1. Making Automobiles Lighter A primary concern of auto manufacturers Prof. Prashant P. Date Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076

2. RESEARCH FOCUS REDUCTION IN THE WEIGHT Primarily OF SHEET METAL COMPONENTS

3. Strategies of weight reduction Present Thickness reduction Use of Light Weight material Use of Tailor welded blanks Enhance Stiffness/Weight ratio Future Hollow structural parts Hydroformed parts

4. Thickness reduction Use High strength materials for - side door impact beams - clutch pedal - brake pedal In place of Low carbon steel

6. Thickness reduction PartLow carbon steel High Strength Steel Side-door impact beams ( Shape factor ) 1.381.42 Clutch & brake pedal (Thickness ) 5 mm 4 mm

7. Light Weight material Al-Li - High strength to weight ratio Lower E compared to steel - Formability of Al-Li alloy sheets at room temperature - Optimisation of heat treatment of Al-Li alloy sheets Problems : Cost & Weldability of Al-Li alloys

8. Al-Li alloy fender Steel fender

9. Tailor Welded Blanks Deformation behaviour and weld line movement of tailor-welded blanks of Aluminium and steel Effect of various parameters like thickness ratio, rolling direction & width Study of Laser welding process for Aluminium and steel Final aim is to design a weld contour to avoid stressing the weld during forming.

10. Stiffness/Weight ratio by design Weight reduction maintaining stiffness and dent resistance - Studies on the stiffness of formed sheet metal parts without external stiffeners using Finite element analysis - Extruded ribbed panel will be analyzed for stiffness characteristics

11. Part quality by process design

13. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION