ACEMR Metallic Materials Draft Programme

The Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department of University of Liege and the Automotive Cluster of the Euregio Meuse Rhine are please to invite you May 9, 2011 in Liege to the workshop: “Metallic Materials for automobile of the future” Near Net Shape Processing & Intelligent Surface Treatment The importance of CO 2 reduction in automotive sector is a driving factor for next decades. After focussing on the better efficiency of the powertrain and CO 2 ‐tailpipe emissions, automotive industry investigates also the further reduction of the fuel consumption and the environmental footprint related to the vehicle construction. In this situation, there is revived interest for steel. Steel is one of the most common materials, but it is also the most unique. It is by far the most important, abundant, versatile, and adaptable engineering material due to its wide range of mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. Especially for the automotive industry, new steel grades, multimaterial applications using steel, and innovative forming processes are constantly improved or created in order to meet the needs of the market. Steels have become thinner and lighter, yet stronger and safer, more weldable and resistant to corrosion, and more formable. Thus, innovation in steel applications is a corner stone for taking over the sustainability challenge of auto industry, while preserving high safety standards as well as acceptable overall cost issues in vehicle production. Designing lightweight automobile construction has become a crucial issue: Lightweight vehicles can achieve fuel savings while for the upcoming generation of electrical vehicles and e‐mobility, the vehicle weight reduction is directly related to the vehicle drive range, necessary battery size and battery costs. The new manufacturing processes with improved near net‐shape capabilities, such thixo‐forming, aim at reducing the components´ weight and their manufacturing costs. These processes are involved in the development of new lightweight power train or engine components as well as rolling gear and suspension components.

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ACEMR Metallic Materials Draft Programme