DETROIT, March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Achieving weight reduction through
greater aluminum use for a sport utility vehicle (SUV) creates a safe and more
efficient vehicle, concluded two studies released this week at the SAE World
Congress in Detroit. According to The Aluminum Association, Inc., this
groundbreaking research and development comes at a crucial time when the focus
for SUVs and other light trucks centers on improving overall vehicle safety
while increasing fuel efficiency and dependability.
"All too often, reducing vehicle weight has been overlooked in the debate
over trying to make SUVs and other light trucks more fuel efficient while also
ensuring they meet or exceed all safety requirements. We applaud Ford Motor
Company for leading the way to document aluminum's potential benefit to the
SUV market," said Dr. Richard L. Klimisch, Vice President of The Aluminum
Association, Inc.
Engineers at Ford Motor Company presented the SAE papers. One explored
the design of an aluminum SUV frame while the other considered development of
a unitized aluminum SUV body. Both papers demonstrated that major weight
reductions could be successfully achieved while delivering equivalent
performance to steel. They also confirmed that an aluminum SUV would meet
various regulatory criteria.
"High-strength, yet low-weight aluminum allows automakers to maintain the
size of SUVs for occupant safety, yet reduce their weight for better fuel
economy and to make them more compatible with smaller cars in a crash. In
particular, both aluminum designs -- body-on-frame and the unitized body --
would achieve better SUV fuel economy without sacrificing safety," added
Klimisch.
The SUV aluminum frame technical paper, conducted as part of a joint
government/industry research program assessed the capability of an aluminum
frame to achieve equivalent performance to the 2002 4-Door Ford Explorer steel
frame. The result was a 40 percent weight reduction for an aluminum truck
frame that was equivalent in performance to the traditional steel frame.
The P2000S unitized SUV aluminum body structure technical paper was
designed as part of an advanced research project to determine the feasibility
of a high volume, lightweight SUV that would achieve performance targets of
the newly emerging "City SUV" market -- a low profile SUV with all the safety,
durability, NVH and other functional attributes of a light truck, while having
the ride characteristics of a sedan. To evaluate real-world performance, Ford
produced ten aluminum bodies-in-white, of which eight were turned into fully
running SUVs. The study confirmed aluminum offered a 50 percent body
structure weight reduction in comparison to similar sized body-on-frame
production of principally steel SUVs.
"Consumers still demand big SUVs for safety and convenience -- but they
would also like them to achieve higher fuel economy and lower emissions.
Using advanced aluminum design and technologies can give them both. As Ford
and other automakers continue to seek new ways to design safe,
environmentally-friendly vehicles -- especially SUVs and other light trucks --
aluminum should continue to be the fastest growing material in the automotive
arena," concluded Klimisch.
The Aluminum Association, based in Washington, D.C. with offices in
Southfield, Mich., represents primary producers of aluminum, recyclers and
producers of semi-fabricated products. Member companies operate almost 200
plants in the United States and many conduct business worldwide. To learn
more about automotive aluminum applications and attributes, please visit
http://www.autoaluminum.org .
SOURCE The Aluminum Association, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.autoaluminum.org
CONTACT:
Becky Snedeker of The Aluminum Association,
+1-248-784-3008
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