Smart Hybrid Automotive Panel Engineering (SHAPE)

这项提议旨在通过将高强度合金与形状记忆或冲击响应性聚合物相结合来生产负担得起的轻质智能化妆品汽车面板。我们的目标将是设计出具有高结构完整性和抗凹陷性的混合板，其重量至少比单片钢轻30%，同时赋予形状记忆和变形率相关的性能。其目的是生产一种板材，该板材具有以聚合物内层为背衬的成形金属‘A’级表面。聚合物衬垫层将能够使用明显更薄的金属板，从而提供显著的重量节省。混合板将使用标准聚合物注射成型技术生产，金属板通过注射聚合物的压力形成到工具中(参见。板材液压成形)，使用微型机械联锁将聚合物模压到金属基板的背面。采用这项技术将减少尾气排放，从而对环境产生重大影响，而且由于汽车引擎盖等部件的冲击性能有所改善，行人安全也有很大潜力。如果在每年25万个单位的单一部件(即引擎盖)上采用这项技术，每年将节省大约150万公斤二氧化碳。此外，在该项目中开发的新制造技术将是交付新产品概念的关键推动因素。

This proposal intends to produce affordable lightweight smart cosmetic automotive panels by combining high strength alloys with shape memory or impact responsive polymers. The objective will be to engineer hybrid panels with high structural integrity and dent resistance that are at least 30% lighter than their monolithic steel counterparts whilst imparting shape memory and deformation rate dependant properties. The intention is to produce a panel with a formed metal 'A' class surface backed with a polymer inner layer. The polymer backing layer will enable the use of significantly thinner metal sheet thus providing significant weight saving. The hybrid panels will be produced using standard polymer injection moulding technology with the metal sheet being formed into the tool by the pressure of the injected polymer (cf. sheet hydroforming) with the polymer being moulded to the back of the metal substrate using micro scale mechanical interlocking. Take up of the technology would have a significant environmental impact by reducing tail pipe emissions and there is significant potential for improved pedestrian safety as a result of improved impact performance of components such as the car bonnet. If this technology was adopted on a single component (i.e. bonnet) with 250k units a year this would save in the order of 1.5 million kg of CO2 per annum. Additionally, the novel manufacturing techniques developed in this project will be a key enabler in the delivery of new product concepts.