The Society of Technicians of Automotive sector puts on the table the last innovations in the sector of the car
The multimateriales and the additive manufacture centre the IV Congress R&D of STA
In a competitive sector as it is the one of the automotive sector, the activities of R&D are not an option but a need. Conscious of this, from
The IV Congress R&D titled ‘Building the future: a vision on the tendencies in R&D and innovation' focused to the sector of the automotive sector, organised by the Society of Technicians of Automotive sector —STA— put on the table the ‘more candente' in subjects like the new materials —composites, nanomaterials and grafeno— or the tendencies in innovation disruptiva —robotic, mecatrónica and additive manufacture 3D.
Opened the congress Francesc González, president of STA, accompanied of Neus Cònsol, director of the ETSEIB, Antoni M. Grau, general director d'Indústria of the Government of Catalonia, and Vicenç Aguilera, president of CIAC — Clúster of the Indústria d'Automoció of Catalonia—. González exposed that the aim of this congress is to share knowledge to create networking in a world, the one of the innovation in automotive sector, “that keeps on being minoritary in spite of everything”. By his part, Antoni M. Grau Put of self-evident the recent agreement signed between Generalitat and companies and social agents to bend the investment in technology centres —network Tecnio— to strengthen even more the cooperation and the technological transfer like sample of the interest of the Govern to improve and incentivar the bet in R&D between the companies.
Later took part Francesc Perarnau, vowel of technology of STA, to present the day and pose until which point is important that the companies have in his business strategy the management of the innovation like aim. “But this sues of a specific culture and is necessary to work in this sense”. For Perarnau, “is necessary to boost the creativity and the initiative between the employees. And that the companies are more flexible”. In his opinion, the sector of the automotive sector convergirá in the next years in own investigations of other sectors, like the TIC, the industrial communications and the it, “by what the flexibility will be vital to be able to cooperate and share these knowledges”.
The future goes through the compound materials
Albert Laughed, director of ST plastic of STA, commissioned to present the speakers of the first part of the day, devoted to ‘new material' and ‘tendencies in innovation disruptiva'.
Initiated the turn Josep Coast, of the group of pertaining investigation to the Universitat of Gironinginga, Amade —Analysis and material advanced for the structural design—, and member of Aemac —Spanish Association of Compound Materials—, the one who exposed the opportunity that suppose the materials composed in the automotive sector. Conscious that at present the most used material in this sector is the steel (in 37,5%), whereas the composites are minoritary, exposed those parts of a vehicle where exist pieces of greater weight and, therefore, there where could act to lighten the total weight by means of materials lighter. It treats mainly of structural parts (that they suppose 30% of the weight) like the chassis or the bodywork, pieces of the system of traction (22%) like the engine, the suspension or the transmission, the inner zone of the car (23%) like the dashboard, the floor, the panels of the doors, the steering wheel or the seat, the external zones (11) that include the module of door, hood, door of trunk and bumper, and the electrical components (14%) like the switches or the wiring and lights. In these cases the materials vary between steel, composites, aluminium, titanium, plastics, magnesium, etc. according to the applications.
Like this, exposed some of the planned changes to short/half term regarding the introduction of light materials that allow to lighten the weights. “A change that will allow to fulfil with the environingingmental European norms but, at the same time, guarantee the maximum hygiene”. Coast alerted that the market sues increasingly “vehicles multifuncionales, what incide of important way in the cost of production”. On the other hand, also it aimed the “enormous advantages that contribute the compound materials” although it recognised that “they are 10 more expensive times that the conventional steels. This has to to the price of the fibre of carbon, base of the composites, that proceeds of Asian countries that have the monopoly, up to now, since Europe has posed produce this material and leave to depend on the producing countries”. Likewise, it exposed also the multifuncionalidad of these materials with structural properties like electrical conductivity, sensors embebidos, piezoelectric fibres, antennas, transmission of information and storage of power. “However, they exist other factors that supposes some challenges to the hour to develop said material: the little consciousness of the potential of saving in weight, the cost or the complexity of the design, at the same time that require of technological developments regarding materials, processes, ready personnel and design”. Precisely regarding the challenges in design, Coast aim miscellaneous: “the mechanical properties of a compound material design ‘', at the same time that depend on the steering (anisotropy). Likewise, the material composed no shapeless plásticamente —is little or at all tolerante to overloads it—, the matrices are sensitive to effects higrotérmicos, present dependent behaviours of the time and the mechanisms of damage are multiple, complexes and interactuantes…”.
In conclusion, the researcher affirmed that the potential of the materials composed to the hour to contribute to the reduction of the environingingmental impact of the trucks is unquestionable but taking into account the barriers to surpass for his introduction, this is, the cost; the time of cadence of production; the predictive tools and capacities of design; and the learning of the personnel for the process and the design, at the same time that alerted of the need, “indispensable”, to develop collective strategies.
The metalización of the plastic
Matías Ordinas, director of technical assistance of MacDermid, presented the potential that represents the metalización of plastic, a technology that develop in the company. MacDermid Provides to the companies solve in coatings anticorrosión for a lot of segments, between them the one of automotive sector and components, a market that supposes more than 50% of the total. Ordinas Signalled that “at present croman more than 70 million square metres of plastic annually, on layers of copper and nickel, what supposes a big consumption of this product”. In fact, in the interiors of the trucks can find multiple examples of plastic cromado “and is a tendency that goes in increase”. Likewise, the fact that the sector of the automotive sector was one of which requires standard higher of quality supposes a strong impulse to the technological evolution in this field. But, what looks for this sector in the metalización of plastic?: “Reduce the costs, increase the provision and delete dangerous materials”. In this sense, aim that some of the improvements that have come producing look for environingingmental improvements, “and is that the requirements in this sense are directing the chemical innovations”, affirmed Ordinas. Example of this is the development of an alternative material to the chromium hexavalente (highly toxic during the process, cancerígeno), or the elimination of other dangerous products that appear in the process of cromado, that requires of a treatment by means of mordentado.
Regarding the materials metalizables, Ordinas exposed the ABS like the most indicated, by advantages like “his high resistance to the impact, the little fragility, under coefficient of thermal sensors dilatation, good chemical resistance and to the ‘stress cracking', as well as an excellent superficial finishing”. However, conscious of the environingingmental requirements that the car companies have to fulfil increasingly, in MacDermid are working in a process of mordentado free of chromium, “patented in July of 2013 after 5 years of investigation”. Between other advantages, this new process does not require of big investments in equipment, does not suppose an extra time of processed, improves the performance of the piece, ensures fewer rejections and uses the same substrata (ABS, ABS-PC). Likewise, the ratio time/temperature of work is identical that the previous process, so only requires of a simple waste treatment water and does not suppose a significant increase in the cost of the process.
That material (almost) magic
In his turn of exhibition, Alfonso of Rey, of the Institut Català of Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2), entered the advantages that can contribute a material like the grafeno to the automotive sector. “A material that has created a lot of expectations and that surely will not fulfil many of them but that it is the base to his time of new materials in 2D”. And although there is the one who considers it the material, of the future, the researcher of the ICN2 put in evidence some products that already contain grafeno, “like rackets of tennis of high competition”. On the other hand, it put on the table the error to consider it an only product when, in reality, can be miscellaneous taking into account the different technical of obtaining. It treats of a product that raises interest in the scientific and industrial world, what explains that “Europe invest until 1.000 million euros in 10 years in investigations related with this material. A very necessary investment not to lose positions in the career for developing products of grafeno put that we do not have to forget that Asian countries like South Korea also are working in this”, alerted.
Going in specifically in the market of the automotive sector Alfonso of Rey explained that until the moment “have existed some experiments like the developed by Daimler-BASF to reduce the weight of the seat incidiendo in the system of heating of this. It is to foresee that the first uses of this material are, as in any innovation, in F1 where there is a lot of capacity of R&D, for afterwards apply to vehicles of high range and finally to utilitarios”.
Likewise, enumerated some of the applications that can contribute the grafeno: coatings, storage of power, composites, electronic/electronics equipment dealers equipment dealers impresa and sensors. In the case of the coatings, the application would be the use of solar plates in ceilings or bodywork of the car or the dissipation of heat, antistatic uses or of anticorrosión. In the case of storage of power, the grafeno would be useful in batteries and supercapacitadores and, in the case of his application in compound materials, would allow to lighten structures; increase the resistance; dissipate the heat; it would contribute electrical properties; and they could obtain composites by injection. In the case of the electronics equipment dealers equipment dealers and electronic impresa, his use would be in favour of the dissipation of the heat or to develop transparent informative panels in the vehicle. Finally, regarding sensors, the grafeno would suppose an increase of the sensitivity of these and would allow to develop sensors multifuncionales.
Tools of support to the production
After the pause for the coffee, and generate a time of ‘networking', restarted the word Marc Safe, of ABB, and José Luis Nephew, of Siemens Industry.
The first centred his presentation in the challenge that supposes for the companies the high variety of products that, for the time being, can cater thanks to the personalización, putting special emphasis in the need to ensure “the rapidity, flexibility and quality of the production”. It presented like this the solution developed for such end, together with the company Nub3D: the system robotizado of measurement with white light Sidio Airus to realizar the dimensional control in the same place of production.
By his part, the representative of Siemens exposed the advantages of a system like the Equipmenterver, a PLM that allows to realizar the follow-up and control of the production in real time, with total integration of the processes and updated at all times. These systems contribute advantages regarding speed of planning, allowing “resolve problems and react in front of problematic at all times, in addition to sharing information between departments and link and synchronise lists of engineers and of manufacture”.
Further of the prototyping: manufacture 3D
Closed the block of the morning Víctor Paluzíe, of RMS/EOS with a presentation of the possibilities of the manufacture 3D with metallic materials, a reality that, however, is still little rooted in our imaginary, although “of the total of systems of additive manufacture installed in the world, a third of them are for the sector metal”. For Paluzíe, “at present the majority devote to the sector of the prototyping but each day is implanted more the manufactura direct, mainly in medical applications or for the sector of the automotive sector, aeronautical sector component manufacturing sector component manufacturing, etc.”. In this sense, admitted that “in automotive sector usually uses the impressesion 3D for prototyping by questions of cost whereas the Rapid Manufacturing is thought for short or unitary series”. It treats of a system of manufacture with which attain pieces totally customised of fast way and of high quality, exactly as they are designed. “With Rapid Manufacturing can manufacture a piece of an alone attacked in place to assemble different parts of this, what supposes a reduction of costs of production and time of work”.
The experience of EOS in this field allows him develop well pieces where the critical factor is the big —and bulky rapidity, in which it allows rugosidad superficial and functional surfaces finished conventionally— or focalizando the attention in the quality —pieces rather small, in which it demands a high resolution—. In the sector of the automotive sector, Paluzíe showed some of the examples to which the manufacture 3D can give answer, obtaining light components and complexes through the freedom of design, with integrated functionalities without tools of manufacture, reducing like this the cost, to develop pieces individualizadas that fulfil with the needs and requests of the customer.
The result are pieces 70% lighter, with a considerable reduction of the broadcasts of CO2, without restrictions to the hour to design the piece. “The additive manufacture comes to resolve the requirement of the sector of the automotive sector regarding the energetic efficiency, at the same time that allows the functional integration of additional tools. Also it allows to obtain components of automotive sector individualizados through changes in the needs of the customer”. In this sense, Paluzíe exposed that increasingly the automotive sector transmits emotions, so that “what more personalised are the needs of the user of the car, more attractor trucks will be this individualisation and the additive manufacture allows the personalización in profitable mass and in an only step”.
