Jan-Anders Manson (EPFL)
Jan-Anders Manson (EPFL)
Weight and strength – prime factors for vehicle performance
Abstract
In the US 25% of all CO2 production is attributed to road transport. Present focus on global warming and other environmental issues now places enormous responsibility on the automotive industry to cut new vehicle CO2 emissions. In addition, this sociopolitical pressure will be backed up by severe fines if future targets for average fleet emissions are not met.
Whilst new fuels and drive trains promise to contribute substantially to reducing emissions, one critical item requiring equal emphasis is vehicle weight. Not only are CO2 emissions directly related to vehicle weight but the mass de-compounding effect dictates that weight reduction in turn lowers the requirements on many other vehicle parts providing additional weight reduction. For example, a lighter body-in-white requires a lower power and consequently lighter engine to achieve similar performance. However, lighter cars of the future will have equally, if not more stringent safety requirements and will have to be as affordable as current vehicles. Thus if light weight materials such as fibre reinforced composites are to be used in volume, they will have to have similar performance and at the same time be cost competitive with the incumbent materials.
Glass and carbon fibre reinforced materials are commonplace for light weight high performance sports but to transfer this technology to high series production of structural components is a significant challenge. The automotive industry in particular requires any new technology to be cost competitive and for fibre reinforced composites, that means a fundamental shift in the way parts are designed and produced. New technologies for producing composite components in high volume have been the focus of much research work but have seen limited implementation. Now, the step change in need from industry for these technologies is resulting in a vibrant and dynamic implementation phase.
CV
Professor Jan-Anders E. Månson is since 2004 Vice-president at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), responsible for Innovation and Technology Transfer. He is born 1952 in Örkelljunga, Sweden, obtained his Ph.D.-degree in Mechanical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1981. After 5 years as head of the R&D department of Konstruktions-Bakelit AB, Sweden, he was appointed Professor at University of Washington (Chemical Engineering), Seattle in 1987, and at the Royal Institute of Technology (Department of polymer technology), Stockholm in 1989. The research was oriented towards process-structure-property relations for high performance polymers and their composites, for functional and structural applications.
In 1990 he joined Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as Professor and Laboratory Director at the Department of Material Science, where his research is focused on the next generation of materials and processes for the fast-growing polymer and composite field. His research partners are in the automotive, aerospace, medical and sport industry. Currently he also acts as the scientific responsible for the Alinghi - America’s Cup and the Bertrand Piccard Solar Impulse project. Professor Månson was also the initiator and scientific responsible for the joint EPFL - International Olympic Committee (IOC) exhibition on “New materials for success”.
Professor Månson has over 300 scientific publications and teaches courses in the above mentioned fields and is acting on the editorial board of several scientific journals. He is member of several foundations and industrial boards, and appointed by the State Secretary as Focal Point for Swiss-Korea collaboration. Professor Månson is since 2006 chairman of the Sport academy (AISTS), a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee, devoted to education, best management practice and career transition for top-athletes. Professor Månson is also member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW).
