| Project Detail |
The transportation sector uses nearly 30% of domestic energy. Every 10% reduction in vehicle weight leads to 6–8% fuel savings and a proportional reduction in emissions. By reducing highway vehicle weight by just 1%, the U.S. could save 1–1.4 billion gallons of fuel per year, but lightweighting must not sacrifice strength or safety. Ultrahigh strength-to-weight ratio materials are critical to improving the energy efficiency of our transportation sector while maintaining the safety of our passengers and cargo. Project Innovation + Advantages: Supercool Metals, LLC will explore manufacturing processes for high-strength, light-weight structural metal parts to enable more energy-efficient transportation. Lightweighting is a necessity for the automotive and aerospace industries, and increasingly important for the transition to hybrid and fully electric vehicles. Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), which will be investigated in this project, are complex, light-weight alloys with significantly higher mechanical properties (e.g., strength, toughness, corrosion resistance) than conventional alloys. Supercool Metals will explore possibilities for commercial thermoplastic forming-based processes focused on blow molding lightweight BMGs. This approach will improve energy efficiency during manufacturing and in service, as BMGs enable lightweighting opportunities and advanced design concepts. |
