Articles Tagged with ''automotive lightweighting''

SALT LAKE CITY—Researchers at Brigham Young University have developed a new technology for creating an extremely strong bond between lightweight aluminum and ultra-high-strength steel. The technology, friction bit joining, could be a boon to automakers looking to reduce vehicle weight.

Despite recent inroads by aluminum, copper will remain the dominant material used in automotive wiring harness applications over the next few decades. That’s because harness weight can easily be reduced by using finer wires wherever electrically feasible.

Carbon-fiber reinforced composites are popular in the aerospace and marine industries as a lightweight alternative to aluminum, steel and other metals. The material is also used to produce railcars, wind turbine blades and sporting goods.

PARIS—French auto parts supplier Faurecia and the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology have agreed to work together to develop advanced industrial processes for automotive composites.

DETROIT—In a bid to cut the weight of its cars by up to 340 kilograms by the end of the decade, Ford Motor Co. is testing hoods and other auto body parts made from carbon fiber.

DETROIT—North American Automakers are expected to triple their consumption of aluminum sheet by 2015, a surge that could lead to spot shortages.