CARS must become lighter to reduce fuel consumption. For most car designers this principally means body parts, but the powertrain system, which includes the engine, also accounts for a large proportion of the vehicle's weight. Until now, carmakers have relied on aluminium to reduce the weight of engine components such as the cylinder block. In the future, car manufacturers will be able to achieve further weight savings by designing cylinder blocks in which certain parts are made of fibre-reinforced plastics. An experimental engine developed by the Fraunhofer project group for new drive systems (NAS), which forms part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, in collaboration with SBHPP, the high-performance plastics business unit of Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd., Japan, demonstrates this principle.
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