New concepts for cars demand new ways to engineer materials, with a major emphasis being placed on lightweight engineering for saving energy, boosting performance and driving down costs regardless of which traffic carrier (i. e., road, rail or air) weare talking about. Both material and structural issues figure prominently since they admit a wide variety of solutions depending upon goals and applications. 

Research will notably revolve around 

• lightweight engineering (the body shell and chassis)
  
• • using lightweight metals (Al, Mg), designs (Al and Mg spaceframes or steel), composite structures (FVK such as CFK, GFK) and hollow-sphere and foam structures 
    
  • the multi-material design (hybrid structures such as metal-polymers and metal-ceramic in chassis)
    
  • in the integration of adaptive structures to increase boost stiffness

• lightweight engineering (in power trains)
  
• • in the valves, pistons and casing (Mg) for higher strength and greater temperature resistance

• interior
  
• • using synthetic and natural fiber raw materials for polymer composites and fiber reinforced lightweight materials
    
  • synthesizing polymer systems based upon cellulose and other carbohydrates
    

The application of new material concepts, designs and structures causes new requirements of production engineering such as joining and assembly technologies. A case in point is production technologies such as extrusion and injection techniques including mold pressing that are becoming more interesting for polymer fiber composite materials. Other technologies such as die-casting (Mg, Al), extruding or foaming technologies are increasingly on the agenda of metallic lightweight material research. 

As far as joining and assembly technologies are concerned, the existing techniques have to be expanded (primarily in the area of welding techniques) to take in the new conditions of operation while including mechanical technologies (clinching and punch riveting), high-performance glueing and hybrid technologies (such as glueing/riveting or glueing/welding). 

Alongside lightweight engineering, another challenge increasingly coming to forefront is the demands made of functional surfaces and boosted functionalization of surfaces focusing primarily on the following areas: 

• surface systems for reducing friction/wear and tear and
  
• novel layer systems in such areas as electrochrome, water- and dirt-repellant or self-healing systems  

>>back<<