- Team reimagined a door architecture from scratch
- Ultralight design achieves 42.5-percent mass savings
- Applies to 70 percent of the light vehicle market
DETROIT, MI, Jan. 9, 2017 /CNW/ - Magna International Inc., in
cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and partners
FCA US and Grupo Antolin, announced
it has developed a new, ultralight door architecture that achieves
the project objective of 42.5 percent mass savings compared to an
average current production door. Making the announcement at the
2017 North American International Auto Show, Magna and its project
partners presented a solution to further help global automakers
meet emissions standards and reduce fuel consumption through
lightweighting.
Magna's advanced engineering team – a collaborative effort
between the company's corporate R&D and various product groups
– combined its unique, full-vehicle perspective on the design of a
driver's-side door with an inventive mix of materials and
technology to tackle the challenge of significant weight reduction.
This was developed in less than 10 months while keeping the cost
within accepted industry parameters and providing a solution that
applies to approximately 70 percent of the light vehicle
market.
"The team started from scratch and reimagined the way we think
about the design, development and material-use of a door
architecture," said Swamy Kotagiri,
Chief Technology Officer, Magna
International. "Building on our significant expertise in
lightweighting from previous DOE projects, the team leveraged our
broad product-development expertise and tackled this challenge in a
cost-effective manner while meeting safety, durability and
functionality requirements."
Magna built on its know-how from the development of the
Multi-Material Lightweight Vehicle (MMLV) with the DOE and Ford in
2014, and took it a step further in creating a solution for this
advanced ultralight door project.
A key innovation associated with the development of the
ultralight door includes integration of Magna's SmartLatch™
electronic latch system. This eliminated the need for mechanical
hardware and enabled the development of a unique carrier module
with integrated glass guides and lift capability of a lightweight
hybrid glass laminate, an industry first.
The door-in-white assembly makes extensive use of aluminum,
which achieves approximately half of the total mass reduction of
the door assembly. Overall, the project makes use of materials
readily available today that can easily be made using existing
manufacturing processes, without a significant increase in
production costs or changes in body-shop infrastructure.
Grupo Antolin contributed its
know-how in the design and manufacture of interior trim components
to contribute to the significant mass reduction. The application of
advanced molding technologies and polymers contributed
approximately 7 percent to the total mass reduction.
The ultralight door development included intensive simulation
efforts, passing all safety and durability testing in the process.
The next steps include manufacturing full-scale prototype door
assemblies, performance tests and safety tests to validate the
design, with the goal of being available for use in production
vehicles by the fall of 2020.
The FCA US engineering team has been an integral part of the
design and development of the ultralight door, providing
engineering collaboration to confirm compatibility with existing
assembly operations as well as CAE durability, fatigue and safety
analysis. FCA US plans to conduct testing of prototype door
assemblies and full vehicles to validate the results of the
predictive simulation.
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE),
under award number DE-0007306.
TAGS
Automotive innovation, public-private partnership, automotive
lightweighting, lightweight door
ABOUT MAGNA INTERNATIONAL
We are a leading global automotive supplier with 312 manufacturing
operations and 98 product development, engineering and sales
centres in 29 countries. We have over 155,000 employees focused on
delivering superior value to our customers through innovative
products and processes, and World Class Manufacturing. We have
complete vehicle engineering and contract manufacturing expertise,
as well as product capabilities which include body, chassis,
exterior, seating, powertrain, electronic, active driver
assistance, vision, closure and roof systems. Our common shares
trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MG) and the New York Stock
Exchange (MGA). For further information about Magna, visit our
website at www.magna.com.
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