DOE Funds New Light-Weight Materials Projects

The U.S. Dept. of Energy has announced first-year funding for seven new projects involving lightweight materials for cars and trucks.

The projects, which total nearly $22 million, aim to develop lighter alloys for engine blocks and cylinder heads and demonstrate modeling tools used to optimize composites and next-generation high-strength steels.

Three award winners General Motors ($3.5 million), Ford ($3.3 million) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory ($3.5 million) will attempt to develop new aluminum alloys suitable for light-duty passenger vehicle engines.

Caterpillar ($3.5 million) will pursue high-strength ferrous alloys intended for heavy-duty diesels.

The U.S. Automotive Materials Partnership ($6 million) will use simulation tools to develop and deploy third-generation high-strength steels in passenger vehicles.

The final two awards to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ($1 million) and Oak Ridge lab ($748,000) will fund efforts to validate computer models that predict the performance of injection-molded, long carbon-fiber thermoplastic composites.

DOE says it will disburse $8 million in funding this year and has requested nearly $14 million in Congressional appropriations for second-year funding. The projects are supported by $11 million in additional investment from the private sector.