A2 Promotes Use of Aluminium

A2 Promotes Use of Aluminium

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While Land Rover can lay claim to having mass-produced aluminium-bodied vehicles for over 50 years, it is Audi which made some pioneering developments with the lightweight, corrosion-resistant metal.

In the early 1990s, the company began serious research into the use of aluminium not just for the body panels and ancillary components but also for the structure. This was far more complex and demanding because the structure is load-bearing and has to withstand great stresses whereas the body panels are like ‘skin’.

From this R&D work came a revolutionary approach for vehicle design and production which gave more than significant weight-savings. It saw the creation of the Audi Space Frame (ASF), a high-strength aluminium frame structure into which aluminium panels are integrated where they have a load-bearing capability.

In 1994, the knowledge was used for the Audi A8, the company’s flasghip, which was the first production sedan using the ASF under its aluminium body. Following this, Audi concentrated its expertise in the field of lightweight construction at its Neckarsulm, Germany, site and erected an aluminium centre at a cost of around DM15 million (about RM25.5 million). Some 100 staff work especially on the development of aluminium production vehicles. They are concerned in particular with optimising components and processes for volume application in ASF technology.

Their efforts have brought further progress in the field and the Audi A2, launched in mid-2000, had the second-generation ASF applied to a model with even higher potential volumes (about 60,000 units annually planned). This required techniques, processes, tools and production methods to be developed from scratch or modified. The Audi A2 1.2 TDI followed in June this year, the first five-door ‘three-litre’ car (meaning one that consumes just three litres of fuel per 100 kms or around 94 mpg) that makes no compromises in terms of space, comfort and driveability. This achievement was due in no small way to the use of aluminium extensively.

Since 1994, Audi has built more than 150,000 vehicles with aluminium bodies and the ASF (over 93,000 A8s and just under 57,000 A2s), a major milestone in the usage of the material.

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