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Ruukki Helps in Developing Lighter Car
06/27/2013 - Ruukki has been involved the SåNätt research project in Sweden, which was aimed at developing concepts and systems to achieve cost-efficient weight saving of 20–40% in the Volvo V60 passenger car.
Ruukki is involved in several automotive industry projects in Sweden. One of the latest is the SåNätt research project, the results of which were published this week in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The SåNätt project was aimed at developing concepts and systems to achieve cost-efficient weight saving of 20–40% in the Volvo V60 passenger car.
The project was part of the FFI — Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation program and carried out in partnership with vehicle component group Fordonskomponentgruppen, Innovatum and Volvo Car Group, together with another 35 suppliers and academic partners.
“Several teams — for example, for seats, underbody, chassis, cab, doors and roofs — worked on the SåNätt project. Ruukki was involved in the seat and underbody teams to identify lightweight solutions. The project also aimed at networking and making the Ruukki brand strong in lightweight development. The project provided a view of future demands and also what is going on in other material development areas,” explains Jonas Adolfsson, product manager for cold-rolled and metal-coated products in Ruukki.
“The seat team has achieved a weight saving of 45% in seats through the use of magnesium and extra-high-strength precision steel tubes, whilst improving the level of comfort and safety compared to existing seats. The seats are fixed to high-strength tubes attached between floor and roof. These tubes reinforce the car body and allow the B-pillars to be removed,” reveals Esko Hakamäki, product manager for tubular products in Ruukki.
“The SåNätt project resulted in unique Ruukki networks in research, development, design and manufacturing capabilities for future vehicles,” says Anders Klang, product manager for precision tubes in Sweden.
“Using the unique properties of strength and ductility of steel combined with Ruukki´s extensive knowledge of designing lightweight applications enabled us to contribute to identifying good mix-material solutions,” says Jonas Adolfsson, product manager for cold-rolled and metal-coated products.
