BENTELER presents its innovative steel tube lightweight construction solutions at BILSTER BERG
Paderborn/Salzburg, 27.09.2018 – Lighter vehicles, reduced fuel consumption and thus less environmental pollution – these are the advantages of BENTELER's innovative steel tube lightweight solutions. The Steel/Tube Division presented these yesterday to its customers from the automotive industry at its customer day at the BILSTER BERG Drive Resort near Paderborn.
Christian Wiethuechter, Chief Sales and Operating Officer at BENTELER Steel/Tube, explains: "We make our customers' components lighter, for instance, by replacing solid material springs in the chassis with spring tubes. These hollow springs reduce the component weight by up to 40 percent." This reduction in weight lowers the fuel consumption of cars with conventional drives. And BENTELER's new lightweight construction solutions can considerably increase the range of electric cars.
varID® technology: lighter vehicles, lower consumption
It is possible to make vehicles even lighter: One of the presented innovations is the varID® technology by BENTELER. This can reduce the weight by an additional 15 percent as explained by Stefan Kuenneke, Sales Director at BENTELER Steel/Tube: "VarID® tubes are tubes with a variable internal diameter – therefore the abbreviation varID®. Their wall thickness is adapted to the various areas of the component: The material is thicker where it is subject to increased stress and thinner where there is less stress. To make this possible, BENTELER developed its own special process for manufacturing the tubes.
BENTELER is a reliable development partner
Dr. Thorsten Andres, Vice President of Development at BENTELER Steel/Tube, sums it up: "We have been working with steel for more than 140 years. Thanks to many years of expertise in materials, we are at the forefront of the trends in the automotive industry. High strength steels like those we manufacture allow considerable material savings due to their stability."
Together with the other materials developed in the Automotive Division, high strength steels make an important contribution to lightweight construction in cars. Oliver Lang, Chief Technology Officer of the Automotive Division adds: "The BENTELER Group stands out due to its many years of experience in the application of various materials. Our customers benefit from our multi-material expertise with which we assist them to find optimal solutions for lightweight construction. We have the right material mix for every requirement."
Particular highlights for customers
As well as numerous presentations about lightweight construction in cars, BENTELER also focused on personal interaction with their customers. In addition, participants had the chance of proving themselves as drivers on the 4.2 km track at BILSTER BERG.
