The 3rd VDI congress "Lightweight design strategies in vehicles" on 3rd and 4th July 2013 in Wolfsburg focuses on innovation and technology transfers in the German and international automotive industries
Efficient, environmentally friendly, safe and intelligent - these are the requirements customers demand of vehicles. A lightweight design plays a crucial role here. Which material groups and key technologies offer the greatest lightweighting potential? Which manufacturing processes will make large-scale vehicle production possible globally and internationally? These and other questions will be discussed by experts from the automotive and auto supply industries and from science and research at the 3rd VDI conference "Lightweight design strategies in vehicles" on 3rd and 4th July 2013 in Wolfsburg, Germany. Organizer of the event is the VDI Wissensforum. Chairman is Heinrich Timm, longstanding head of the Audi Center of Lightweight Design.
In the introductory keynote speeches, Jürgen Leohold of Volkswagen, Horst E. Friedrich of DLR e.V. and Boris Shulkin of Magna International (Canada) will discuss the challenges for large-scale production and the importance of lightweight design for future vehicle concepts. Experts from Adam Opel, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Lotus, Porsche and Volkswagen will present their holistic and alternative material strategies in the form of current examples. The relevance of key technologies to lightweight development will be demonstrated in papers on analysis and forecasting as exemplified by alternative materials in body development, adhesive technology as an important driver of innovation in joining technology as well as in-situ polymerization for thermoplastic RTM processes (resin transfer molding).
Experts from the European Aluminium Association (AISBL) from Brussels present the potential of aluminum in electric vehicles. Min Hong Seo of Posco of Korea shows that manufacturers continue to underestimate magnesium as a material. Current development trends in cold-forming and press-quenching steels are presented by Andreas Pichler of voestalpine. Experts from Carbon Composites e.V. (CCeV) report on why carbon is still the leading innovator for automobile lightweight design.
The high point of the congress is the panel discussion of the topic 'Competition amongst the technologies' in which Lutz-Eike Elend of Audi, Jürgen Leonhold of Volkswagen, Laurent Musy from Constellium headquarters in Paris and Rainer Rauh of EADS Deutschland and Klaus Drechsler of the Technical University of Munich will be participating. A special day dealing with the subject of the structural simulation of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) in automotive parts is scheduled for the day before the congress. Technical director is Prof. Dr. Ralf Cuntze, formerly of MAN Technology. Participants will enjoy exclusive insights into Golf 7 production during a guided tour of the VW plant in Wolfsburg.
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