SuperLIGHT-CAR main features: Project overview

SuperLIGHT-CAR is a collaborative Research & Development project co-funded by the

Project title: Sustainable Production Technologies of Emission European Commission and coordinates with other major RTD projects through the
reduced Light-weight car body concepts umbrella of the European Council for Automotive Research (EUCAR) as part of the
Project acronym: SuperLIGHT-CAR / SLC roadmap for reducing CO2 emissions and mitigating climate change.
Budget: 19.142.404
EC contribution: 10.419.790 With weight saving being one of the most effective ways to reduce fuel consumption
Start date: February 2005 and therefore CO2 emissions of road transport, 38 leading organizations work together
End date: July 2009 in SuperLIGHT-CAR to bring lightweight automotive technologies closer to high volume
Number of partners: 38 car production. Thus, the project is to provide the basis to save millions of tons of fuel
Number of countries: 9 and carbon dioxide due to significantly reduced vehicle weight.

www.superlightcar.com Project objectives

SuperLIGHT-CAR overall objective is to develop truly lightweight, multi-material

concepts up to 50% lighter than present high-volume cars. This is only possible by means
of exploiting lightweight materials combinations, developing joining technologies
needed for reliable and efficient assembling and by filling the gaps on present
design/simulation tools being not able to predict neither multi-material design reliability
nor to assess affordability and sustainability.

The project objective is the realization of advanced multi-material lightweight vehicle

structures achieving:

30% weight reduced vehicle structure (Body-In-White)

Manufacturing additional costs between 2,5 and 10 per kg
saved as compared to the current costs for series cars in the same
C- class
Technologies suitable for large series production (approx. 1000 cars/day)
Equivalent performance (C-class segment): e.g. crash, fatigue, etc.
Reduced raw material consumption (up to 30 %)

Approach

To address the challenges posed by the high requirements of C-Class vehicles (e.g.
cost, cycle time, crash performance, stiffness), SuperLIGHT-CAR set up a
multi-disciplinary team of car designer, engineers and manufacturing and technology
experts.

The first 18 months the project had developed different lightweight solutions that,
through several design loops, have converged into the final SuperLIGHT-CAR vehicle
concept.
SP1 Concept development Detailed SLC concept
1) Steel intensive < 2,5 /kg

2) Multi-material mix, economical (ULBC) < 5 /kg

3) Multi-material mix, weight optimized (SLBC) < 10 /kg

Preliminary SLC concepts
SP2 Material and production technologies SP4
Technology screening
Forming
Assembly
SLC BIW
Figure 1: Approach of the
joining technology
Production planning
Prototype SuperLIGHT-Car body structure
SP3 Analysis & simulation concept development
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Cost evaluation Virtual and physical testing

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

 Multi-material concepts design and optimisation 2 - Multi-material assessment methodology

Background and Objectives SuperLIGHT-CAR has developed a methodology to assist in the material selection
process by the assessment of parts, materials, joining technologies and its additional
Despite the strategic outlooks of large car companies point towards multi-material-mix boundary conditions.
in future car bodies, none of them has yet introduced a truly multi-material design
approach due to, amongst other issues, the lack of expertise in fully exploiting the It classifies the requirements for body parts (e.g. structural stiffness, crash energy
benefits of each material and technology. absorption, surface quality), material properties (e.g. crash max. load, crash plastic
bending, plate bending stiffness) and manufacturing and joining aspects (e.g. formability
Therefore, the aim of the concept development work in SuperLIGHT-CAR is to serve or costs) and matches them all to assess the optimal material for a given part or
as a sound basis for more detailed evaluations of the technologies used at large car sub-assembly.
companies by:
This methodology is Microsoft-excel based and visualises the requirements,
materials properties and forming aspects as net shaped diagrams.
Developing a truly multi-material economic lightweight (C-class) vehicle
Body-In-White concept fitting with up to 1000 cars/day scenario offering 30 -
50% reduction of weight compared to 2004 benchmark cars in the
market.
3- Other detailed lightweight vehicle concepts:
Developing and testing an assessment methodology for multi-material
concepts to structure the design approach and provide simple yet useful net
shaped diagrams that support the decision making process on the most
suitable materials to use for parts.

Creating a library of alternative multi-material architectures condensing

the design knowledge generated on the level of parts, modules and vehicles for
Steel intensive SLBC
fulfilling specified functional requirements (incl. cost and sustainability). ULBC

Weight reduction: 55kg (20%)* Weight reduction: 74 kg (27%)* Weight reduction: 115 kg (38%)*
Assessing the possible integration of the SuperLIGHT-CAR developments Additional costs: < 2,5 /kg Additional costs: ~ 5 /kg Additional costs: ~ 10 /kg

in the structures of trains, buses and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) Highlights:
Strut tower in austenetic steel
Tunnel in hot-formed steel
Bodyside and B-pillar in
Main achievements dualphase-steel
Roof in steel/polymer compound
Fender in steel/polymer compound
1- Multi-material vehicle concept 35% lighter than 2004 benchmark Motivation:
weight reduction with increased
utilisation of high strength steels
The concept developed by SuperLIGHT-CAR has exceeded the initial target and offers
a 35% (101 Kg) weight reduction compared to the reference (VW Golf V).
Highlights:
Longitudinal rail in austenetic steel
tailored welded blanks
Suspension-strut mount as Al-diecast
Tunnel in austenetic steel
Rear wheelhouse in Al-diecast
Inner B-pillar in Al-diecast
Roof in Al-sheet
Motivation:
multi-material design weight reduction
steel in the loading paths
lightweight design materials such as
aluminium for the front end and roof
cast parts including high-integration
Highlights:
Longitudinal rail in Trip800
tailored welded blanks
Strut tower as Mg-diecast
Floor panel in Al- and Mg-blank
Wheelhouse and rear longitudinal
rail in Al-blank
Inner B-pillar in hot-formed steel
Roof in Mg-sheet
Motivation:
Priority 1: Weight reduction
through multi-material design
Priority 2: Number of parts
and cost targets

Figure 3 Vehicle concepts

Aluminium sheet (80kg)
Aluminium cast (13kg) Reference
36%

SuperLIGHT-CAR has also created a handbook on multi-material body structures design

Steel Aluminium extrusion (3kg) SLC concept
53% Steel (66kg) BIW 719
Aluminum
Magnesium (11kg) +112%1522 -7,81 /kg
4%
Plastic Fibre reinforced plastic (7kg)
7% Front- 197
Magnesium 7,3 /kg
Figure 2: Cost and weight
end 387 +97%

Floor
254
471 +86% 5,17 /kg comparison of SuperLIGHT-Car Organisations involved
Green- 269
body concept with SLC reference
house
664 +147% 11,37 /kg

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Part costs []
Forming and joining technologies development
Main achievements
Background and objectives
1: SuperLIGHT-CAR has prepared a materials & technology catalogue, collecting the
A basic paradox is that while premium sport cars employ lightweight materials, the information gathered during the project.
high volume series cars do not apply these technologies; indeed their construction
remain based on proven concepts, materials and manufacturing technologies. One of 2: Several technologies have been demonstrated by producing parts under prototyping
the main reasons is the state of the art in these lightweight materials technologies and industrial like conditions. This includes:
(e.g joinability, predictability) does not yet reach the level of requirements for
application in mass production (up to 1.000 vehicles/day) at targeted costs.

Therefore, the objectives of SuperLIGHT-CAR were:

Warm formed Magnesium roof panel and front and rear crossbeams (in
To develop advanced multi-material forming technologies to shape high AZ31 Mg).
performance external panels and structural parts fulfilling the requirements of large Roof crossbeam middle in carbon fibre reinforced plastic pultrusion
production volumes (~1000/day). In particular, the development activity were focused technology
on: Tunnel press hardened steel part with tailor welded blank technology
a. Light alloy hot forming (aluminium and magnesium) for external panels Tunnel reinforcement as press hardened steel with tailor rolled blank
(specific application case on Magnesium roof); technology
b. Long-Fibre Thermoplastic moulding for external panels; Front longitudinal rail using aluminium tailor welded blank technology
c. Formability studies on cold forming technologies for high strength steel
3: Has produced its full Body-in-White prototype.
series (extensive exploitation use in BIW structure; door ring case study);
d. Formability studies for Tailored Welded Blanks, (e.g. inner door panel); 4: The assembly line and joining sequence have been designed, fulfilling the
e. Profile stretch bending for light alloy analysis (modelling methodology
, SuperLIGHT-CAR requirements.
and experimental campaign to check the prediction);
f. Resin Transfer Moulding, with improved process parameters (e.g. cost,
cycle times, etc.) for internal reinforcements

New joining technologies for cost-efficient high-volume assembling of multi-material

focussed on:

a. Continuous joining (welding/brazing), in particular optimisation towards

high strength steels with laser and laser induction, and multi-material
solutions with hybrid technologies;
b. Cold joining (adhesive structural bonding, pulse magnetic welding, friction
spot stir welding) well suited for multi-material joints (and steel-aluminium
joints);
c. Mechanical fasteners and insert techniques; Figure 7: Impressions from the
Figure 6: Block layout diagram
d. High speed joining (>3m/min) enlarging process tolerances (hybrid welding) prototyping shop
for mono-side access joining on thinner wall hollow section (profile, roll
formed hollow section);
e. Body assembling sequence optimisation.
Organisations involved
The technological feasibility was completed with the production line compatibility
(e.g. LFT material compatibility with E-coat process from the material response to
process
Tools and enabling technologies

Background and Objectives

A main limitation for vehicle body designers is the limited possibility to simulate or
predict in a reliable way crash, fatigue, cost and sustainability of modules consisting
of multi-material applications and vehicle concepts joined together in innovative Fig. 4: The Design Wheel shows the relation
ways. between product design, liberation and
recyclate quality
The SuperLIGHT-CAR project therefore includes breakthrough work on the virtual
design and assessment toolbox, enabling designers to assess how assemblies consisting
of various parts in various materials perform, and how these can be optimised in order
to meet the key targets.

These tools are:

3 - To empower designers to perform quick A-B comparison between different design
Database with documentation of new material characterisations alternatives, SuperLIGHT-CAR has designed and developed the "SLC Bridge". This tool
standardised testing of specimens. builds a bridge between CAD (Computer Aided Design) data and cost and a Life Cycle
Analysis assessment developed in the project too.
Validated virtual vehicle designs performance assessment toolbox
for multi-material designs, applied in simulation software for crash,
fatigue, statics, costs, Life Cycle Analysis.

Design for environment Green design tool including future

requirements, legislations and methods for reuse and recycling
(disassembly, re-fractioning) of new materials and multi-material
systems used in SuperLIGHT-CAR.

Link between CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools and Life Cycle
Analysis tools.
Fig.5: Conceptual
informationarchitecture
Main results achieved of the SLC bridge
1 - SuperLIGHT-CAR has designed and developed 2 tools to assess the cost in
multi-material concepts:

The Cost-Weight-Optimisation Tool to be used in early design
stages. Time required for completing one concept assessment is
estimated at 1 week.
The SuperLIGHT-CAR Cost tool to be used for detailed cost
calculations has been further developed and tested in the concepts
developed in the project. The time required for one concept
assessment is estimated at 2-3 weeks.
2 - To ease the inclusion of the recycling aspects in the early design stages,
SuperLIGHT-CAR has developed recycling guidelines for designers, including
material combination matrix. Furthermore a new fuzzy logic recycling model is
developed and embedded in the life cycle assessment tool.
4 - Material tests were performed according the project test matrix for new materials
and joining technologies, such as D-LFT, Magnesium cast, Magnesium sheet, Advanced
High Strength Steel, etc. The considered joining technologies are crash toughened
adhesive, MIG, Laser (Induction) welding, Friction Stir welding, etc.
All test results are stored on the Super Light Car project server. Furthermore all test
results are the base for the creation of new crash and fatigue simulation cards.
Amongst the test of the standardized specimen the project team preformed tests
with simplified structural components. These test results are also used to validate
the CAE simulation.
Organisations involved