Recent research results in Composite Materials and Adhesive Applications for Vehicle Lightweight

Vehicle weight reduction (and in turn reduction of fuel consumption, noxious gas and greenhouse gas emissions), manufacturing costs and riding comfort are pushing toward relevant growth the amount of polymeric materials employed in modern cars. At the same time the main performance of the car (and in particular safety and NVH comfort) should be maintained. In order to pursue this trend, it is important to carry out research and innovation on new polymer-based materials, with a high structural performance to weight ratio to replace standard materials, such as mild steel, for structural components. The base costs of composite materials are still relatively too high, therefore research activities are needed to reduce manufacturing costs of composite components. On the other hand the use of composites offer advantages not only in terms of lightweight but also in terms of parts integration, TTM reduction, etc. Innovative components can take advantage from new materials but need for proper design rules and proper manufacturing technologies. Cycle times and production volumes are key factors. The production value chain and the research have to work in order to overtake some technological limits (joining technologies, recyclability, repairing, safety, costs, …) for a wider employment of lightweight materials. This paper is presenting some recent results in the design of vehicle components with composite materials and is also presenting some recent achievements in the use of thermoplastic adhesives, nanomodified by ferromagnetic particles, sensitive to the electromagnetic field finalized to speed up both the manufacturing and the dismounting processes.