Lightweight forging initiative III: Forging technology contribution to lightweight design

Authors

Dr.-Ing. Hans-Willi Raedt, Hirschvogel Automotive Group, Vice President Advanced Engineering;
Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wurm, Georgsmarienhuette GmbH, Head of Technical Customer Support and
Application Development;
Alexander Busse, Institute of Automotive Engineering of RWTH Aachen, Strategy and Consulting

Year

2019

Summary

When one thinks of forging, “lightweight” is not a word that immediately springs to mind. However, when speaking of “lightweight forging”, what initially appears to be unrelated is in fact, on closer inspection, a cost-efficient approach for achieving considerable lightweighting advances in automotive applications that is suited to large-series production. By exploiting the potential offered by forging technology, it is possible to reduce the mass of a medium-sized vehicle by 42 kg and that of a light commercial vehicle by 99 kg [1, 2]. During the current Phase III, The Lightweight Forging Initiative
– now with an international partner structure [3] – is demonstrating which lightweighting potential lies in a split-axle hybrid vehicle. Furthermore, the transmission, propeller shaft and drive axle of a heavy-duty truck were analyzed.

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