••• 16••• Improved performance due to less weight Innovative car wheel: scientists combine thermoplastic bre-plastic-compounds with metal foams R esearchers have created a successful lightweight design with immense importance for to- morrow’s automotive construc- tion: they were able to reduce the weight of a car wheel by more than 50 per cent through the use of novel materials and structures. Compared to a conventional steel wheel of about 6.8 kg, the novel lightweight wheel weighs only 3.02 kg. The three-part sandwich wheel rim consists of a core of aluminium foam and top layers made of thermoplastic fibre-plas- tic compounds, researchers of the Federal Cluster of Excellence “MERGE: Technologies for Mul- tifunctional Lightweight Struc- tures” at Chemnitz University of Technology and their partners from the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Tech- nology (IWU) reported. This sandwich design takes ad- vantage of the materials’ respec- tive special properties. Such mul- ti-material-designs are more and more frequently used in the au- tomotive sector. Thus, not only the weight but also the emission of pollutants by motor vehicles can be reduced through combin- ing novel processing technologies with smart material systems. The combination of thermoplastic fi- bre-plastic-compounds with met- al foams has great lightweight potential, especially for producing on a large scale, as the research fellow at the Cluster of Excellence MERGE Alexander Hackert points out: “Highly porous metal foams such as aluminium foam have ex- cellent mechanical properties at a low density while at the same time they can potentially absorb a lot of energy. That is a contribu- tion to driving comfort, especially when going round a turn in the road. Additionally, they have a dis- tinct damage tolerance.” By reducing the unsprung mass- es the scientists were also able to improve the driving charac- teristics. The vehicle becomes more agile and changes its be- haviour: when the driver hits the brakes, it will stop much faster. “There are special norms and regulations for the application in real traffic, because the safety of all passengers as well as other road users must be guaranteed under all circumstances,” says Hackert. Alexander Hackert (on the left) and Tristan Timmel with the novel lightweight wheel Photo: Chemnitz University of Technology / Rico Welzel · Manufacturing · Remanufacturing · Distribution · Rotating electrics · Brake parts · Steering racks and pumps Think ahead - Think Remy ON YOUR WAY · YOUR RELIABLE PARTNER Remy Automotive Europe Schaliehoevestraat 10 2220 Heist op den Berg België Hall 3.0 B21 www.remyeurope.com BPI GROUP europe Innovationen