US: Chevrolet Corvette gets lighter with ‘smart material'
By Dave Leggett | 13 February 2013
General Motors has revealed the weight-saving benefits from the use of so-called 'smart materials' in the latest Chevrolet Corvette.
The new model is the first vehicle to use a General Motors'-developed lightweight shape memory alloy wire in place of a heavier motorised actuator to open and close the hatch vent that releases air from the trunk. GM says this allows the trunk lid to close more easily than on the previous models where trapped air could make the lid harder to close.
GM maintains that there are about 200 motorised movable parts on the typical vehicle that could be replaced with lightweight smart materials. The company says it is looking at significant mass reduction going forward.
Shape memory alloys - typically made of copper-aluminium-nickel or nickel-titanium - are smart materials that can change their shape, strength, and/or stiffness when activated by heat, stress, a magnetic field or electrical voltage. Shape memory alloys "remember" their original shape and return to it when de-activated.
In the new Corvette, a shape memory alloy wire opens the hatch vent whenever the deck lid is opened, using heat from an electrical current in a similar manner to the trunk lights. When activated, the wire contracts and moves a lever arm to open the vent, allowing the trunk lid to close. Once the trunk lid is closed, the electrical current switches off, allowing the wire to cool and return to its normal shape, which closes the vent to maintain cabin temperature.
"Smart materials like shape memory alloys offer new possibilities for many movable vehicle features," said Jon Lauckner, GM's chief technology officer. "These new materials enable innovative designs and new and improved features at a lower cost than traditional motors and actuators."
Shape memory alloy also helps remove unwanted mass, which can help improve vehicle performance and fuel economy. The wire actuator used on the new Corvette is approximately 1.1 pound (.5 kg) lighter than a conventional motorised system.
"The shape memory alloy used on the new Corvette represents nearly five years of research and development work on smart materials for which GM has earned 247 patents," said Paul Alexander, GM smart materials and structures researcher. "And it is just the beginning. We have many more smart material applications in the pipeline that will bring even more improvements to our vehicles going forward."
Sectors: Vehicle manufacturers, Vehicle product & design
Companies: Smart, Chevrolet, GM
View next/previous articles
13 Feb 2013 -
13 Feb 2013 -
Currently reading -
US: Chevrolet Corvette gets lighter with ‘smart material'
13 Feb 2013 -
Related sector research
Global market review of automotive material trends - forecasts to 2027
This greatly expanded latest version of the popular just-auto report provides a comprehensive overview of the global material trends sector, major suppliers, top markets, technology trends and market...
Related company research
Global Smart Transportation Market 2012-2016
TechNavio's analysts forecast Global Smart Transportation market to grow at a CAGR of 25.6 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this growth is the growing Global Smart Cities market. The Global Smart Transportatio...
Opportunities for Smart Keys in alternative vehicle markets
Smart Key systems have been available on cars for over 15 years and are recently gaining significant market adoption....
Global market review of vehicle access, anti-theft and security - forecasts to 2027
This new just-auto report provides a comprehensive overview of the global automotive access and security sector, major applications, top 14 markets, technology trends and market size forecasts out to 2027. Use this report to gain a quick overview of ...
Related articles
THE WEEK THAT WAS: After the automated distraction, the automated help call
Watched a clip from a US TV network last night about some new research into the question vexing many regulators over there, especially as far as younger drivers are concerned, driver distraction.
UK: Car production heading for 2m a year - analyst
Vehicle production plans for OEMs with facilities in the UK should take UK vehicle production over 2m units a year later this decade with big opportunities for local component suppliers, an analyst has told just-auto.
There are currently no comments on this article
Be the first to comment on this article