February 2022 Volume 4

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

The Global Response to Lightweighting

aluminum and magnesium alloys, carbon fiber and composite materials. These advanced materials have found application in traditionally weighty powertrain components and suspension components in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and in newer vehicle designs such as hybrid electric, plug-in electric and fully electric vehicles (EVs). The use of lightweight automotive structural members and components on traditional ICE cars and light trucks enables the integration of safety devices, emission control systems and more electronics without increasing vehicle weight. And with the increasing ubiquity of various hybrid and pure electric vehicle designs, the use of lightweight materials can offset the weight of batteries and electric motors and improve the all-electric range of these vehicles. “There is a lot of room for lightweight design with forged components in automotive applications,” says Dr.-Ing. Hans-Willi Raedt, CEO of prosimalys, a German engineering consultancy for forging, materials, lightweighting and CO₂-reduction. He was deeply involved in Germany’s Lightweight Forging Initiative, which was started in 2013 (see the sidebar in this article) . Dr. Raedt continues: “Compared to cast or sinteredmaterials, forgings are stronger with a higher ductility, so they lend themselves best for lightweight design, which leads to higher stresses in the components. But even where forgings are already applied, even more weight savings can be achieved with the full utilization of modern forging steels and advanced forging technology. This, however, calls for an intensive collaboration between material producers, forging companies and auto producers. Reducing component mass will save propulsion energy, which is beneficial for conventional and new automotive powertrains. Subsequent reduction of input material yields energy and thus CO₂-emission savings in production, which also are increasingly in demand. Many components currently in use clearly demonstrate a further 10-15 percent potential for reduced mass, CO₂-emissions and production cost with minimal development efforts.”

continuing its technology efforts toward an industrial scale pilot producing carbon-free aluminum by 2030. Large investments by forges in lightweighting are beingmade in the formof newor additional aluminum forging lines. A case in point is the August 2021 announcement by Otto Fuchs KG of the crank forging press they ordered from Schuler for its Shenyang, China, location. The automotive supplier will use the 3,150 ton press to produce more aluminum chassis components for customers in China. In crank forging presses, several torque motors operate on a main shaft via a step-down gear unit. They are suitable both for wear-free single-stroke operation and for forging in continuous operation. In September 2021, Hirschvogel Automotive Components(Pinghu)Co.Ltd.,a manufacturer of automotive parts and components in China, contracted with SMS group to supply a fully automated closed-die forging press to forge aluminum chassis components at the company’s Pinghu location near Shanghai. The new line will be the third such unit from SMS at this site and is scheduled to be commissioned in Q2 of this year. Announcements of this nature have become relatively commonplace and represent only a few selected examples in a broader context of lightweighting by the forging industry. Closer to Home North American forgers are facing the same lightweighting challenges as other industrialized regions of the world. “The automotive industry, especially cars and light trucks, is the driver of lightweighting initiatives in the U.S. at the present time,” says Nicolas Poulain, Director of Sales & Technology for Transvalor Americas, a supplier of virtual engineering software platforms thatmodel industrial processes for the forming of metals and other materials. “This is the case, at least within the forging industry, and there is a need in the U.S. for additional lightweighting activities.” [1] The gradual shift away from traditional ICE cars and light trucks toward hybrid and pure EVs is not a thing of the future. This trend and its consequent reduction in demand for

There is nothing new about lightweighting in automotive applications, except that automotive executives and designers now work more closely with their industry’s relevant supply chain partners. The goal is an in-depth and detailed understanding of the processes, designs, and component materials from which modern vehicles are assembled. Narrowing the field to the lightweighting of traditionally forged parts (dominated by powertrain, suspension components and fasteners), these ideas can take the form of a full re-imagining of a part or assembly, revised geometries that reduce the material content of existing traditional components, the use of advanced materials (such as high-strength steels), and material substitutions (such as aluminum and magnesium forgings). Metalworking industries are notorious, even among their own participants, for their sometime resistance in adopting and adapting to change in the face of new technologies and market conditions. It’s relatively easy, however, for a steel forger to integrate a new advanced, high-strength alloy into its operation to accommodate a customer specification and do its part to assist in the lightweighting trend. But most of the headlines are grabbed by trending toward more aluminum. In 2019 Norwegian aluminum producer Hydro announced an upgrade to casting operations at its Husnes facility with new technology to produce more advanced products for the growing automotive aluminum forging market. The Hydro- developed technology enables a shift from traditional extruded forge stock to cast forge stock, eliminating costly steps in the production process while improving quality. According to Hydro Husnes, the new technology will strengthen the plant’s ability to deliver more advanced aluminum products. The key is the flexibility to be able to cast both extrusion ingots and forging materials according to customer demand in a flexible and efficient way. More recently, Hydro announces its intention to deliver its first commercial volumes of near-zero carbon aluminum in 2022. Hydro is also

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