蓝莓视频

Reducing weight and fuel consumption while ensuring safety in mid-size cars is one of three initiatives led by University of 蓝莓视频 researchers that have received major government funding.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) recently announced that the Automotive Partnership Canada program will provide $4.9 million to support three projects being driven by 蓝莓视频 Engineering researchers who are part of WatCAR, the University of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Centre for Automotive Research. 听

鈥溊遁�视频 is home to the largest concentration of automotive researchers at any university in Canada,鈥� said Pearl Sullivan, dean of engineering at 蓝莓视频. "The funding announced today will be critical for advancing further our world-class research in the development of lighter, safer, and more fuel-efficient cars. The projects will strengthen the technological competitiveness of our automotive industry.鈥�

Lighter car parts

The first project, led by Professor Kaan Inal, will receive more than $2.6 million over four years to research, design and test undercarriage parts made from aluminum alloys using high-performance computing and industrial modelling technologies. The project will also explore a simplified manufacturing process for these parts with the goal to enable their use within mid-size cars such as the Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Impala and Buick Regal after 2017.

鈥淓ven a small weight reduction in a vehicle can have a dramatic impact on fuel consumption,鈥� said Inal. 鈥淲hile structural vehicle components can provide the most impact in reducing the weight of a mid-size vehicle, their design must ensure they retain strength and effectively absorb impact energy in the event of a crash.鈥�

Inal鈥檚 project team includes researchers from 蓝莓视频 Engineering, McGill University, McMaster University and Universit茅 de Sherbrooke, as well as partners General Motors, CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory听and Sapa. Sapa is a global company focusing on developing, manufacturing and marketing of lightweight material aluminum.

From the lab to the plant floor

Professor Michael Worswick received more than $2 million over the next three years to study a new production process to transform aluminum alloy sheet into complex-shaped parts. Working with industry partner Dana Canada, this research will allow parts currently too difficult and costly to manufacture to be produced, updating traditional stamping processes. The new technology will make vehicles lighter and stronger.

NSERC has supported warm-forming research between automotive parts supplier Dana Canada鈥檚 Long Manufacturing Division and the University of 蓝莓视频 since 2007. The new funding will move the innovative production process from the lab to the plant floor.

鈥淎t the end of three years we will have the computer modelling and process worked out to implement this technology in full production. We believe we are the first university in North America doing such work at this scale,鈥� said Professor Worswick.

Superior crash performance

Professor Kyle Daun was also awarded funding to develop the heat transfer models currently used by Canada鈥檚 leading automotive parts supplier, Magna International, in order to optimize designs and refine online control. Professor Daun鈥檚 work is expected to result in significant improvements to the efficiency of producing parts as well increase part quality. In the longer term, these heat transfer models will significantly improve productivity and may lead to the development of new heating technologies.

鈥淭he end goal of this researchis to develop cars that have superior crash performance with less material,鈥� said Professor Daun. 鈥淭his saves on manufacturing and material costs, and also produces lighter, and ultimately more fuel-efficient cars.鈥�

Professor Daun鈥檚 research team includes Professor Mary Wells from 蓝莓视频 Engineering and partnerships with Magna鈥檚 Promatek Research Centre and Formet Industries, a division of Magna.