EU Success: New Materials Make Cars 100 kg Lighter · 27. October 2011
New strong nanomaterials from a large EU-supported research project can lessen the weight of passenger cars by up to 100 kg and reduce fuel consumption by five percent. The results from the "Nanotough" project led by Aalborg University are now being highlighted as a success story in the European Commission's Research and Innovation area.
- Rising fuel prices and environmental concerns have already gotten the automotive industry to put a great deal of focus on weight. So it’s an important breakthrough that we have been able to find materials that can reduce the weight of an ordinary passenger car by an additional 50-100 kilos, explains Jesper de Claville Christiansen a professor from Aalborg University’s Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and the coordinator of the 11 partners in the EU project.
Besides Aalborg University, the collaboration includes three other European universities, three research institutions and four companies related to the automotive, aircraft and aerospace industries. Over the past three years, the researchers have tested fifty different nanobased materials in order to find new plastics combinations that are resistant enough to replace existing metal-reinforced solutions. The EU has supported these efforts with up to 38 million kroner, and the project partners have also put in a double-digit million amount themselves in the search for the right chemical compounds for the super materials of the future.
Lighter – and just as good
Automobile bumpers are one of the parts the Nanotough researchers have been most successful with in reducing weight. Crash tests planned for the end of the year should help to demonstrate that this has been done without compromising safety. Dashboards and tires are other examples where the project has used "nanoclay" to increase strength. The same principles are reflected in proposals for clamps and brackets for the aerospace industry and in suggestions for new packaging solutions.
An explicit aim of the project has been to make European companies competitive in industries that are dependent on good materials research. According to the coordinator, this also benefits domestic industry, although few people associate cars, planes and space aeronautics with Danish workplaces.
- Danish companies play a much larger role, for example, in the automotive industry than most people realize. We are a major subcontractor for car factories in Europe, so it is also important that the Danish business community has access to the latest knowledge about materials, says Professor Jesper de Claville Christiansen.
The concrete solutions and patents that Nantough has yielded have helped to ensure the project special attention and official status as a success story in the EU system’s research area where it will soon be presented at the highest level. Here at home, the Ministry of Science has also previously highlighted the Danish leadership of the project as an example to follow.
Further information and contact:
• NANOTOUGH stands for “Nanostructured Toughened Hybrid Nanocomposites for High Performance Applications.” Learn more at the project’s website.
• The project’s 11 partners come from Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Romania. Additional Danish partners are the Technical University of Denmark and the Danish Technological Institute. Among the other participants are Fiat, Ferrari’s research center and the aircraft and aerospace company Aviospace in Italy. Also participating is Spain’s FPK S.A. (a part of Mondragon Corporation), who is a subcontractor for VW, Ford, BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche.
• Jesper de Claville Christiansen, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, tel. +45 9940 8970.
• Dr. Monique Levy, European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, tel. (+32) (0)2 29 84 114.
• Carsten Nielsen, Science Journalist, Aalborg University, mobile +45 2340 6554.
