With the growing emphasis on lightweight, comfort, and ride comfort of vehicle manufacturers, the automotive suspension field is facing a new round of large-scale technology upgrades. Lightweight products such as air suspensions, rubber suspensions, and small leaf springs are widely used in buses, heavy trucks, and other fields. Recently, the Annual Meeting of the Suspension Technology Branch of the China Automotive Engineering Society 2014 was held in Zibo City, Shandong Province.
Participating experts focused on topics such as "suspension of energy-saving technologies and performance matching, automotive suspension technology innovation, industrial development trends," and other topics, on the automotive wheel lightweight technology and its development, magnesium alloy and polymer materials technology in automotive lightweight applications, Specific issues such as tire matching, chassis performance, and hydraulic interconnect suspension technology were discussed in depth.
The application of new materials has become increasingly strong
From the point of view of the overall technology development of the vehicle, the suspension technology directly relates to the safety, control, comfort, and lightweight performance of the vehicle, and is an important part of the overall vehicle quality. But for a long time China's upgrading in the field of automotive suspension technology has lagged behind. The requirements for suspension for vehicle manufacturers and end-users are more focused on the bearing and reliability, and on the comfort, control, and energy-saving effects of vehicles. Not much attention. With the increase in vehicle weight, environmental protection and energy requirements, this situation has begun to change. At present, although the leaf spring still occupies a large market share, many OEMs have begun to pay attention to the improvement of suspension technology. At this meeting, the reporter learned that many passenger cars and truck companies have adopted two new models. Spring, rubber suspension and so on.
The application of new materials has clearly become a key way to realize the lightweighting of automobiles. Liu Xiandong, a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said at the meeting that in China, the "steel-aluminum dispute" of passenger car wheels has become increasingly fierce, and there is a tendency to gradually expand into the field of commercial vehicles. “Although steel wheels have very significant advantages in terms of low cost and safety, they are still inferior to aluminum wheels in terms of heat dissipation, weight reduction, and shape diversity,†he said.
Even in the field of traditional leaf springs, technical improvements from lighter weight have been significantly accelerated. In recent years, the demand for fewer leaf springs in the commercial vehicle market has increased significantly. Meng Xianyu, the general manager of Shandong Lepad Automotive Technology Co., Ltd., told the reporter that the market expansion of the company's few leaf spring products has been very smooth since the previous year. Commercial vehicle companies such as FAW and CNHTC have made rapid technological progress in upgrading heavy truck suspension technology in recent years.
Not only that, magnesium alloys and composites are increasingly used on wheels and chassis. According to tension group, deputy general manager of Shanghai Magnesium Alloy Die Casting Co., Ltd., with the increasingly stringent requirements of global automobile emission regulations including China, the demand for lightweighting by auto makers will increase year by year, bringing more to the magnesium alloy market. opportunity. More magnesium alloy products will be expanded from the current interior, body area to the chassis, power field.
Structural optimization, application of process equipment and new materials are the main ways to achieve lightweight vehicle chassis. In recent years, new polymer materials and composite materials have gradually increased their applications in the field of light weight, vibration reduction and noise reduction. At the meeting, Dr. Zhou Bin of Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology Co., Ltd. introduced the application of high-molecular composite material leaf springs that are lightweight, wear-resistant, high-strength, corrosion-resistant, and more designable in the automotive field. . "At present, ZF is also researching and producing composite material leaf springs and it is expected to be applied to small cars and mini vehicles at the end of this year." Zhou Bin is very optimistic about the market prospect of composite leaf springs. He believes that only from last year's sales of the bus market, the potential market size of the composite leaf spring is 1.4 billion yuan. However, he also stated that at present, the engineering of composite leaf springs still needs to solve problems such as simulation analysis accuracy, material formulation economy, and manufacturing process efficiency.
The energy saving effect of tires and wheels is valued
At this meeting, it can be felt that the role of tire matching and chassis performance tuning, wheel material selection, structure and process optimization in improving the lightweight, energy saving and reliability of vehicle suspension is increasingly gaining access to all parties in the industry. Pay attention. Dr. Xiong Xunmao of Linglong Tire introduced the situation of tire matching and performance tuning of the car chassis at the meeting. He believes that as an important part of the chassis system, the brake, drive, load index, noise, and handling of the tire are all controlled by the vehicle. Sex and comfort are closely related. He suggested that, at the beginning of the suspension development, vehicle companies will incorporate tires into the chassis performance development as a whole. Zhu Zhihua, deputy chief engineer of CITIC Dika Co., Ltd., introduced the company's experience in the development of lightweight wheel synchronization design, engineering simulation, and adoption of new materials. In Zhu Zhihua's view, materials are still an important means to achieve lightweighting, and composite materials and aluminum alloy materials have great potential in this area.
However, there are still many factors constraining the upgrading of automotive suspension products. For example, the simulation analysis method and virtual development technology of the suspension product technology and the analysis and evaluation of the vehicle's power matching performance are all problems facing the industry. FAW Technology Center introduced the latest developments in the analysis and evaluation of the entire vehicle dynamics. The reporter learned at the meeting that due to the increasing proportion of the electronic control part of the current chassis system, the time taken by the chassis system and complete vehicle calibration takes longer, and the application of the mature digital car CAE integration technology is The rapid application of suspension products and technologies becomes more and more urgent.