Introduction
The Lightweight Competence Center aims to be a reference in the development of multimaterial manufacturing technologies for the automotive industry. The Center includes three distinctive areas to tackle lightweight strategic projects:
Composite
Carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymers are used in semi-structural and structural parts to provide high performance and reduced weight.
SMC parts offer substantial weight reduction, good mechanical properties, superior corrosion resistance, design flexibility by accomodating shape complexity and reduced manufacturing complexity through part integration.
The Composite Area includes a reinforced polymer characterization system, a preform cutting table, a Sheet Molding Compound cell and a post-processing center
Aluminum
Aluminum is used in powertrain, suspension and structural parts for safer and lighter vehicles
LPDC parts offer very good strength values, complex geometries, high dimensional accuracy and higher material utilization
The Aluminum Area consists of a two-in-one melting and maintenance furnace, a hydraulic press, a component extraction system and a cooling tank
High Strength Steel
Stamped Steels are highly used in body in white and chassis parts.
HSS cold and hot stamped parts offer lighter and safer properties than conventional stamped steels.
The HSS Area includes a servo-actuated press allowing to program the position, speed and travel curves of the press to carry out different manufacturing processes, such as, special-blanking and multispeed manufacturing.
Domain Areas
Material characterization
Advanced materials and product characterization
Product Design & analysis
New and advanced materials-focused design and analysis
Tooling
Tooling and other elements: dies, cooling-heating systems, etc.
Manufacturing
Short series and prototype manufacturing and post-processing
Joining Technologies
Lightwieght and advanced multimaterial joining technologies.
Added value services
Competitive Intelligence and specialized training