Workshops: Tuesday 7 March 2012

  • Workshop A: Large Volume Automotive Composites Manufacturing & Applications
  • Workshop B: A Tutorial: Developing Cost-Effective Composite Intensive Vehicles (CIV) to Reduce Weight by 60%

13:15 – 15:15 Workshop A: Large Volume Automotive Composites Manufacturing & Applications

Rationale:

With their enormous weight-reduction potential, innovative composites are explored and developed for vehicle body and subsystem applications. The challenges though, as known to industry professionals, are the cost of developing and manufacturing them in large volume. This workshop will be focusing on both advantages of these high performance materials as well as strategies to bring down the cost in large volume manufacturing and applications.

What will be covered:

  • Understanding safety and weight-reduction advantages of composites
  • Breaking down the cost challenges and developing effective strategies to address them
  • Highlighting strategic and economical parameters, such as investment and competence access, and their limitations for technology shifts
  • Developing a cross-disciplinary interaction exposing the view from R&D, engineering and procurement

Facilitator:

Prof. Jan-Anders Månson
Laboratory of Polymer and Composites Technology
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Switzerland

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15:45 – 17:45 Workshop B: A Tutorial: Developing Cost-Effective Composite Intensive Vehicles (CIV) to Reduce Weight by 60%

Rationale:

Automotive industry and government endorsed research programs are exploring methods to develop composite- intensive-vehicles that can reach a weight reduction of up to 60%. This workshop will give a step-by-step tutorial on the concept development and design of composite intensive vehicles. Critical technologies and measurements will be analysed and shared.

What will be covered:

  • Sharing the mass and performance criteria for a composite intensive body-in-white (BIW)
  • Conceptualising preliminary designs for the BIW
  • Detailed design to meet the requirements of safety, stiffness, durability etc.
  • Assessing safety benefits based on the analysis of crash worthiness

Facilitator:

Dr. Raymond Boeman
Program Director
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US

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