Automotive Engineering - September 2024 - 8

TECHNOLOGY
REPORT
AWARDS
Altair honors innovations in automotive lightweighting
and sustainability
SAE INTERNATIONAL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carla Bailo
President
Robert Ireland
2025 President
Todd Zarfos
2023 President
Christopher Payne
Vice President - Aerospace
Daniel Nicholson
Vice President - Automotive
The 2024 Chevrolet Corvette
E-Ray's hybrid powertrain features a battery structure
comprised entirely of high-performance polymeric materials.
General Motors engineers opted for a battery
structure comprised entirely of high-performance
polymeric materials for the 2024
Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray's hybrid powertrain.
The thermoplastic battery module, which delivers
a 37% weight reduction and a 25% cost savings
compared to traditional aluminum, took
the top spot for the Module Lightweighting
category in this year's Altair Enlighten Awards.
Five other category winners, along with runners-up
and one honorable mention, were also
honored during an awards ceremony at the 2024
CAR Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) in
August. They demonstrate how automotive and
off-highway companies are applying advanced
technologies and computational intelligence to
create a more sustainable future for the industry.
Collaboration throughout the supply chain
was paramount in driving innovation, according
to Nick Compton, global battery plastics and
composites technical specialist at GM. " We're
working hand in hand with our suppliers.
There's a bigger input especially in the materials
space and injection molding or whatever
the process is, " he said at the MBS conference.
" In the past, it was 'okay, we have this resin
that we've used in engines for 20 years,' you
just specify it and that's the end of it. We don't
have that luxury " with hybrid and EV batteries.
Module Lightweighting
Winner: Engineers at General Motors worked
closely with counterparts at RTP and Syensqo to
develop the thermoplastic battery module for the
hybrid E-Ray. Designed to fit the ICE Corvette's
tunnel, the hybrid battery structure uses RTP's
PARA material for the two side plates and
8 September 2024
Syensqo's 45% glass-reinforced Amodel PPA for
45 repeated spacers that eliminated the need for
compression limiters and isolation countermeasures.
The design includes a unique cell-lock feature
that stabilizes battery cells.
" We started this project off with a metal-plastic
combined module, " GM's Compton said. " But
the Corvette vehicle team really challenged us
to remove as much weight as possible from this
module. We had a great supporting cast with
RTP and Syensqo - we asked a lot from the resins
that we selected. " The team even targeted
the fasteners used in the module, selecting aluminum
instead of steel, " trying to get grams
wherever we could out of this module, " he said.
Runner-up: Toyota worked with supplier
partners US Farathane and BASF to develop
the second-row composite seat structure in the
2024 Toyota Tacoma. The seat structure features
30% less mass than the previous generation
of steel seats and 20% less mass than the
current resin seats in the 2022 Toyota Tundra.
The new structure also consolidated more than
55 parts into just four components.
Enabling Technology
Winner: CompositeEdge GmbH won for its
EcoFiber AFP (automated fiber placement)
high-performance structures that utilize natural
fiber composites - such as flax and hemp fiber
- blended with plastic to support the automated
manufacture of body panels, interior
trims, chassis and suspension parts without
additional adhesives. The thermoplastic matrices
reportedly maintain the integrity and recyclability
of the composite structures better
than bio-resins, which can degrade. The use of
Audley Brown
Vice President -
Commercial Vehicle
David Andrea
Treasurer
Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
Secretary
Judy Curran
Mary Lee Gambone
Joan Wills
Susan Ying, Ph.D
SAE International Sections
SAE International Sections are local
units comprised of 100 or more SAE
International Members in a defined
technical or geographic area. The purpose
of local Sections is to meet the technical,
developmental, and personal needs of the
SAE Members in a given area. For more
information, please visit sae.org/sections
or contact SAE Member Relations Specialist
Abby Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
SAE International
Collegiate Chapters
Collegiate Chapters are a way for SAE
International Student Members to get
together on their campus and develop
skills in a student-run and -elected
environment. Student Members are vital
to the continued success and future of
SAE. While your course work teaches
you the engineering knowledge you
need, participation in your SAE Collegiate
Chapter can develop or enhance other
important skills, including leadership,
time management, project management,
communications, organization, planning,
delegation, budgeting, and finance. For
more information, please visit students.
sae.org/chapters/collegiate/ or contact
SAE Member Relations Specialist Abby
Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
CHEVROLET
http://www.sae.org/sections http://www.sae.org/chapters/collegiate/
Automotive Engineering - September 2024

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