Various new materials are entering the automotive manufacturing industry

If you still think that the car shell can only be made of steel and glass, it would be a mistake. In fact, today's car manufacturers use many new materials in the production of new cars, such as new composites, light alloys, and new types of debris-resistant glass. Even the traditional steels they use are very different from those used in the past. Now.

The adoption of new materials not only reduces the production cost and the weight of the car, reduces the fuel consumption, but also improves the safety of the car to varying degrees. Some companies in Canada are particularly eye-catching in developing and utilizing these new materials.

The history of the application of engineering plastics to the production of cars has been a short one. Today, improved engineering plastics and composite materials provide new space for reducing the weight and cost of cars. An injection moulding company based in Bolton, Ontario, Canada, recently developed a casting moulding machine for the production of composite materials, replacing the previously used method of premixed balls. The technology has just entered the market and has a low cost. Producers can use longer fibers to produce composite materials and make the products more powerful.

There is also a new material called nanocomposites, where engineers use fine particles of clay or carbon instead of glass fibers used in the past. This composite material not only has higher strength but also looks better. Nanocomposites are still just beginning to be used in cars.

In addition, light metal magnesium is also being used in large quantities in automotive manufacturing. At present, cars produced in North America contain an average of 4.08 kg of this light metal per vehicle. The Canadian company Huskits has a new set of magnesium metal injection molding systems. The system produces automotive parts that are more accurate than the old methods and can make metal magnesium into demanding parts.

Although the role of new composites and light metals in car manufacturing is increasingly important, steel is still a key material for car production.

Four years ago, a type of steel called advanced high-strength steel (AHS) began to be used in automobile production. From 2004 onwards, General Motors began to use this "multi-phase" AHS steel on the Chevrolet models, which accounted for 12% of its total body weight. Many other models are now using this type of steel. The main advantages of this steel are its high strength, easier molding, better crash performance, and constant weight. When used in the front of a car, it can absorb more collision energy. The next generation of steel under development is known as "induced transformation plasticity" (TRIP), and its strength and formability will be further improved.

DuPont's research and engineering center in Kingston, Ontario, is studying blending aramid fibers with rubber to increase its strength without reducing rubber elasticity. The rubber will be used on car tires and belts, and DuPont's factory in Kingston is the only manufacturer to produce this hybrid rubber.

Car glass is also improving. Nowadays, the commonly used car glass is sandwiched between two layers of glass, the so-called "sandwich structure." DuPont is developing an anti-fragmentation glass that melts two layers of plastic onto a layer of glass. The plastic side is in the car. If the outer glass is hit by an external force, there will be no glass fragments in the car. The new anti-fragmentation glass will be 30% to 40% lighter than current glass, and it will be 25% cheaper than current glass.