WorldAutoSteel Project Showcases Light Electrified Vehicle Structures
05/06/2010 - WorldAutoSteel, supported by investors of the Steel Market Development Institute, revealed seven AHSS optimized structural subsystems as part of FutureSteelVehicle Phase 2, a global steel-industry effort to develop lightweight architectures for electrified vehicles.
WorldAutoSteel, supported by investors of the Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), revealed seven advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) optimized structural subsystems as part of FutureSteelVehicle (FSV) Phase 2, a global steel-industry effort to develop lightweight architectures for electrified vehicles. The structures will help achieve FSV's 35% full-body mass reduction target.
The project results, presented at the Great Designs in Steel seminar, show AHSS's superior results in cost, weight, and greenhouse gas emissions when compared to baseline or aluminum subsystems.
"The automotive industry is faced with making advanced powertrain vehicles affordable and a major player is the structural material used," said Ron Krupitzer, Vice President of Automotive Applications for SMDI. "Unlike low-density materials, steel can reduce emissions over the entire vehicle life cycle, which is critical to reducing the vehicle's overall carbon footprint."
"FSV offers innovative designs that can apply to any vehicle, whether powered by an internal-combustion engine or motor," said Jody Shaw, Chairman, FSV, and Manager of Technical Marketing and Product Research for the United States Steel Corp. "Because of steel's versatility, we were able to produce a range of solutions that all carmakers will find relevant—in terms of optimizing various physical properties—all of which were evaluated on the basis of cost, weight, and CO2 equivalent emissions."
According to Shaw, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for each system is key to the analysis. LCA is a methodology that measures the equivalent emissions of a vehicle over its entire life cycle, including the manufacturing, use, and end-of-life phases.
FSV includes more than 20 different AHSS grades representing materials expected to be commercially available in 2015 to 2020.
"Steel continues to reinvent itself and provide advanced technologies to meet new challenges," Krupitzer said. "With FSV, we're on the edge of a new dynamic: a material that achieves it all—safety, lightweighting, and low emissions—and does it affordably."
Over the next several months, WorldAutoSteel members will share these interim technical results directly with automakers around the globe to gather feedback. The FSV Phase 2 engineering work will continue on the design of complete body structures, with an engineering report and final results made public in 2011.
The Steel Market Development Institute, a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute, grows and maintains the use of steel through strategies that promote cost-effective solutions in the automotive, construction, and container markets, as well as for new-growth opportunities in nontraditional steel markets. The Automotive Applications Council is a part of the SMDI and focuses on advancing the use of steel in the automotive market. Automotive Applications Council investors are AK Steel Corp., ArcelorMittal Dofasco, ArcelorMittal USA, Nucor Corp., Severstal North America, and United States Steel Corp.
