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If no one has stated this already, it speed is a much bigger factor in kinetic energy compared to mass. 1/2 * Mass * Velocity squared. Reducing speed would greatly reduce the severity of accidents, but there are many other things to make accidents more survivable or avoidable to begin with:
1) stricter and more frequent driver education
2) keeping vehicles in 90% performance form (get rid of bald tires, old brake fluid, failing cylinders, etc)
3) allow helmets to be used on public roads
4) rid the driver of distractions
5) standardize bumper heights
As for plastic, it's a nice idea. However, you would need to find the right balance of energy absorption, energy dispersion, rigidity, and longevity. I would think that plastic would compromise from wear and fatigue before an alloy frame.
If no one has stated this already, it speed is a much bigger factor in kinetic energy compared to mass. 1/2 * Mass * Velocity squared. Reducing speed would greatly reduce the severity of accidents, but there are many other things to make accidents more survivable or avoidable to begin with:
1) stricter and more frequent driver education
2) keeping vehicles in 90% performance form (get rid of bald tires, old brake fluid, failing cylinders, etc)
3) allow helmets to be used on public roads
4) rid the driver of distractions
5) standardize bumper heights
As for plastic, it's a nice idea. However, you would need to find the right balance of energy absorption, energy dispersion, rigidity, and longevity. I would think that plastic would compromise from wear and fatigue before an alloy frame.
This sounds like something most high school & college automotive classes could discuss
For real the helmet thing requires a lot of discussion.
You know the Saturn was a plastic panel vehicle so it’s nothing new.
I had a Saturn SUV that absolutely shattered from a relatively minor front impact. The plastic pieces that shattered would have been so expensive to replace that the insurance company totaled my vehicle that was only a year old.
Carbon fiber is to expensive and body panels cannot be produced fast enough for a modern assembly plant were they assemble as many as 75 vehicles an hour. And you are talking the price would be out of reach for the average person who drive automotive sales.
My guess, based on current research being conducted here in my home city, in universities around the world, and by energy companies around the world, is that carbon is today what plastic was when The Graduate was filmed. ("One word: Plastics") We have a research facility just outside of town that's about to be leased to a half dozen different research teams, all with one goal: find uses for carbon. (Our county provides 30-40% of the nation's coal from giant open pit mines. That's a lot of coal, and carbon is what's holding it back right now.)
The winning team, iirc, earns a $20 million prize.
This is but one such research facility using a few scientists. Others are studying it through universities, often funded by mega energy companies. I think we're going to see a lot of carbon being used in a few years. Prices should be competitive to anything else on the market, because it MUST be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phlinak
I know, from personal experience, that Saturn plastic panels will not shatter upon impact but instead bend and flex.
Of course, if they are hit hard enough, at the right angle, they can be punctured or cracked and broken.
My 1994 SL1 had been hit by so many balls, shopping carts, car doors, etc. over the years and never got so much as a ding.
I miss those panels.
My wife bought a 1997 Saturn in 1998. When she moved in with me she pointed out a "scratch" on her car that had been there when she bought it. The "scratch" is a broken panel. She never had it fixed, as it's hard to see and expensive to repair.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Electrician4you
How much is the carbon fiber body going to add to the price of the car? You’ll be buying a Honda Fit for 50,000
I think it's going to be reasonable. Research costs are being paid by others just to use a product that will make oil and coal energy more palatable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhureeKeeper
How about bubble wrap?
Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. I used to LOVE driving those bumper cars!
I also think gas mileage would increase considering it's a lighter material and plastic cars would also require probably less fuel anyways...
What do you think? Should cars try going all-plastic?
I've had this idea for a long time. A high-quality type of fiberglass, would be the best sort of plastic. I've made kayaks from it that are durable and impact resistant, but weigh very little. Kevlar/S-glass/Derakane 8084 vinylester resin, is my favorite formula for the best results. Important: The S-glass layers go on the outside. I might want to use some lightweight metal tubes for reinforcement, enclosed within the fiberglass. A metal drive-train would be used, of course, but with the reduced weight, could have less H.P. and get far better mileage.
This type of body would be ideal for use in an electric vehicle. The frame could also be made of this material, but as an alternative, a monocoque shell design, heavily reinforced, could work without a standard type of frame.
If a car was made of this material for both the body and the frame, it could weigh only 30% to 40% as much as an all-metal car and be much more resistant to crash damage. If all the vehicles on the road were as lightweight, they might tend to bounce off each other or stationary objects like trees, rather than be crushed by their own weight, on impact.
Last edited by Steve McDonald; 05-23-2018 at 12:12 AM..
It’s pretty difficult to beat the weight vs cost vs strength capabilities to stamped steel. You could have a giant plastic crush can in front of the car, but why do that when you already have a cheap deformable material that makes up the structure of the car?
I was thinking more along the lines where the entire vehicle is one giant piece, you'd integrate systems into it where required. Add steel if needed such as door pillars or a cage around the driver inside the plastic. Perhaps even much less steel encased in plastic throughout the car similar to how you would use rebar with concrete.
Not saying any of this practical or less expensive but it's an interesting idea.
My guess, based on current research being conducted here in my home city, in universities around the world, and by energy companies around the world, is that carbon is today what plastic was when The Graduate was filmed. ("One word: Plastics") We have a research facility just outside of town that's about to be leased to a half dozen different research teams, all with one goal: find uses for carbon. (Our county provides 30-40% of the nation's coal from giant open pit mines. That's a lot of coal, and carbon is what's holding it back right now.)
I think it's going to be reasonable. Research costs are being paid by others just to use a product that will make oil and coal energy more palatable.
It’s not quite that simple. You can find uses for carbon all day, it’s the mass production of it that’s challenging.
The tooling is expensive, the autoclave and post cure inspection process is expensive and time consuming, and the world’s fastest fastening systems (rivets and welds) are inapplicable. It’s hard to compete with just stamping out metal sheets.
I was thinking more along the lines where the entire vehicle is one giant piece, you'd integrate systems into it where required. Add steel if needed such as door pillars or a cage around the driver inside the plastic. Perhaps even much less steel encased in plastic throughout the car similar to how you would use rebar with concrete.
Not saying any of this practical or less expensive but it's an interesting idea.
That sounds pretty much like how a Corvette is built, with the exception of being one giant integrated piece.
Non reinforced injected plastic would require very thick wall thickness to provide any substantial support. I have a kayak made that way and it weighs a ton. I have a sail kit for that kayak, but a really stiff winds put a lot of load into the plastic floor and causes stress cracks. If that was a simple metal fitting it would ha doe that load with no problems and a lot less weight.
The majority of the car is structural aside from aerodynamic panels like the hood and fenders.
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