Automobile Materials

SRJC - ENGR 45 Semester Project (Fall ’09)

Brian Goff
Mario Grasso
Oscar Briceno
Some Background...
Cars at first were built entirely of wood, and later of wood
frames with steel body panels.
In the early 1900’s, the idea of a body-on-frame design
came about.
These vehicles had
a load-bearing chassis
that supported all the
mechanical parts
and a body usual made
of steel.
Ford Model T
Courtesy Car Body Design
http://www.carbodydesign.com/articles/2005-04-13-chassis-history/2005-04-13-chassis-history.php
Moving Forward...
Honda Civic Frame
http://automobiles.honda.com/images/2009/civic-sedan/safety/safety-header.jpg

Today, most smaller vehicles

such as small SUV’s and
sedans use a unibody (or
monocoque) construction.

Heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and busses still use the

idea of body-on-frame.
Regardless of the construction technique, steel is still the
predominant material used in automotive frames.
A Quick Comparison

Typical Ladder Frame

Monocoques
What it’s all About
Today, the new revolution in car design is the use of new
materials in the vehicle structure.
As fuel economy restrictions become tighter,
manufacturers must find new ways to meet them.
This has led them away from using so much steel in the
vehicles, and more and more are moving towards
aluminum.
The central theme of our project was to compare these new
lightweight aluminum cars to their steel predecessors and
see if anything is being sacrificed and/or gained.
A Basic Comparison
Two common alloys used in car manufacturing:
For Aluminum: AA 5182
For Steel: AISI 1020

Steel Al

Yield Strength
(MPa) 294.8 395

UTS (MPa) 394.7 420

Hardness
(HB500) 104 58
Data Courtesy efunda
http://www.efunda.com/materials/alloys/carbon_steels/show_carbon.cfm?ID=AISI_1020&prop=all&Page_Title=AISI%201020
http://www.efunda.com/materials/alloys/aluminum/show_aluminum.cfm?ID=AA_5182&show_prop=all&Page_Title=AA%205182
Properties

Density of Steel: 7.88 g/cm3

Density of Aluminum: 2.7 g/cm3
Aluminum is about 3 times lighter than steel per unit
volume, but can be made just as strong using certain
alloys/shapes/bonding methods.
Because of this, AL parts can be thicker, and thus stronger,
than their steel counterparts, all while weighing less.
The Cost Issue
While Al may seem like a miracle metal for car production,
there is a reason not all cars are made from Al... It costs a
lot more than Steel.
The Move to Aluminum
The first production vehicle to move to an Al frame was
the Audi A8 in 1994.
This allowed Audi to make their full-size car lighter than
the competitions (BMW, Mercedes,Lexus...), thus giving
them the edge in performance & handling.
This comes at a price premium though, for instance
compared to a Lexus LS460 (Steel framed) which costs
around $65,000. The A8 starts at $75,000

Audi A8

Lexus LS460
An Increasing Trend

http://www2.prnewswire.com/mnr/duckerworldwide/37515/
Cars Utilizing Al Frames
Weight
The most obvious advantage to using aluminum in place of
steel in cars is aluminum weighs less.

Cars with Mostly Al

Space Frames
Safety
Not too many safety tests have been performed on Al
framed vehicles due to their usually higher price.
However, the Audi A2 is an inexpensive compact car that
has been tested, and received overall favorable reviews
compared to its steel bodies counterparts.
Some other advantages...
There are some manufacturing methods
that can only be done with aluminum,
such as extrusions.
These extrusions allows the Al Space
Frame to have about half the amount of
parts as a traditional steel monocoque.
Because of all this, Al is already a
cheaper material to use for low volume
production cars (under 100,000 units a
year or so).
A Few Other Facts...

Today, the average car contains about 200 pounds of

aluminum parts.
Aluminum space frames (like that from Audi), contain
fewer parts and fewer connection nodes, which helps keep
production costs lower.
In The Future http://andrewbeard.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/technology-carbon-fiber-monocoque-chassis/

While Aluminum may be the wave of the future for now,

some exotic car companies are already looking ahead to
composite materials.
Take for example Porsche Carrera GT, which used a
completely Carbon-Fiber monocoque construction in
addition to Carbon-Fiber body panels.
Because of this, the curb weight of the car was only 3000
lbs., even with a 5.7L V-10 engine powering it.

Porsche Carrera GT
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Porsche_Carrera_GT_-_Goodwood_Breakfast_Club_
%28July_2008%29.jpg/800px-Porsche_Carrera_GT_-_Goodwood_Breakfast_Club_%28July_2008%29.jpg
References
Building an aluminum car
http://www.allbusiness.com/professional-scientific/scientific-research-development/443897-1.html

History of Automobile Body and Chassis

http://www.carbodydesign.com/articles/2005-04-13-chassis-history/2005-04-13-chassis-history.php

Automobile Bodies: Can Aluminum Be an Economical Alternative to Steel?

http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0108/Kelkar-0108.html

Different Types of Chassis

http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/chassis/tech_chassis2.htm

Aluminum Versus Steel

http://www.travistrailer.com/public/pag16.aspx