Carbon fiber is no match for a hydraulic press
Watch a hydraulic press completely destroy carbon-fiber components.
Lightweight Materials
Ford will add lots of carbon fiber to new vehicles
Ford and Dow Chemical will work together to speed up carbon-fiber research and manufacturing capabilities.
Automakers stuck on structural adhesives for new cars
The biggest benefit of adhesives is that they allow automakers to mix and match structural materials.
Army targets 40-percent weight reduction in armored vehicles
In the auto industry, lightweight vehicles are all the craze. Ford is building an aluminum F-150, carbon fiber is steadily becoming more common and lightweight, high-strength steel is incorporated in even the most affordable of vehicles. The military is not immune to this trend, according to a new report from Military.com, which claims the US Army is targeting a 40-percent weight reduction i
Automakers' rush on aluminum may result in shortage
Aluminum is the new buzzword in the automotive industry. The latest Range Rover and Range Rover Sport both take advantage of the lightweight material to shave huge amounts of body fat (only it's called "aluminium" over there). Audi and Jaguar have been using the stuff f
Lightweight automotive material segment to soar to $95 billion in 2017
With the 2025 CAFE target set at 54.5 miles per gallon, the race to develop fuel-efficient vehicles is on. According to Frost & Sullivan, this race to 54.5 will necessitate a healthy dose of lightweight automotive components.
Graphene composite material is thin like paper, 10 to 13 times stronger than steel
In work recently published in the Journal of Applied Physics, a University of Technology Sydney (UTS) team led by professor Guoxiu Wang presented reproducible test results showing that graphene paper has the potential to revolutionize the automotive industry. How? Well, researchers at UTS have milled raw graphite by purifying and filtering it with chemicals to reshape and reform it into graphene nanosheets. We should explain.
Study: Aluminum could reduce vehicle body weight by 40%; cut fuel consumption by 10%
After analyzing 26 individual components in compact vehicles, the University of Aachen and the European Aluminium Association concluded that using aluminum in some automotive parts (illustrated by the graphic above) could safely reduce vehicle body weight by up to 40 percent, resulting in 2.7 more miles per gallon of gasoline burned or approximately a 10 percent reduction in overall fuel consumption.
Automakers scramble to strip weight from trucks
2011 Ford F-150 – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Audi diet: Automaker wants to slash weight from entire lineup
Audi Quattro Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Automakers will need to focus on "lightweighting" to boost efficiency
Lamborghini's Advanced Composite Research Center – Click above for high-res image gallery
Toyota, Subaru turn to Toray for carbon fiber body panels
Toray Industries, a leading producer of carbon fiber material, will begin supplying both Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries (parent company of Subaru) with the lightweight product for use on upcoming vehicles. Toyota will reportedly use the carbon fiber to produce hoods and roofs for the Lexus LFA, a limited production sports car, and Fuji Heavy w
Is carbon fiber really a "green" solution to reduce vehicle weight?
BMW and Mercedes are leading the way in using carbon fiber to reduce weight in future passenger vehicles. Losing pounds can also be key to meet upcoming CAFE regulations and can also help increase the range electric vehi