Page 55 - ATZ11 November 2019 Professional

AUTHORS

Dipl.-Ing. Georg Baumann, B. Sc.
is Project Assistant at the Vehicle
Safety Institute at Graz University of
Technology (Austria).

Dipl.-Ing. Alexander Stadlmann
is Scientific Project Employee at the
Institute of Wood Technology and
Renewable Materials of the Univer- FIGURE 1 Specific Young’s moduli and strengths of massive wood (longitudinal) in comparison to the
sity of Natural Resources and Life standard body materials body steels and aluminum alloys [8] (© WoodCar)
Sciences Vienna (Austria).

lead to an increase in product costs due major research programs were carried
to their material price and heightened out to characterize the material wood
production costs. Wood is a lightweight and products made from it. With the
design material with excellent mecha- exception of wood-species with a very
Dipl.-Ing. Christian Kurzböck nical properties, FIGURE 1. The consider- low density (for example balsa) or an
is Lead Researcher for Structural
Safety at the Virtual Vehicle able mechanical performance of wood or exceptionally high durability (for exam-
(Austria). wood-based materials is the content of ple teak), many wood species that are
numerous scientific publications. considered relevant as a construction
material in mechanical engineering are
native to Europe: spruce, ash, birch, pop-
REDUCING CO 2 EMISSIONS
lar, beech, maple and oak. In that way,
WITH WOOD
raw-material transport induced CO 2
The Intergovernmental Panel on Cli- emissions can be reduced, too.
Dr. techn. Dipl.-Ing. Florian Feist mate Change (IPCC) has published the
is Senior Project Scientist at the “Special Report on Global Warming of
Vehicle Safety Institute of Graz Uni- 1.5 °C” [8] in 2018. There, it is stated that WOOD CONCEPT FOR THE
versity of Technology (Austria). SIDE IMPACT BEAM
in order to limit global warming to 1.5 °C,
a decrease in emissions of 45 % by 2030 Side impact beams are installed in pas-
and a net zero by 2050 would be re quired. senger car doors to protect occupants in
The report recognizes afforestation, refor- case of a side impact. The side impact
estation and forest management a key beam distributes forces to adjacent struc-
strategy for climate change mitigation. tural elements, the A and B pillar, and
These measures are the only viable car- thus reduces intrusions during a side
bon removal technology as for now. impact.
Wood as a design material can contrib- An OEM kindly provided a baseline
ute to greenhouse gas reduction and re - vehicle; this is physical door-assemblies
moval in two ways: on the one hand by a and a detailed Finite-element model
storage effect using wood products and on (FE model). The vehicle under study is
the other hand by a substitution ef fect of a mid-sized family SUV designed for the
fossil materials in a “post carbon” product. US market with a tare weight of 2000 kg.
In the past, wood was widely used as The side impact beam in the vehicle un -
design material in machine, vehicle and der study has a closed almost rectangu-
aircraft industry. The heyday of the use lar cross-section and is made of Ultra-
for technical purposes has experienced high Strength Steel (UHS). A single side
wood in the period from the 30s to 50s impact beam weigh (without connectors)
of the last century. During this time 1.18 kg.
ATZ worldwide 11|2019 49