TURBULENT DEVELOPMENT OF BODY CONCEPTS, MATERIALS AND JOINING PROCESSES IN THE LAST TWO DECADES

Great changes of the car-body Production concepts in the last few years are the result of a rapid development of the new materials, new Joining processes and a new body-concepts. In the last two decades noticeable are big tendencies/aspirations (we can even say fights) for primacy of aluminum. That made it possible a many of new this competition resulted in development of forming methods and many joining techniques which were developed only for aluminum. They are currently in production of about 30 aluminum-cars. On the other hand, today has the aluminum every day more and more share in the new steel car-body-structures. Following the model of the aluminum structures development, there were also attempts to develop similar technological methods for the steel as well. This attempt was not very successful. The real progress has been made with a development of steel specific technologies. It can be said that the advanced aluminium technologies developed in the 1990s, have forced the rapid development of steel technologies as well primarily new Technologies for steel-sheet. It has resulted that the steel relieved, and will be again a cost-effective car-body technology.