Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - October 2021 - 12

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS
ArcelorMittal Fortiform
980GI Gen3 steel.
Faurecia NAFILean Stiff.
Enabling Technology
ArcelorMittal won for its Fortiform 980GI Gen3 advanced
high-strength steel (AHSS) that offers the ductility of DP600
at the higher strength level of 980 MPa. Application launch
of this grade in production vehicles commenced in
January 2021, offering potential weight savings of up to
20%. Physical tests and simulation studies by ArcelorMittal
demonstrate that energy-absorption parts like front and rear
rails, which currently are most-commonly designed using
DP600, can be downgauged by 20% while achieving the
same energy-absorption levels . Fortiform 980GI is engineered
to resist liquid metal embrittlement (LME), a big
challenge during welding zinc-coated products .
Honorable mention: U.S. Steel for body-in-white assembly
using its 980 XG3 Gen3 AHSS. Combining strength and formability
without compromising weldability, 980 XG3 realizes weight
savings of approximately 10% with potential improvement in
safety performance compared to previous program BiW.
Module
An industry-first composite tunnel reinforcement (CTR) on the
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee took first place. Partners on the
project - Stellantis, BASF and L&L Products - designed the
CTR to carry a critical load path while achieving a 40% weight
savings on the component itself and a further 20% reduction
on the subsystem compared to the steel alternative. Total
weight savings per vehicle is 2.08 kg (4.59 lb) and is combined
with lower costs for both the component and initial tooling.
Runner-up: Rassini Suspensiones for its lightweight multimaterial
leaf spring. The " hybrid " leaf spring uses GFRP composite
materials and HP-RTM manufacturing technology to enable a
30% weight savings over the previous product generation.
Because the design is widely applicable to light-duty trucks as
well as medium and heavy commercial vehicles, the potential
total annual market is estimated at nine million leaf springs.
Future of Lightweighting
American Axle & Manufacturing won this category - reserved
for advanced technology that has not yet been employed on a
commercial production platform - with its electric drive unit
(eDU) that saves more than 25% in mass compared to similar
units on the market. Integrating the electric machine, gearbox
and inverter in a compact package, and eliminating the high
voltage cables, the eDU also demonstrates a higher power-toweight
ratio than competitor products, AAM claims.
12 October 2021
Stellantis composite
tunnel reinforcement.
The primary enabler is a high-speed electric machine with
rotation speeds up to 24,000 rpm, compared to the 13,00015,000
rpm speeds typical of production units. This allows the
stator diameter to be 153 mm (6.02 inches) and results in
" significant " mass and cost benefits. AAM's eDU has been
developed for use in hybrid and battery-electric light- and
medium-duty vehicles. The technology also has been developed
for truck beam axles as well as corner-module integration
for light transportation vehicles.
Runner-up: Shiloh Industries for its industry-first aluminum
curvilinear laser welded blank. This one-part, one-stamping
solution eliminates four original parts. In a typical liftgate, for
example, this results in a 16% weight reduction. Potential cost
savings of $18 per vehicle can be realized.
Honorable mention: Dura Automotive Systems for a modular
EV battery tray that can be tailored to multiple platforms
and vehicles of all types and sizes. The EV battery tray delivers
a 10% weight savings over the surrogate design and a reduction
in CO2
emissions of 3.8 tons over the program life.
Ryan Gehm
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: FAURECIA; ARCELORMITTAL; STELLANTIS
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - October 2021
