The 2013 Audi A8 Body Structure ultra-lightweight construction: The body of the Audi A8 was designed as an Audi Space Frame- (ASF) structure and consists largely of aluminum. As a result, it weighs approximately 40 percent less than a comparable steel structure.
In the image below, the 2013 Audi A3 shows, in red, an extensive use of hot-formed steel – usually used in high stressed parts with strength in excess of 1000MPa.
Here’s a quick look at all the different steels in the Audi A5.
Audi A5 Sportback body structure BIW
The Audi A6 hybrid is coming on the market in 2012. The A6 hybrid is distinguished by the subtle differentiation on the outside. The tailgate, the fenders and the sill panel strips bear the hybrid lettering. The compact battery, which takes up only 26 liters (0.92 cubic ft) of space, is located in the collision-protected area under the luggage compartment.
Don’t forget to look at the 2012 Audi A6 Body Structure to locate where the different metals are used!
The 2011 Audi Q5 Hybrid Quattro has an extremely light body structure with the rear hatch and engine hood made of aluminum. The rigid body shell incorporates hot-shaped steel in numerous places, combining low weight with extremely high strength. Despite an extensive array of standard equipment, the Q5 Hybrid Quattro with its curb weight of less than 2000 kg (4,409 lb) is the lightest hybrid SUV on the world market.
Source of images Audi USA News
The 2011 Audi A8 is a very uniquely built vehicle. First off, the body is aluminum Audi Space Frame (ASF). Each part of the body structure of the Audi A8 is built depending on their tasks in the vehicle. The image below shows the lateral roof frame (light blue) is made with a single extruded section; its cross-section changes flexibly from the A-pillar to the C-pillar.
There is a Power door close assist feature on the A8 that helps close the front and rear doors. Not sure about the details of this feature yet, but please keep it in mind.
In the image above, you can see some of the A-Pillar structure; the inner Front Pillar, which is a cast piece of Aluminum. The dead give away is the ribs on the front of the door opening. If the piece was stamped you would see a dart or a bead to add strength. A rib is used to strengthen a molded part.
The 2011 Audi A8 L has a body built from aluminum using the Audi Space Frame (ASF) principle which is about 40 percent less than a comparable steel body. The ASF body structure is built from cast elements, extruded sections and sheet aluminum, with integral B-posts made from form-hardened ultra-high strength steel.
The basic weight of the Audi Q5 at market launch is 1,730 kilograms (3836.04 lb), a low figure for an SUV of this size. The steel body is very light in weight, thanks to the intensive use of cutting-edge technologies.
The super-strength steels that reinforce the center tunnel, inner sills, B-posts, longitudinal members and bulkhead cross-member in the luggage compartment have tensile strengths as high as 1,600 megapascals.
Six Audi Q5 cars together weighing ten metric tons could be hung from a strip of this hot-formed material only two millimeters (0.08 in) thick and 30 millimeters (1.18 in) wide.
Hot forming is a hi-tech process. It involves heating blanks of boron steel to 950 degrees Celsius (1,742° F) in a conveyor oven and then quenching and shaping them in a cooled die.
Their various zones can be heated to different temperatures in the oven, to produce a range of strength zones. In the event of a crash, the component is then deformed in precisely the desired manner.
In the case of the B-post, for instance, the lower zone is rather more ductile (deformable) than the upper zone, since this is where most energy has to be dissipated in the event of a side-on collision.
On the body of the Audi Q5 – minus the doors, lids and metal panels – superstrength hi-tech steels make up an impressive 9.1 percent of the overall weight. 3.3 percent is made from ultra-high-strength steels, 12.3 percent from higherstrength grades, 44.5 percent from high-strength steel and 30.8 percent from conventional deep-drawn steel.
The new 2010 Audi A8 is constructed from the aluminum Audi Space Frame (ASF), which in this latest evolution includes many high-strength components which have contributed to increase the torsional stiffness by 25%. The weight of the structure is about 40 percent less than a comparable steel one and is coupled with aluminum body panels. The new A8 uses a new, high-strength aluminum alloy.
The A-pillar nodes of the new A8 is one of 25 castings in the body structure. Just remember that castings typically vary in thicknesses and often have reinforcement ribs. If your tool stalls, move it an inch up or down and that could be enough distance to get between the ribs.
The A4 is not an aluminum car. But what’s somewhat striking is that even the top U.S. Audi executive, de Nysschen, notes the fact that there is an extensive use of ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS UHSS Ultra-High-Strength Steel ). This is not the sort of thing that is typically glossed by someone with their eye on business and sales, not structural engineering. Yet the use of the material is absolutely notable, and contributes to a rigid body structure, as well as enhancing safety.
There is the use of hot-formed boron boron alloyed steel blanks to produce various components. In the hot forming operation, the blanks are heated to 1,742[degrees]F, formed, and quenched. To put out (a fire, for example); extinguish. The resulting tensile strength of the component is as much as 1,600 mPa. Among the ultra-high-strength steel applications are the center tunnel, inner sills, B-pillars and firewall transverse beams. Overall, about 12% of the body-in-white is made of hot-formed UHSS; 18% is UHSS; 32% is high-strength steel; and 38% is conventional deep-drawing steel grades.
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