During the past decade, truck and trailer manufacturers have been using heavy amounts of aluminum to reduce weight. And, more engineers are exploring the low-weight, high-strength benefits of carbon-fiber composites.
“What is particularly interesting about the demand for lightweight materials in commercial vehicle applications are the motivations behind it,” says Marc Purslow, arc welding applications engineer at EWI. “With passenger vehicles, the push for weight savings is driven by a need to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions. With commercial vehicles, the motivation is based more on the cargo-carrying capacity of the vehicle.