The body has been stamped from steel plates for a long time, but the steel cannot be stamped into a very complicated shape, so the future cars are looking for new materials. There are two requirements for the new material in the general direction: one is to meet the structural strength while being more lightweight, and the other is that it must be able to easily shape a special shape.
So everyone thought of aluminum alloy and carbon fiber.
Aluminum alloy craft Jaguar XE tailgate
There are not many bodies in the world that are made of all-aluminum alloys. The mainstream is Audi and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as some new supercars such as Weilai and Ferrari. In the Jaguar XE's publicity, it particularly emphasized the very sexy rear end-the rear spoiler is fused to the tailgate cover, which benefits from the plasticity of aluminum alloy materials.
However, aluminum alloy bodies have become less popular in recent years because of the high cost and the high cost of later maintenance. Carbon fiber, which has not been mass-produced so far, is expensive and can only be used on individual top-of-the-line high-performance cars.
With the advancement of chemical materials, a new body material has emerged in recent years-composite materials.
Toyota Supra
Supra, Toyota's highest-performance sports car, has a very exaggerated shape, especially a striking "buttocks" design. The shape of the tailgate with a large upturn not only satisfies the styling design, but also a model for integrating the rear spoiler into the body design.
It doesn't matter whether it's beautiful or not, but it puts very high requirements on the bodywork, because almost no other car has such an exaggerated design. Even aluminum alloys can be difficult.
The professional approach is to use traditional metal reinforcement materials on the tailgate and then cover them with composite materials, but this will still increase the weight of the car. Toyota Supra is manufactured by Magna, so Magna thought of a new technical solution-composite three-dimensional frame.
The structure of this "buttocks" tailgate is composed of a three-dimensional composite frame, which is actually a tubular frame made of foam core, then wound with continuous glass fiber, and finally injected with polyurethane thermosetting resin. Its manufacturing process is a bit like carbon fiber, but the essence is something different.
After Toyota Supra is equipped with Magna's composite three-dimensional frame, its vehicle structure can not only meet the performance requirements of car manufacturers, but also reduce the weight by 10% compared to the traditional process using steel frames. For sports cars, this is important.
Magna OEM production of Toyota Supra in Graz, Austria
Magna's exterior team in Liberec, Czech Republic, completed the development and production of this three-dimensional reinforced tailgate solution, which was then assembled by the vehicle OEM team in Graz, Austria, to complete the Supra Ultra Assembly of the running vehicle.
Composite materials are sometimes omnipotent. In addition to being a body covering, higher-strength composite materials can also be used as suspension structural components.
Ideal ONE
Recently, the hot new car-making force is ideal, ONE. Its lower main swing arm is made of composite materials and steel structures. Although this seems to be unreliable, the ideal car explanation includes Tesla. The structural parts of composite materials.
Composite leaf spring
In fact, composite materials are used for suspension. Chevrolet Corvette and some Volvo models did this early in the morning. For example, the current Volvo XC60 suspension uses a composite leaf spring (Composite Leaf Spring).
But in the future, the mainstream direction of composite materials is believed to be not suspension structural parts. Body parts like Toyota Supra for weight reduction are the application direction of large-scale replacement of metal materials. For example, the rear lift door of Nissan Qijun is a composite material.
The Nissan Qijun composite rear lift door is also manufactured by a special Magna factory. The advantages of the composite material lift door: avoiding rust and weight loss at the rear of the car body (25% to 30% reduction compared to metal parts) Heavy), composite materials can achieve complex modeling technology.
Nissan Qijun
Not only that, with the process of electronicization, in addition to LED lights, many cameras, radar sensors and other components will be embedded in the back door of the SUV. If this component is independently produced by a third-party factory, it will be sent to the host factory for modular assembly Will reduce many production processes.
The new car materials in the future should be like "using suitable materials in suitable places" as put forward by Audi. Aluminum alloy and carbon fiber still occupy a place in high-end products, steel with different stiffness is still the protagonist, and composite materials driven by the chemical industry in the future will also become increasingly popular due to advantages in weight reduction and cost.