New and innovative automotive materials are continually being released to reduce the overall cost of the vehicle, save fuel, vibration and noise and, above all, increase safety in the event of a collision. While cars of the past consisted of products entirely based on steel, manufacturers in the automotive industry today are experimenting with composites, magnesium and aluminum materials, which in turn help improve performance. The rapidly growing demand for commercially available, cost-effective and safe materials is driving the demand for advanced automotive materials significantly. Although cold rolled steel materials are considered the industry standard for automotive parts, high strength modern automotive materials are set to become the future of the global market.
In the current scenario, manufacturers are focusing on the development of vehicles with steel structures as well as aluminum. Vehicle frames, including fenders, side body panels, roofs, doors and floors, are generally made of steel. Mild steels are easy to form and stamp, making them the preferred choice for manufacturers in the advanced automotive materials market. The mild steel trend is likely to continue to evolve for the foreseeable future as automotive materials become more cost competitive and are improved upon with traditional steel materials. The growing use of IF steels (no incorporation), TRIP steels (transformation induced ductility), duplex steels, super ultra-low and ultra-low carbon steels are gaining significant prominence among other steels in the modern automotive materials market.
Manufacturers in the automotive industry are working hard to develop strong, lightweight, environmentally friendly and energy efficient solutions such as fiber-reinforced composites. Although plastics are used on a wider scale, the use of reinforced composites, which are beneficial for large vehicles, is seen as being innovative. Manufacturers of advanced automotive materials are working to improve fiber-reinforced composites for car parts related to bonnets, exterior and interior automotive components.
Finding sustainable and new advanced automotive materials for auto parts and automobiles is expected to be a critical factor in creating disruptive solutions that drive future mobility. Companies such as Ford Motor Co. and Michelin, are joining forces to develop game-changing technology to see how effective the growth of sustainable automotive materials can be. Demand for advanced plant-based automotive materials is increasing in a quest to develop new automotive materials with sustainable, short-cycle recycling and cost-effective means.
There is a large amount of excess tomato peel and seeds in the tomato industry. Ford is making tremendous efforts to dry materials and use them as fiber reinforcement composites, and plans to expand their use in regularly used automotive materials. Automakers are also investing heavily in the use of carbon dioxide as a feedstock for polyesters and polyols. In addition, Ford is also looking to investigate the use of algae to create polyols useful for urethanes.
Polymer-based automotive materials reach new heights
High performance polymers are likely to gain popularity in the advanced automotive materials market due to their attractive characteristics such as strength and resistance to higher loads. The emergence of high performance polymers that improve additive manufacturing is expected to drive the adoption of 3D printing in the development of advanced automotive materials for growing applications in the commercial automotive space. 4D printing materials such as shape memory resins, meeting the demand for intelligent resin materials, are very useful in bright light, moisture and heat.
