process step: the addition of resin under high pressure in the RTM process (resin transfer molding). In the RTM resin injection process known from the aerospace industry and also from boat construction and wind turbines, liquid resin is pumped into the preforms at high pressure. Not until the fibers have bonded with the resin and hardening is completed does the material obtain its rigidity and thus its outstanding properties.
Lightweight design - challenges and solutions for future car technologies
2014
7 Seiten
Conference paper
English
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