Transportation Overview

The 6th Global Innovations Symposium Trends in Materials and Manufacturing Technologies for Transportation Industries

PLENARY SPEAKER

DR. ALAN I. TAUB Executive Director - Research & Development General Motors Corporation USA

Automotive Research: Technical Trends and Challenges
The population of the earth stands above 6.3 billion people today and in another 15 years will approach 7.5 billion. As world population rises, vehicle ownership is also expected to climb dramatically. In order to sustain increasing numbers of vehicles, the automotive industry must address important challenges in several key areas: energy, emissions, safety, congestion, and affordability. This talk will cover General Motors’ current strategies on how to address these challenges, highlighting developments in advanced propulsion, vehicle electronics, lightweight and smart materials, and agile manufacturing. These technologies are key to enable the industry to extend the significant benefits of personal mobility to people around the globe.

PLENARY SPEAKER

DR. JAMES A. SPEAROT Director - Chemical and Environmental Sciences Laboratory General Motors Research & Development Center USA

The Hydrogen Economy–Materials Challenges and Opportunities
Recent debate in both government and technical forums has focused on the value, the possibility, and the timing of meeting future transportation fuel demands by use of hydrogen generated from renewable sources of primary energy. The justifications for and the criticisms against development of renewable energy supplies and hydrogen-fueled propulsion systems are reviewed, and the technical hurdles to be overcome in creating such a future vision are identified. If the vision of a hydrogen-fueled transportation system is to become reality, significant material inventions and developments will be required. The opportunities for critical materials research programs in the areas of hydrogen generation, fuel cell development, and hydrogen storage are described. The status of General Motors’ progress in development of hydrogen-fueled, fuel cell-powered vehicles is used to demonstrate the potential that a clean, renewable-hydrogen fuel-based transportation system can provide in meeting societal goals. Speaker: Dr. James A. Spearot, Director – , General Motors Research and Development Center

SYMPOSIUM: 6th Global Innovations: Trends in Materials and Manufacturing Technologies for Transportation Industries
PROCEEDINGS: 6th Global Innovations
The symposium will focus on the latest advances and developments in materials and manufacturing technologies used in the Transportation Industry. It is intended to provide the industrial and research communities a forum for the technical exchange of recent advances in all aspects of processing, fabrication, structure-property relations, evaluation, applications of advanced materials and manufacturing technologies as they relate to the Transportation Industries. Topics will include high performance materials and innovative manufacturing processes for a wide variety of applications in the automotive, aerospace, aviation and ground transportation fields. Topics include:

• Advanced materials (metals, polymers, compacted powders, composites and ceramics)
• Innovative manufacturing processes (warm forming, hydroforming, casting, superplastic forming, adhesive bonding, advanced welding, and joining)
• Microstructures, phase transformations (age hardening), and texture
• Thermo-mechanical processing (rolling, extrusion, forging)
• Shaping, forming, joining, welding, coating
• Modeling of constitutive relationships, simulation of plastic deformation
• Material consistency, mechanical properties, manufacturability
• Performance assessment, material qualification
• Powder metallurgy
• Nanomechanical behavior

SYMPOSIUM: Automotive Alloys 2005
Automotive Alloys 2005 symposium is seeking papers to capture the ongoing research, development and testing activities for usage of aluminum and magnesium alloys in automotive applications.

SYMPOSIUM: Beta Titanium Alloys of the 00’s
It will cover advances in the technology of beta alloys in the last decade - 3rd in a series on this subject. We’ll be covering alloy development, physical metallurgy, heat treatment, fabrication and processing and applications of this alloy system - advances in the last decade. It will include beta-rich alpha-beta alloys. The proceedings from this symposium are planned for publication after the meeting.

SYMPOSIUM: Powder Metallurgy Research and Development in the Transportation Industry
Powder Metallurgy Research and Development in the Transportation Industry for Current and Future Applications. Symposium will be in-conjunction with the 6th Global Innovations and cover topics relating to powder materials in aerospace, automotive, and other transportation industries. The proceedings from this symposium are planned for concurrent publication. 6th Global Innovations Symposium on Materials Processing: Trends in Materials and Manufacturing Technology and Powder Metallurgy R&D in the Transportation Industry.

SYMPOSIUM: Materials for the Hydrogen Economy
U.S. energy dependence is driven by transportation, which accounts for two-thirds of the 20 million barrels of oil our nation uses each day. The U.S. imports 55% of its oil, and this is expected to grow to 68% by the year 2025 under the status quo. Nearly all of our cars and trucks currently run on either gasoline or diesel fuel. This situation requires that alternative fuels be developed to promote future U.S. energy security. Hydrogen is a very attractive alternative fuel. It is ubiquitous (hydrogen is a constituent of water), clean, efficient, and can be derived from diverse U.S. domestic resources. Both renewable (biomass, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal) and non-renewable (nuclear, coal, natural gas) energy sources can be employed to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen can then be employed in high-efficiency power generation systems, including fuel cells for both vehicular transportation and distributed electricity generation. At the present time, there are three primary technology barriers that must be overcome for a transition to a hydrogen economy in the next few decades. First, the cost of safe and efficient hydrogen production and delivery must be significantly lowered. Second, hydrogen storage systems for vehicular and stationary applications must be developed. Finally, the cost of fuel cell power systems must be reduced. Materials will play a crucial role in addressing all of these technology barriers. Papers are planned in the areas of materials for hydrogen production, delivery, storage, and fuel cells, as well as the area of hydrogen embrittlement.