Award-winning WMG research makes Ford cars lighter and more efficient

Ford cars could be more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly, thanks to a new lightweight rear suspension component, designed by the award-winning Innovate UK project Composite Lightweight Automotive Suspension System (CLASS), involving WMG at the University of Warwick. Led by Ford Motor Company, in partnership with WMG, Gestamp Chassis and GRM, the CLASS project consortium developed a new tieblade-knuckle for a Ford Class C vehicle , a key element for the car's rear suspension. An optimised design and manufacturing process developed by WMG enabled the researchers to replace the car's current multiple-piece fabricated steel component with a single moulding - making a weight saving in excess of 4.5kg per vehicle, a 35% saving on the current part. This will result in CO₂ savings over the lifetime of the vehicle, and the technology is appropriate for much wider vehicle chassis and body applications. In March 2018, the CLASS project won a JEC Innovation Award, in the Automotive Innovation category. Researchers at WMG carried out materials selection by moulding test plaques and measuring material performance characteristics. This was fed into the design of the part, carried out by Gestamp, before optimisation of the design, carried out by GRM.