Comparative study of the application of steels and aluminium in lightweight production of automotive parts

Abstract

The automotive industry has a decisive role in the economy of developed countries. Sheet metal forming – as one of the main processes in car manufacturing – has similarly important role. Concerning the recent trends in car production, the application of lightweight constructions principles is the main priority to meet customers' demands and the increased legal requirements. To meet these expectations, the application of high strength materials is regarded as one of the most promising possibilities. Applying high strength materials – beside high strength steels like DP1000, TRIP780 recently aluminium alloys, e.g. AA7021 or AA7075 – have a positive response for many of the requirements: increasing strength results in the application of thinner sheets together with significant mass reduction, leading to lower consumption with increased environment protection; however it can often lead to the decrease of formability, too. In this paper, an introduction on recent material developments in the automotive industry concerning both the use of new generation high strength steels and light metals with particular emphasis on aluminium alloys will be given. A comparison between steel and aluminium application in the automotive industry is given from various points of view. Since our main topic is the sheet metal forming, in this paper the body-in-white manufacturing in the automotive industry is the primary focus field.