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Road passenger transportation faces a global challenge of reducing environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions because of the vehicle weight increases needed to enhance passenger safety and comfort. This paper aims to present a preliminary mechanical design evaluation of the Wikispeed Car (with a focus on body bending, body torsion and body crash) to assess light-weighting implications and improve the vehicle’s environmental performance without compromising safety.

For this research, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to examine the Wikispeed chassis for light-weighting opportunities in three key aspects of the vehicle’s design, namely, for body bending the rockers (or longitudinal tubes), for body torsion (again on the rockers but also the chassis as a whole) and for crash safety – on the frontal crash structure. A two-phase approach was adopted, namely, in phase one, a 3D CAD geometry was generated and in phase, two FEA was generated. The combination of analysis results was used to develop the virtual model using FEA tools, and the model was updated based on the correlation process.

The research revealed that changing the specified material Aluminium Alloy 6061-T651 to Magnesium EN-MB10020 allows vehicle mass to be reduced by an estimated 110 kg, thus producing a concomitant 10 per cent improvement in fuel economy. The initial results imply that the current beam design made from magnesium would perform worst during a crash as the force required to buckle the beam is the lowest (between 95.2 kN and 134 kN). Steel has the largest bandwidth of force required for buckling and also requires the largest force for buckling (between 317 kN and 540 kN).

This is the first study of its kind to compare and contrast between material substitution and its impact upon Wikispeed car safety and performance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the basic loading state in local loading forming process of large-sized complicated rib-web component, which is important for understanding process characteristic, controlling metal flow and designing preformed geometry of the local loading forming process. Moreover the analytical models for different loading states are established to quickly predict the metal flow.

Through analysis of geometric characteristic of large-sized complicated rib-web component and the deformation characteristic on planes of metal flow by local loading method, a representative cross-section is put forward and designed, which could reflect the local loading forming characteristics of large-sized complicated rib-web component. Finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze the stress and metal flow, and the analytical models of metal flow are established by using slab method (SM).

Three local loading states and one whole loading state are found in the local loading forming process of representative cross-section. Further, four loading states also exist in local loading forming process of large-sized complicated rib-web components. With the metal distribution in the process, some local loading states may turn into whole loading state. For the representative cross-section, the relative error of metal distribution between SM and FEM results is less than 15 per cent, and the relative error of metal in the rib cavity between SM and FEM results is less than 10 per cent.

Metal flow can be controlled by adjusting the loading states in the process. According to the metal flow laws in different loading states, a simple unequal-thickness billet can be designed to achieve initial metal distribution, and then, the secondary metal distribution can be achieved in the process.

DESPITE the fact that the number of new aircraft appearing at Farnborough is an unreliable yard‐stick with which to measure the progress of the British aerospace industry, it is nevertheless true that these new aircraft give a valuable indication of emphasis within the industry and as pieces of finished ’hardware' they obviously deserve pride of place in any report on this year's S.B.A.C. Show.

AEM will be exhibiting in Hall 4, Stand G1. The exhibit will illustrate AEM's comprehensive range of accessory repair and overhaul services for electrical, hydraulic, avionic and safety equipment. Farnborough will also be used as the official launch of AEM's Boeing 737 Landing Gear Total Support Pro‐gramme, which encompasses a complete exchange and overhaul service. Copies of Aviation Accessory News will be available on the stand.

The combination of rigidity, light weight, and thorough stabilization of the skins which is achieved by the use of a honeycomb core in sandwich structural components has made it a popular material, and its use is likely to increase. In the case of metal honey‐comb the main limitations are imposed by the difficulty of achieving a good bond between core and skin. To this end an adaptation of the now familiar Redux process has been announced by Aero Research Ltd., of Duxford, Cambridge, who first introduced the original process in 1942. The new variant involves the same materials as the normal process, but the powder is supplied in film form, in rolls, with a protective covering. In application the film is first consolidated on to the pickled skin sheet by heat and vacuum pressure. No priming of the metal surfaces is needed. Pressure can be applied by a rubber blanket, aluminium foil being used to separate it from the film, to prevent adhesion to the rubber. This operation is carried out at 145 deg. C. for ten minutes. The foil is then stripped off, and liquid Redux 120 applied by brush to the film and the honeycomb core. The liquid is dried for 30–60 minutes at 80 deg. C, and the component assembled. The whole is then cured at 145 deg. C. under vacuum pressure. Curing times vary with the proportions of the component, but are of the order of one hour.

The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of substitution of steel with fiber-reinforced polymer-matrix composite in military-vehicle hull-floors, and identifies and quantifies the associated main benefits and shortcomings.

The problem is investigated using a combined finite-element/discrete-particle computational analysis. Within this analysis, soil (in which a landmine is buried), gaseous detonation products and air are modeled as assemblies of discrete, interacting particles while the hull-floor is treated as a Lagrangian-type continuum structure. Considerable effort has been invested in deriving the discrete-material properties from the available experimental data. Special attention has been given to the derivation of the contact properties since these, in the cases involving discrete particles, contain a majority of the information pertaining to the constitutive response of the associated materials. The potential ramifications associated with the aforementioned material substitution are investigated under a large number of mine-detonation scenarios involving physically realistic ranges of the landmine mass, its depth of burial in the soil, and the soil-surface/floor-plate distances.

The results obtained clearly revealed both the benefits and the shortcomings associated with the examined material substitution, suggesting that they should be properly weighted in each specific case of hull-floor design.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first public-domain report of the findings concerning the complexity of steel substitution with composite-material in military-vehicle hull-floors.

This paper aims to propose a new framework on prioritizing and deployment of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) strategies to an industrial component using Fuzzy TOPSIS multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The proposed framework is then applied to an automotive component, and the results are discussed and compared with existing design.

Eight DfAM design alternatives associated with eight design criteria have been identified for framing new DfAM strategies. The prioritization order of the design alternatives is identified by Fuzzy TOPSIS MCDM technique through its closeness coefficient. Based on Fuzzy TOPSIS MCDM output, each of the design alternatives is applied sequentially to an automobile component as a case study. Redesign is carried out at each stage of DfAM implementation without affecting the functionality.

On successful implementation of proposed framework to an automotive component, the mass is reduced by 43.84%, from 0.429 kg to 0.241 kg. The redesign is validated by finite element analysis, where von Mises stress is less than the yield stress of the material.

The proposed DfAM framework and strategies will be useful to designers, R&D engineers, industrial practitioners, experts and consultants for implementing DfAM strategies on any industrial component without impacting its functionality.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the idea of prioritization and implementation of DfAM strategies to an automotive component is the original contribution.

Aviation field requires a material with greater tribological characteristics to withstand the critical climate conditions. Hence, it is of paramount importance to enhance the wear resistance of material. AZ91D magnesium alloy is a light weight material used in the aviation field for the construction work. The purpose of this study is to augment the wear properties of AZ91D alloy by reinforcing with hard particles such as tungsten carbide (WC) and silicon dioxide (SiO₂).

In this work, three types of composites were fabricated, namely, AZ91D – WC, AZ91D – SiO₂ and AZ91D – (WC + SiO₂) by ball milling method, and the tribological properties were analyzed using pin-on-disc apparatus.

Results showed that the hardness of AZ91D alloy was greatly improved due to the reinforcing effects of WC and SiO₂ particles. Wear study showed that wear rate of AZ91D alloy and its composites increased with the increase of applied load due to ploughing effect and decreased with the increase of sliding speed owing to the formation of lubricating tribolayer. Further, the AZ91D – (WC + SiO₂) composite exhibited the lower wear rate of 0.0017 mm3/m and minimum coefficient of friction of 0.33 at a load of 10 N and a sliding speed of 150 mm/s due to the inclusion of hybrid WC and SiO₂ particles. Hence, the proposed AZ91D – (WC + SiO₂) composite could be a suitable candidate to be used in the aviation applications.

This work is original which deals with the effect of hybrid particles, i.e. WC and SiO₂ on the wear performance of the AZ91D magnesium alloy composites. The literature review showed that none of the studies focused on the reinforcement of AZ91D alloy by the combination of carbide and metal oxide particles as used in this investigation.

Among various efforts pursued to produce fuel efficient vehicles, light weight engineering (i.e. the use of low‐density structurally‐efficient materials, the application of advanced manufacturing and joining technologies and the design of highly‐integrated, multi‐functional components/sub‐assemblies) plays a prominent role. In the present work, a multi‐disciplinary design optimization methodology has been presented and subsequently applied to the development of a light composite vehicle door (more specifically, to an inner door panel). The door design has been optimized with respect to its weight while meeting the requirements /constraints pertaining to the structural and NVH performances, crashworthiness, durability and manufacturability. In the optimization procedure, the number and orientation of the composite plies, the local laminate thickness and the shape of different door panel segments (each characterized by a given composite‐lay‐up architecture and uniform ply thicknesses) are used as design variables. The methodology developed in the present work is subsequently used to carry out weight optimization of the front door on Ford Taurus, model year 2001. The emphasis in the present work is placed on highlighting the scientific and engineering issues accompanying multidisciplinary design optimization and less on the outcome of the optimization analysis and the computational resources/architecture needed to support such activity.

Nowadays, ample industries are fascinated to look for high strength and light weight materials for the development of robust parts. Because of light weight and high stiffness to weight ratio; usage of aluminum parts is growing rapidly, especially in automotive engineering. Process improvement of Al alloys and their grain structure refinement is the current area of interest in casting companies. In this research work, an investigation has been carried out to enhance the process improvement of die casting by optimization of various significant parameters and their refinement of grains by the effect of Nb-C novel grain refiner.

L27 orthogonal array (OA) has been considered to optimize the preferred casting input parameters such as molten metal temperature (°C), die temperature (°C), injection pressure (bar), Al-3.5Nb-1.5 C novel grain refiner and Ni alloying additions as key process parameters in order to increase the quality and efficiency of Al-9Si-3Cu aluminum alloy die casting by reducing the porosity formation.

It was observed that the porosity values have significantly decreased from 0.88% to 0.25% particularly at 0.1 wt.% of new grain refiner and 0.5 wt. % of Al-6Ni master alloy. As per the ANOVA results, it was observed that Al-3.5FeNb-1.5 C grain refiner (F value 2609.22), Al-6Ni alloying addition (F value 1329.13), molten metal temperature (F value 1002.43) and, injection pressure (F value 448.06) are the factors that significantly affects the porosity, whereas die temperature was found to be insignificant. The results show that new grain refiner is one the most significant factor among the other selected parameters. The contribution of the new grain refiner to the variation of mean casting porosity is around 57.74%. confidence interval (CI) has also been estimated as 0.013 for 95% consistency level to validate the predicted range of optimum casting porosity of aforesaid alloy.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has been conducted in the past to investigate the combined effect of these die casting parameters and composition factors for the development of Al-Si robust cast parts. The paper represents original research and provides new information for the fabrication of die casting parts.