Aluminium – the car maker’s metal of the year

With the launch of the A2, Audi AG introduced the first vehicle in the world to have a volume-built all-aluminium body. In 1996, series production of the A8 began. The A8 is the first luxury limousine made of aluminium, and the Audi plant in Neckarsulm produces 20,000 vehicles a year. The A8 combines high strength with low weight. At only 1,690 kilos, the A8 3.2 is the lightest car in the luxury class. The third-generation Audi Space Frame now has fewer components than its predecessors, which makes it easier to build the car in large quantities.

Other car makers are also starting to take aluminium seriously. As engine sizes have increased, cars have become more top-heavy. Using aluminium for the bonnet and front wings helpstoget a better weight distribution between front and rear axles. Another advantage of aluminium is that it is cheaper to recycle than steel.Thiswill be an important consideration in the future when the EU introduces tougher recycling regulations.

But there are drawbacks to using aluminium. Replacing steel with aluminium is expensive; an aluminium body costs twice as much as a steel one. Not only are aluminium production processes expensive, they are also difficult to implement. Because aluminium is more brittle and tears more easily than steel, it can only be formed when it is in an unhardened state. Furthermore, the aluminium used for the outer parts of the car, such as the wings and the doors, needs to be thicker than steel because it doesn't have the same stiffness. The dent-resistance of aluminium is also less than that of steel.

On the plus side, aluminium doesn't rust like steel, and in car crashes it has a higher energy absorption rate, which increases the car's active safety.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using aluminum?

What kind of car materials do you think will be used in the future?

What are the EU's recycling targets for 2015? Do you think car makers will have trouble reaching them?

Unit 6. Safety

1.Do you agree with the following statements?

People should be able to take their driving test when the are 15.

Drivers who have just passed their test should have learner plates on their car for the first six months.

Drinking and driving should be strictly against the law.

Drivers over 65 years of age should take a new test every two years.

Safety features like ABS are dangerous -they give drivers a false sense of security and encourage them to take more risks.

Drivers should be required to have headlights on during the day.

People shouldn't be required to wear seat belts in cars with airbags.

Car manufacturers could make cars much safer if they wanted to.

2.Read the extracts from a presentation about a car safety programme and put them in the correct order.

A

This next slide shows the four dummies which are used inside the car in the test. The driver and front passenger dummies not only measure the usual injury criteria, such as head, thorax, pelvic acceleration, and high pressure, but also neck pressure, thorax deformation, knee displacement, and lower leg pressure. At the rear are Iwo smaller dummies in children's seats. A further test assesses the injury risk for pedestrians. OK. I think that covers everything about the tests. Now I'd just like to sum up by repeating my main points...

B

... and that brings me on to my next point -the passive vehicle safely programme. This programme has set new standards for passive vehicle safety in Europe and America, its aim is to provide the customer with an opportunity to compare passive vehicle safety in different car models, lust so that everyone's clear about the terminology, when I say passive vehicle safety, I mean those features used if an accident happens. Features which are used to avoid an accident are referred to as active vehicle safety. One important feature of the programme is…

C

... Now we come to the tests themselves. As you can see in this slide, the programme first tested vehicles in a head-on collision with a rigid wall at 64 km/h. In this side-on crash, a 1.5 m wide deformable barrier weighing 950 kg is rammed into the side of the car at 50 km/h. A vehicle can be awarded up to five stars, depending on how it performs in the tests.

D

Good morning everyone. For those of you who don't know me. my name is Gordon Waters. I'm here today to talk about NCAP - that's the New Car Assessment Programme. First of all, I'm going to tell you something about the history of the NCAP. Then I'll talk about the NCAP's passive vehicle safely programme. There'll be time for questions at the end. So, firstly, lefts look at the NCAP's history. The NCAP was founded in 1997 and ...