WEIGHT REDUCTION POTENTIAL OF PASSENGER CARS AND LIGHT TRUCKS BY MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION

This paper describes a study to evaluate the potential of weight reduction by material substitution for passenger cars and light trucks. Production vehicles considered to be optimally designed for a given functional size were selected as baseline vehicles for the study. Four alternative materials were used in the analysis: high strength steels, aluminum alloys, fiberglass reinforced plastics, and hybrid reinforced plastics. Applying equal stiffness as the structural requirement, weight savings by direct material substitution were computed for each baseline vehicle.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • From SAE Meeting held June 9-13, 1980.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Hsi-Sheng, H
  • Kidd, J A
• Publication Date: 1980-6

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 11 p.
• Serial:
  • Society of Automotive Engineers Preprint
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alloys; Aluminum; Aluminum alloys; Automobiles; Fiberglass; Light trucks; Lightweight materials; Plastics; Reinforced plastics; Steel; Steel structures; Stiffness; Structures; Vehicular materials; Weight
• Old TRIS Terms: Automobile materials; Structural; Weight control
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Vehicles and Equipment; I34: Steels and Metals; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00331787
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE 800803
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 9 1981 12:00AM