In order to better realize the low-carbon life and solve the problem of energy shortage, vigorously develop new energy pure electric vehicles has become one of the indispensable tasks of the automotive market; based on the urgent demand of the society for more lightweight pure electric vehicles, Changan Automobile Integrate global superior resources, create multiple research teams led by experts, invest sufficient research funds, and carry out research work on integrated development technology of lightweight pure electric cars. Under the special support of the national key R & D program "New Energy Vehicle", Changan Automobile's first carbon fiber-aluminum alloy hybrid structure body was successfully trial-produced off the assembly line in 4 years!
Successful trial production of carbon-aluminum hybrid structure body
For a long time, the core technology of extreme lightweight component design / process and lightweight integration was once in the hands of developed countries, and domestic research in this field is in urgent need of breakthrough. To this end, Changan Automobile has formed a matrix project team, and a number of research teams led by academicians and industry experts have cooperated in efficient R & D. Changan Automobile and various project participating units have 9 national-level R & D platforms such as the State Key Laboratory, National Engineering Technology Center, Chongqing Independent Brand Automobile Collaborative Innovation Center, and resources such as large-scale instruments and test equipment. Good R & D platform and strong test conditions guarantee. Through the establishment of an efficient project communication management mechanism, as well as the integration and utilization of international superior resources, the application of the latest international technology to promote the smooth implementation of the project.
In order to break through the limitations, the R & D team integrates domestic and international excellent technical resources, from concept design to data release. After thousands of days and nights, it has worked tirelessly, dedicated to research and development, and constantly innovating to overcome various research difficulties. When applying new materials and processes for the first time, we always insisted on continuously challenging the process limits with the technical requirements of mass production, and solved the difficulties of forming parts and dimensional accuracy one by one.
In the past 4 years, researchers have broken through many technical thresholds and continuously innovated research. Through the use of aviation-grade carbon fiber and aluminum alloy, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as ultra-high-strength steel, magnesium alloy, and dissimilar materials, dozens of tests have verified that the Strength and light weight are perfectly integrated, and safety performance is improved. It leads the domestic independent research and development project to achieve the goal of ≥30% weight reduction of the body and chassis, and 200kg less than the same class. CN-CAP five-star collision requirements.
Achieved many technological innovations and goals:
1. A carbon fiber body electric car platform technology with a new architecture. The R & D team has broken through key technologies such as integrated design of carbon fiber body / aluminum alloy frame integration, application of multiple lightweight materials and power battery layout, applied modular and universal design concepts, and created a new structure of lightweight pure electric cars Platform technology.
2. Realize the integrated application technology of carbon fiber material-modular design of car body-efficient forming. The R & D team broke through the modular design of carbon fiber body, realized the reduction of body parts from more than 300 parts to more than 40 parts, broke through the technical bottleneck of rapid prototyping process, improved the efficiency by more than 50%, and established the process and specifications of domestic carbon fiber body design and manufacturing .
3. Implement the CAE analysis and evaluation method of carbon fiber body pure electric cars. The R & D team broke through the technical bottlenecks that accurately describe the mechanical behavior of carbon fiber braided structure and pavement direction, and realized accurate analysis of the performance of the entire vehicle, and formed a CAE analysis and evaluation system for carbon fiber body pure electric vehicles.
4. Realize the control technology of forming and welding performance degradation of key parts of aluminum alloy frame. Through research on the whole process system of extrusion, die-casting and welding, the R & D team verified the internal relationship between the aluminum frame performance, organization and process, determined the best optimization path and reasonable process plan, controlled the performance decline, and established Frame forming and welding process specifications and parameter database.
5. Realize the multi-performance index test evaluation technology of carbon fiber body pure electric cars. It broke through the technology of carbon fiber body pure electric car performance evaluation, established the domestic carbon fiber body performance test evaluation test method, and formed a perfect "carbon fiber parts-system-vehicle" multi-level test evaluation technology.
6. Patent application for this project: 35 items, invention patents: 10 items.
7. This project has trained 3-4 well-known domestic technical experts in the field of lightweight technology, 3-5 postdoctors, 80 doctoral and master students, and 100 professional technicians.
Changan Automobile's independent research and development of automobile lightweight has far-reaching significance
This project has developed a carbon fiber body pure electric car by using lightweight materials and new structural design. This breakthrough feat will help China's automobile carbon fiber, aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy and other industries develop rapidly.
If the use of carbon fiber composite materials is calculated according to the annual production and sales of 400,000 new energy vehicles in the industry and the amount of carbon fiber used per bicycle is 70kg, a total of 28,000 tons of carbon fiber will be needed per year, calculated at 120 yuan per kilogram, which will result in an economic value of 3.36 billion yuan in output value. ; The use of carbon fiber composite material parts is calculated based on 240-400 yuan / kg, and it is expected to form an economic value of 6.7-12 billion yuan in output value; if calculated according to the vehicle's selling price of 150,000 yuan / car, it is expected to add about 60 billion yuan per year The economic benefit of yuan output value. The aluminum alloy front and rear impact beams, control arms, steering knuckles and other parts developed by this project, magnesium alloy steering supports, seat frames and other parts can also be applied to traditional fuel vehicles of the same level in Changan. If calculated according to the annual output of 200,000 vehicles and the value of light alloy parts of 0.5 million per vehicle, an economic benefit of approximately 1 billion yuan in annual output value can be formed.
Not only that, bicycles have achieved a weight reduction of 200kg, and the power consumption per 100 kilometers can be reduced by 0.5-0.6kWh. If the bicycle travels 30,000 kilometers per year, the annual electricity consumption will be reduced by 7.2 billion kWh. It can be made for energy conservation and emission reduction. Important contribution.
The research results of this special project have also radiated to other related fields such as rail transit, energy, petrochemicals, ships, construction, etc., which has led to a group of high-tech products and industry technologies with great display, strong industrial drive, and high added value. Progress has boosted the upstream and downstream markets and demands of domestic carbon fiber and aluminum alloys, and will add a trillion-level industrial value chain. The social and economic benefits are extremely impressive.
Changan Automobile and the joint research unit have joined forces to establish a "industry-university-research" collaborative innovation cooperation model, which provides a powerful technical support, innovative development and transformation platform for the research and development of new lightweight electric vehicles, accelerating carbon fiber composite materials. The development and application of lightweight technology in the industrialization of Chinese brand new energy vehicles have consolidated China's strong competitive position in the global lightweight new energy vehicle manufacturing industry.