New Technologies Pose Challenges for Auto Collision Repairs
26 July 1999
New Technologies Pose Challenges for Auto Collision Repairs; American Iron and Steel Institute Addresses ULSAB Reparability in the Real World
ST CHARLES, Ill., July 26 -- High strength steels,
hydroforming processes, tailor welded blanks, and laser welding are becoming
increasingly common terms in the world of new car design and manufacture. The
big attraction is their ability to save vehicle weight and costs, which are
significant issues among auto manufacturers.
Do these technologies create new challenges for collision repair shops?
Speaking at the 1999 Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-
CAR), Marcel van Schaik, manager, Advanced Materials Technology, American Iron
and Steel Institute, says yes, but the challenges can be overcome.
Education Helps Shops Keep Pace with Advancements
"Car companies will never avoid using new technologies because of repair
issues," says van Schaik. "They are going to continue to seek advances to
meet their own set of challenges."
But, automakers know that they have to address repair issues as they
design vehicles in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. This means
that they will work to master the repair issues so they can use the
technology. Says van Schaik, "Car companies know that it is in their best
interest to ensure that what they manufacture can be affordably repaired, and
to make repair information available to collision shops."
Van Schaik encouraged I-CAR as an organization to continue to talk to car
company representatives to get the information collision repair specialists
need to keep pace with these new technologies.
"Staying in business in the future means adapting yourself to current
practices," says van Schaik. "Car companies are going to continue to move
on," he says, "and there will always be that first car that comes into your
shop. But collision shops will always master new technologies and materials
as they have in the past, through education and experience. The main point is
to not be afraid of that first car."
ULSAB's Technologies Already in the "Real World"
Van Schaik made comparisons between current practice and the steel
industry's UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB), whose technologies led I-CAR to
ask for a closer look at the demonstration hardware during the conference.
A five-year global steel industry project unveiled worldwide last year,
the ULSAB combines the industry's most advanced technologies and new steels to
create significant weight savings, up to 36 percent over benchmark, while
maintaining cost and safety and improving structural performance.
However, collision specialists want to know how ULSAB and its technologies
are going to affect the real world of vehicle repair.
"Many of the technologies used in ULSAB are now in current model vehicles,
which means that automakers have faced repair issues and have developed
extensive repair procedures," says van Schaik.
Nearly 50 percent of ULSAB's structure incorporates tailor welded blanks,
with one of the most aggressive uses of tailor blanks in the industry today in
ULSAB's body side outer. Tailored blank technology enables placement of
various steel grades and thicknesses within the part, precisely where their
attributes are most needed, removing weight that does not contribute to
performance. ULSAB's body side outer combines three different steel grades of
varying thicknesses laser welded into a one-piece design, which includes the
complete body side ring as well as the rear quarter. The complexity of the
part promotes the possibility for repair problems.
Van Schaik says, "The new Jeep Grand Cherokee uses tailor welded blanks in
its body panels. The difference is that while the ULSAB structure is nearly
half tailor welded blanks, the Jeep may be about ten percent." Eventually
these new Jeeps will find their way into a collision shop. According to van
Schaik, DaimlerChrysler already will have addressed repair issues and can
provide solutions.
The same is true for ULSAB's tube hydroformed roof rail. Hydroforming
uses the force of water or hydraulic fluids to shape a single part. In ULSAB,
it improves structural performance at lower weight and, since it combines
parts, reduces costs.
As with tailor welded blanks, tube hydroforming is not unique to ULSAB.
General Motors has progressed from using a low volume application in the lower
rails of the Corvette, to a side roof rail similar to ULSAB in their current
Cadillac Seville, chassis and engine cradles in many models of the GM car
family, and a high volume frame application in their new Sierra/Silverado
truck and GMT 800 SUV lines. As for repair, the lower rails of the Corvette
have integrated marks at several locations where cutting is allowed. When
damage occurs, the damaged section is removed at the nearest marks and a new
section is inserted with welding. GM even supplies internal sleeves to
reinforce the cut section.
Though not yet at the 90 percent portion of ULSAB, high strength steel
content is increasing in new vehicles. Ford will use high strength steel on
Taurus/Sable Model Year 2000 decklids, and the current model Windstar Minivan
uses about 60 percent high strength steel. Since steel gets harder when it
crumples, as in a collision, high strength steel could create some repair
difficulties. Because of the inherent strength of this material, it will not
be as easy to straighten parts or remove dents after it undergoes the
additional hardening affects of a crash. Introducing heat will be difficult
as well since it will soften the material.
Most likely, more parts will have to be replaced, all dependent on the
types of high strength steels used. However, van Schaik assures that
carmakers will have resolved repair issues before putting the materials into a
production vehicle.
And they will provide information to the collision business on how these
materials affect repair procedures.
"Looking at the ULSAB structure, it doesn't appear to be any different
than the vehicles that repair specialists are used to seeing every day," says
van Schaik. "The technology is there. It's a matter of talking to the right
people at car manufacturers to get the answers and education needed to repair
the new structures. This is not contrary to what shops have always had to do
to keep pace with changes, and have done so successfully."
Laser-welded Construction -- Can It Be Repaired?
One repair area that is not as familiar in North America as it is in
Europe is how to handle parts joined by laser welding. ULSAB employs
significantly more laser welding than conventional body structures. It is
used to join the roof panel to side roof rails and to join front rails.
"Volvo may have been the first company to use a laser welded roof," says
van Schaik. "European collision shops remove the damaged roof and replace it
using a combination of adhesive bonding and MIG welding."
More difficult is the laser welding in ULSAB's front rails. "This is
where subassemblies come into play," van Schaik explains. Car manufacturers
will most likely have to provide parts, like laser welded front rails, as a
subassembly. After damaged parts are cut away, the subassembly is welded into
place as a unit. According to van Schaik, manufacturers will have to provide
that part at an acceptable cost, when they decide to use these kinds of
techniques.
Says van Schaik, "Audi did this with the A8. The front members are
extruded aluminum, and Audi provides that complete front member as a finished
part. But they make sure that those parts are attractively priced for
repairs."
The auto industry is moving and shaking as it always has throughout its
history. "At one point, early manufacturers had to figure out how to repair
steel frames, when they were used to working with wood," van Schaik notes.
"These new technologies are just another step in the education process
involved in a constantly advancing industry."
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is a non-profit association of
North American companies engaged in the iron and steel industry. The
Institute comprises 48 member companies, including integrated and electric
furnace steelmakers, and 178 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers
to or customers of the steel industry. For a broader look at steel and its
applications, the Institute has its own website at http://www.steel.org.
The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the
Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel
in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located
in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been
significant to its success. This industry cooperation resulted in the
formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of DaimlerChrysler, Ford
and General Motors and the member companies of the AAC.
This release and other steel-related information are available for viewing
and downloading at American Iron and Steel Institute/Automotive Applications
Committee's website at http://www.autosteel.org
Automotive Applications Committee member companies:
AK Steel Corporation
Acme Steel Company
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Dofasco Inc.
Ispat Inland Inc.
LTV Steel Company
National Steel Corporation
Rouge Steel Company
Stelco Inc.
US Steel Group, a unit of USX Corporation
WCI Steel, Inc.
Weirton Steel Corporation