Automotive Materials: Technology Trends and Challenges in the 21st Century
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Automotive Materials: Technology Trends and Challenges in the 21st Century Alan I.Taub Abstract The following article is an edited transcript based on the plenary talk given by Alan I. Taub of General Motors Corp. on November 28, 2005, at the Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston. Fuel economy requirements, emissions regulations, and the push for energy independence are key factors driving the auto industry to increase vehicle efficiency. The main avenues to efficiency improvement are powertrain enhancements and mass reduction. This presentation details how General Motors is developing advanced propulsion systems and using lightweight materials to achieve greater vehicle efficiency. Taub, who is executive director of General Motors Research and Development, outlines GM’s strategy for advancing propulsion technology, from improvements in the internalcombustion engine to hybridization to full vehicle electrification. He then describes the company’s efforts to use lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys, high-strength steels, and composites to reduce vehicle weight. Also highlighted is GM’s success in employing novel materials in the development of advanced vehicle and powertrain systems to achieve additional efficiencies. One example is the application of smart materials, which enable new features and functions by way of mechamatronic solutions (the integration of smart materials with mechanical systems and electronics). Key technical hurdles that must be overcome to increase the use of these materials by the automotive industry are also discussed. Keywords: composite, energy storage, environmentally protective, H, nanoscale, nanostructure, polymer.
Introduction There’s good news and bad news about the overall growth potential of the automotive industry. First, the good news: Owning an automobile and having personal mobility appears to be global and universal in nature. For me, anything that can be represented on a sigmoidal curve (Figure 1) has the force of a natural law, which in this case would be, “when people can afford personal mobility, they opt for it.” The growth in world population and the growth in global affluence, particularly in developing countries, have very good implications for the automotive business. Today, 12% of the world’s population owns a vehicle. By
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2020, that figure could reach 15%, as shown in Figure 2. Factoring in the increased population, the result would be a 50% increase in vehicle ownership in the world. Those of us in the vehicle manufacturing businesses definitely want to be a part of that growth story. Now, for the bad news: This phenomenal growth carries its own challenges and problems. How can we grow the “vehicle parc”—the number of registered active vehicles—to 1 billion vehicles without adversely affecting the planet we live on? Sustainable growth is the primary challenge for our industry. It is the theme that drives the technology agenda for General
Motors and probably for most of the other automotive OEMs (original equipment manufactu
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