How to make the car run faster and more fuel-efficient? In addition to giving more advanced powertrains, depots have a trick: to lose weight. Among them, the use of lighter aluminum materials in automobiles is particularly important.

The most common example should be the rims - many of the 150,000 models, aluminum wheels are an important means for the depot to distinguish between high and low.

In fact, the doors of the Audi A6L and the hood of the Volvo models are made of aluminum alloy. Nowadays, numerous new mid-range cars use aluminum alloy hem arms, even on such models as the Jaguar XE and the new Ford F-150. With aluminum body.

So, what exactly is the safety of aluminum bodies and components? Is maintenance cost high? Today we will come to eighty eight.

First, aluminum body, will not be insecure?

As the most concern of the aluminum car body, Car Jujun interviewed Liu Qing, Asia's vice president of the automotive business of Novelis Rolling Products, a global leader in aluminum rolling products. He said that the aluminum alloy material improves the safety of automobiles. There are several advantages:

Aluminum Advantages for Body Structure Design

Compared with steel, aluminum is easier to predict the impact of the collision in the design process, so that you can fully consider the situation that may occur once the collision occurs, ensure the structure and reserved space, and improve vehicle safety.

â–Ž Aluminum is more stable in the automotive life cycle

The corrosion resistance of aluminum reduces the damage to the vehicle structure during the vehicle's life cycle, thus continuing the ability to absorb impact energy.

â–ŽLighter aluminum body improves braking performance

As we all know, the lighter the vehicle, the smaller the inertial force and the shorter the braking distance. The benefits are obvious - it is always better to avoid accidents than to reduce them.

Ford 2015 F-150 aluminum body is a good example of lightweight advantages. Compared with the 2014 model, the new body “slim” up to 318 kg, which helps the F-150 to haul and pull more weight while reducing the braking distance. The model received the highest level of safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States, and is the only full-size light truck that achieves the best level of safety in all crash test modes and cab configurations.

At present, the anti-yield strength of some aluminum alloys (such as Novelis 7000 Series) can reach 500-600 MPa or more. Although aluminum alloys can replace many parts of ordinary strength steels, there is still a gap compared with high-strength steels.

Therefore, even with all-aluminum body models, high-strength steels are used at critical loads. For example, in addition to the all-aluminum body of the 2015 F-150, the proportion of high-strength steel used in the frame has increased from 23% in the previous generation to 77%.

In the picture below, the Land Rover Range Rover aluminum body uses 4% high-strength steel and 1% PHS (thermoformed ultra-high strength) steel.

“At present, the strength of the new material can only replace the soft steel part of 200MPa-300MPa, and it is still difficult for the position of high-strength steel to shake.” Fu Yusheng, chief engineer of the Quality Assurance Department of the passenger car of SAIC Motor, previously told the media.

Second, how is the cost of aluminum body?

At present, aluminum has been widely accepted by major host plants around the world because it can support large-scale industrial production, which is important for the automotive industry.

The US Academy of Sciences conducted a survey in 2011, and there are dozens of technical paths and means to achieve vehicle weight reduction. From the viewpoint of cost, aluminum lightweight bodies, including lightweight structures, are the most economical lightweight methods and means, which is why aluminum is widely used. Many experts say that aluminum will become the second largest automotive material after steel.

â–² Based on the Audi 100 aluminum concept car (1985)

There are also data shows that the general aluminum sheet material costs will increase 2-5 times than ordinary steel. This cost difference is a bit scary for the average car model, but for cost-conscious luxury cars and electric cars, this cost increase is acceptable.

Now, even some experts say that there is no electric vehicle without light weight, which shows that the future demand for electric vehicles is even greater. Compared to the carbon fiber materials used in the BMW i8 and the new 7 Series, the application of aluminum in electric vehicles will be more extensive and cost-effective.

According to statistics made by the European Aluminum Association (EAA), the cost of an all-aluminium body and an all-steel body is about 1015 euros (approximately RMB 7259) for an electric vehicle of this size.

However, if used in electric vehicles, the use of steel makes the car's curb weight worse, so a larger battery pack is needed to drive the battery cost will be higher than 1650 euros (about 11800 yuan), offset by the aluminum cost of 1015 euros, The total still 635 euros (about 4541 yuan).

In addition, with the increasingly stringent requirements of national governments on fuel consumption and emissions of automobile enterprises, the increasing necessity of lightweighting for automobile enterprises, and the continuous growth of sales and sales volume of electric vehicles, the aluminum market for automobiles will continue to grow. The cost is further reduced.

Of course, in addition to the high cost of aluminum itself, there are some difficulties in the welding of aluminum and some additional costs.

At present, there are several major welding techniques for aluminum materials. One is very mature welding technology, including laser welding and so on. For example, a BMW 5 Series or 7 Series door may have hundreds of solder joints, all of which are achieved through such welding techniques.

There is also a very common process for the aluminum material itself or the connection with other materials: self-tapping riveting, riveting together by riveting, cold connection instead of thermal connection, is also very mature.

When aluminum is connected to different materials, there is also a technical adhesive connection that is widely used in the automotive industry. Adhesive connection, not only to ensure the mechanical properties of aluminum, aluminum surface to go through some very special surface treatment technology, through the film with the vehicle after the process compatible materials, this method is higher for the process and technology, but It has also been implemented at the Novelis factory in Changzhou, China.

Currently, Novelis can reduce material waste by welding two steel plates of different thicknesses. In 2014, this technology was recognized by automobile manufacturers and put into production. After testing, this technology can reduce the total weight of the door by 15% and reduce the cost by 39%. This technological advancement not only helps optimize the use of aluminum, but also helps automotive manufacturers replace steel with aluminum in automotive manufacturing.

Third, the cost of aluminum body maintenance is not high?

For the vast majority of consumers, the biggest problem of aluminum body in addition to the cost, there are still difficult to maintain later.

Taking an aluminum alloy door as an example, if it is a small scratch, it can still be treated like a putty painter. However, once it is subjected to large collision deformation, in most 4S stores, the welding and repair of aluminum alloy materials is extremely difficult and can only be replaced as a whole.

Last year, the National Road Safety Insurance Association IIHS found that the F-150 aluminum body version had a greater range of damage in the event of a crash test for the Ford aluminum body version of the F-150, and the total cost of maintenance for the front and rear ends The previous version of the F-150 was 26% higher. Among them, the front-end damaged repair time is higher, and the back-end damaged repairs require higher parts costs.

For the maintenance of the aluminum body, Novelis did not answer positively. He only said that “the follow-up maintenance process and technical aspects have their own technical requirements and principles. Novelis has always been committed to working with partners for technological innovation and consumption. Provides a better use experience and services.” Che Jujun believes that this is equivalent to the default aluminum body repair costs are relatively high.

4. What new aluminum car bodies in the Chinese market?

In Europe, all aluminum bodies appeared since the 1990s. In recent years, European and American markets have increasingly stringent laws and regulations on energy-saving and emission-reduction of automobiles. They also allow automakers to accelerate the pace of lightweighting, and the application of aluminum to European and American auto markets has increased significantly.

In China, aluminum began to be applied to the white body four or five years ago. For example, FAW-Volkswagen Audi A6, A3, Q5 and Q3 all use the aluminum body-in-white system, and the amount of aluminum for bicycles is relatively high. The new car that is listed recently is represented by the Cadillac CT6. Nearly 57% of its body material is made of aluminum. Fenders of the Beijing Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan and the bonnet and tailgate of the Hyundai IONIQ hybrid are also made of aluminum.

The first Chinese brand that really started to apply aluminum to the white body was SAIC. Its Roewe 950 uses an aluminum engine hood inner and outer panels.

Another interesting phenomenon is that the aluminum used in the SUV market is very common. According to the 2015 North American Light Vehicle Aluminum Research Report, the SUV is the third-largest average number of aluminum vehicles in many models, with an average of 410.3 pounds of aluminum per vehicle, second only to the average of 548.9 pounds of aluminum pickups and 546.9 pounds. E-Class car. The data shows that by the end of 2020, the application rate of aluminum in the body and car covers of SUVs will reach 22%.

The new Audi Q7, a new generation of Land Rover Range Rover lightweight SUVs, Audi R8 sports cars and other SUVs use aluminum to reduce body weight and ensure vehicle quality and durability.

It can also be seen that in the SUV market, the fastest growing segment in China in recent years, its development will also promote the application of aluminum in Chinese cars.

summary:

It is lighter, firmer, and more fuel efficient. It says that so many aluminum materials are good, but the disadvantages of high cost and difficult to repair aluminum materials are also obvious.

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