| Summary: |
Development of a material for a load floor that allows a
part-to-part cycle of 60 seconds therefore allowing economies of scale and
volume competitive with steel at 1200 parts per day.
Weight savings: 4 kg/vehicle compared to steel. |
| Most Innovative Feature: |
The material for this application was developed especially
for high-volume applications. It allows a part-to-part cycle of 60 seconds
therefore allowing economies of scale and volume competitive with steel at
1200 parts per day. |
| Other Innovative Features: |
The material development also included a customer request
for low specific gravity of 1.4 while maintaining toughness. It was also
an enabler for the customer who could process his vehicle without a rear
floor. This enabled robots to enter the vehicle during the BIW
construction to place spot welds in positions normally impossible to get
access to. Additionally, the elpo process was enhanced as the draining of
elpo is much more rapid and without puddling when the rear floor is
removed. These points improve overall scrap and reduce the number of
secondary holes for drains. |
| What Forming Process? |
Traditional compression molding was employed in the part. |
| First Time Process Used: |
No. |
| Previous Process: |
The most frequent material for this application is steel.
However, due to the customer production method (seven body styles and
three production locations) traditional stamping methods would have been
prohibitively expensive. |
| Tooling Innovations: |
Specific robotic end-of-arm mechanisms were developed in
order to remove the part, blow out the flash and load the next material
blank in the shortest possible cycle time. |
| New Material Developments: |
See above. |
| Weight Savings: |
This design saved 4 kg/vehicle compared to steel. |
| Cost Savings: |
N/A. |
| Cost Avoidance: |
N/A. |
| Direct Consumer Benefit: |
The development of the part included matching of the
natural frequencies to vehicle dynamics to ensure a higher 1st and 2nd
modal response thereby reducing the noise in the vehicle. This design also
generates an additional 20 liters of interior compartment space compared
to steel. |
| Translates to Other Vehicles?: |
It can be readily applied to other vehicles. |
| Safety Benefits: |
N/A. |
| Environmental Benefits: |
N/A. |
| Additional Comments: |
N/A. |
