New Lightweight Structures for Advanced Automotive Vehicles - Safe and Modular

The discussion around climate change and the responsible use of resources has pushed the topic of alternative drive technologies into the focus of the politics, the society and the industry - many even talk of a paradigm change. The specific requirements of new vehicles grow as a consequence of the different drive train technologies, influenced for example by the storage technologies of electric vehicles. The challenge of lightweight design depends on the boundary conditions of each alternative drive train, which is expressed in new packages and load paths. For example, the absence of load bearing drive structures in the front end of the vehicle completely changes the crash performance and so solutions and answers for these problems must be found by a modified construction. Beside these requirements lightweight design is a main topic in the development of automotive structures, because the mass influences the energy consumption of conventional petrol driven vehicles and the distance range of electric vehicles. The Institute of Vehicle Concepts has developed different new lightweight concepts which are modular and safe to fulfil such requirements. An example is a circular carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) rib construction at the position of the b-pillar that creates a light, safe passenger compartment to assure the safety of the passengers as well as the components of a alternative drive train in case of a side crash. Another example is a new light front end structure which resembles current configurations in the package, but simultaneously reveals a clearly improved structural performance. This development is based on an efficient energy absorption mechanism in which the outer skin of cylindrical longitudinal members is peeled off in a crash. The new configuration permits a structure that can be adapted to different standards without the need for interventions in the overall concept. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of the Programme Committee of the Transport Research Arena 2012