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2015
Conference Paper
Titel
Multi-material design for the optimization of the automotive production process
Abstract
In the context of the automotive manufacturing process, one of the most relevant objectives is the achievement of the highest productivity with maximum process reliability. This often means that production systems have to show at the same time high stiffness and highly dynamic moving components. The fulfillment of these often competing demands may only be met in many cases by structures made of multi-material composites (hybrid structures). The effects of lightweight design and especially multi-material-design can be in some cases directly translated into tangible economic benefits, for example: cost and energy savings, downsizing of system components or increase of overall system lifetime. Besides this economic gain, the optimization of products by means of lightweight design may bring non-monetary benefits to both people and nature, such as lower resource consumption and lower emissions. Nevertheless, added value of lightweight design in mechanical engineering, cannot yet be exactly quantified, as is already the case in the aerospace and automotive industry. However, examples of selected components and devices made clear that it is possible to obtain substantial benefits in the system. A direct method for assessing the benefits of the use of lightweight materials and lightweight design in machinery and industrial equipment is part of the current research work at Fraunhofer IPA. This hollistic approach will allow the evaluation and quantification of added value through lightweight design in a machine or production system, also considering the usually higher development and production costs of the lightweight solution.