Development of Lightweight Composite Tieblade-Knuckle for a Wheel Suspension

The automotive industry is being driven towards weight reduction as a means of achieving ever more demanding emissions (CO2 and fuel economy) requirements. Lower weight solutions for traditional steel and aluminium components are failing to deliver the step improvements required. This project focuses on the development of a wheel suspension component of composite materials to save weight via not only a step reduction in material weight but also via reduction of parts and interfaces.
An essential part of the project is the selection and development of a reliable, cost effective composite manufacturing process since a rapid process is key to accelerate the use of composites for mass production vehicles. The aim of the project is to achieve a 50% weight saving over the existing steel component at no more than 10$ oncost for each kg weight saved.