AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
Ingo Olschewsk, director at WorldAutoSteel
Ingo Olschewsk says that steel offers a clear opportunity to reduce complexity and costs in automotive design
THE ALLOY ADVANTAGE Ingo Olschewski tells Louise Davis why today’s sophisticated steels offer a scalable pathway to reducing vehicle complexity, cost and weight
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n interesting feasibility study entitled Reducing Complexity & Cost through Parts Consolidation was recently commissioned by WorldAutoSteel, the automotive group of the World Steel Association. The organisation says the study’s results demonstrate a credible pathway for manufacturers to rethink how vehicles are designed and manufactured – an intriguing premise that shines a light on the real-world potential of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). In the context of automotive design, where we’re used to slight, incremental advances being heralded as enormous success stories, the study’s findings are quite astonishing. Results include a 34% reduction in part count for a front body structure, along with 8% weight savings, 10% reduction in piece cost and the potential for up to US$21 million in overall manufacturing investment savings. Naturally, Ingo Olschewski, director of WorldAutoSteel, is delighted with the findings. They confirm his belief that, as vehicle architectures evolve
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for electrification and lightweighting, AHSS are well placed to compete with aluminium and composites in future body structure design. “For high-volume automotive applications, material selection is increasingly driven by the need to balance performance, cost and manufacturability. Our study shows that parts consolidation using AHSS can considerably reduce cost and complexity, while enabling weight reduction,” he explains. “Technologies such as thirdgeneration AHSS and tailor-welded blanks allow multiple grades and thicknesses to be combined within a single part, optimising strength and formability locally. Together, this enables a weight reduction of 8% in the front body structure, while maintaining safety and performance,” Olschewski details.
CONSOLIDATION STRATEGY
But successful parts consolidation – particularly across mixedmaterial architectures – isn’t always
straightforward, and Olschewski acknowledges there are several challenges to be addressed. “In the automotive industry, pressures have never been greater to find ways to deliver more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing solutions that don’t compromise vehicle performance or safety. This is especially relevant for battery-electric vehicle (BEV) platforms that incorporate a wide range of structural components,” he comments. “These barriers for BEVs formed the basis of our study, which focused on parts consolidation for a steel front vehicle body structure. The potential for a 34% reduction in part count combined with 10% piece-cost savings demonstrates a clear opportunity to reduce complexity and costs,” says the steel evangelist. Discussing mixed-material architectures, Olschewski notes that consolidating components can introduce a range of systemsengineering challenges in vehicle manufacturing – affecting factors such as cost, scalability, safety and crash performance. “For example,