A Study of Lightweight Door Hinges of Commercial Vehicles Using Aluminum Instead of Steel for Sustainable Transportation

Tufan Gürkan Yılmaz, Mustafa Tüfekçi and Fatih Karpat
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Tufan Gürkan Yılmaz: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey
Mustafa Tüfekçi: OSB Yeşil Cd. No 26 16159 Nilüfer, Bursa 16140, Turkey
Fatih Karpat: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-9

Abstract: Recently, lightweight design concepts have come into prominence for vehicle industry, especially for economic and environmental sustainability. Vehicle manufacturers have investigated new material usage to reduce fuel consumption and air pollution as increasing concerns. On the other hand, new legal obligations and global competition have accelerated this research and development process. Designing components with low-density materials is one the most common methods for reducing CO 2 emissions. Among these materials, aluminum alloys stand out due to their adequate mechanical properties and specific strength. In this work, the study of lightening door hinges of a commercial vehicle is presented. To reduce the weight of vehicle door hinge, three different aluminum alloys are tried out and compared with steel. Finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments are conducted to determine if the safety requirements are fulfilled or not. According to results with an Al7075-T73 alloy, the weight of door hinge can be reduced by approximately 65%. Stress and strain values are suitable for FMVSS0206 standards. Additionally, it passed the corrosion test.

Keywords: lightweight; aluminum alloys; door hinge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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