Vehicle Lightweighting

With consumers and government regulators both demanding a greater fuel economy, reducing vehicle weight is a key goal in new vehicle development. To achieve it, engineers are using non-traditional materials such as aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber-reinforced plastics. Lighter gauge sheet metal is also in play, but these materials create unique challenges in vehicle assembly processes and introduce unwanted effects on durability, vehicle dynamics, and crash performance.

Sika’s unique structural adhesives (SikaPower®, SikaPower MBX®, and Sikaflex® UHM) and our engineering prowess in understanding Delta / Alpha (different coefficients of mixed material expansion), enable mixed-material bonding of lighter materials including aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastic, with traditional and high-strength steel.  Industry-leading application examples:

• Jaguar Land Rover’s all-aluminum 
• Range Rover SportMercedes’ aluminum chassis S Class
• BMW's revolutionary i-Series vehicles

Through early involvement at the development stage, we’re helping engineers create additional weight reduction through the design and implementation of reinforcement solutions. As weight is removed, our products introduce the same or better performance.

• SikaReinforcer® highly engineered solutions are used in place of steel reinforcement, which allows lower weight without degrading performance.
  
  
• Dachversteifung und Dämmung (DVD); roof reinforcement and insulation. This pioneering product is used in conjunction with Sikaflex® adhesives to enable lighter-weight sheet metal construction, without sacrificing panel stiffness.
  
  
• SikaDamp® eliminates the vibration of body panels – more necessary as material gauge becomes thinner.  This constrained layer damper has the best-in-class weight-to-performance ratio and is widely used by automakers around the world.