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About 35 extruded components and three sheet metal components make up the angular box-shaped aluminum chassis for the Elise. The extrusions are made of 6063 aluminum magnesium silicon alloy while panels bonded to the space frame are made from Hydro's 3105 grade, which is derived from recycled aluminum alloys. Hydro was able to develop extrusion tooling capable of a 2mm minimum wall thickness. However, it was not possible to reduce the wall thickness to l mm which is all that is required in some areas.The elements go through an acid etch and anodizing process prior to the adhesive being applied. The adhesive is a single-part, heat-cured epoxy paste (XB 5315) which is more often used tar bonding oily steel. It has a tensile strength of 35 MPa and an E-modulus of 2,700 MPa. Curing takes about 40 minutes at 200C. Until cured, it has a paste-like consistency and is very stable. Because adhesive-bonded joints are strong in shear but weaker in peel, each joint is reinforced by thread-forming rivets to prevent the onset of peel during a crash. The ejot rivets selected for the task are self-swaging and selftapping drive screws. They are made from mild steel coated with a high-performance corrosion-resistant finish called Dacromet. A zinc aluminum coating, Dacromet gives a significant 480 hours of salt-spray resistance Where a rivet is to be inserted, a hole of 8 mm diameter is drilled in the top element, and one of 4 mm diameter directly underneath. The 6 mm diameter rivet is then rotated at high speed by the special insertion tool and introduced into the larger hole. As it is driven down into the smaller hole, it melts the aluminum around the sides, and the displaced material is drawn up into the larger hole. As a result, thread engagement along the length of the rivet is ensured. A major exercise in corrosion prevention has led Lotus to adopt Xylan and Delta finishes on components where an aluminum element comes into contact with a steel element. In some places, a coated 0.5 mm thick shim is inserted between the aluminum component and the steel component so that it protrudes from the joint by 5 mm. This effectively provides a l O mm-long path between the two metals which is sufficient to prevent corrosion, says Rackham. A finish, however, cannot be applied in every case, he adds. For example, there is a circlip to hold in bearings, which cannot be coated. Here, the engineers have employed an aerospace-grade grease. The assembly of the complete Elise chassis is performed by Hydro in Denmark in a specially-constructed controlledenvironment building. The clean atmosphere ensures that really nasty contaminants such as silicon cannot get anywhere near the bonding process, says Sears. The adhesive is manually applied to the extrusions, and the more than 130 rivets are inserted before the chassis is loaded to an oven for curing. The rivets also hold the chassis together so that it can be transferred to the oven without falling apart. The completed aluminum chassis is delivered to the Elise assembly line which has been set up parallel to the Elan line at Lotus' Hethel factory. During the final assembly process, other elements to be bonded to the chassis are joined to it using a cold-cure adhesive. The Elise assembly line is gradually building up to an output of four cars a month, the first car having come off the line at the end of May. In developing the Elise, Lotus has aimed to provide a technology shop window for its engineering division which offers a consultancy service to the automotive industry in general. In fact, about two-thirds of the company's sales currently come from its engineering and consultancy activities, and only one-third from selling cars. The technologies developed for the Elise have been selected on the basis that volume car manufacturers will be interested in adopting them, says Tony Shute, Elise program manager. "If we thought that Ford or Opel might not be interested because it was too exotic, we didn't use it", he adds. However, if the Elise chassis structure with bonded aluminum extrusions is to be adopted by volume car manufacturers, a number of developments will have to take place, says Rackham. "The curing oven is an expensive nuisance. Adhesives technology is evolving and within a few years cold-cure adhesives will become available for this type of application", he believes. Also, the Elise chassis structure is very simple. No complex joints are involved and only straightforward surfaces have to be bonded. "In most cars, complex joints would have to be tackled, and that would require some development", he adds. One disadvantage of the bonded design of an aluminum chassis still remains, however. Maintenance and repair is not quite as easy as with steel. Should such a chassis be damaged in an accident, it cannot be repaired by any back-street garage. The bonding conditions are too exacting for that. However, the Elise chassis has been so designed that extra bolt holes have been formed in those areas susceptible to damage. These holes are there so that a plate can be bolted on to the existing structure to compensate for the damage, should it occur. In the event of a serious collision, the body and the chassis can be separated and
whichever is beyond repair can be replaced. For further details contact Lotus Engineers, Hethel, Norwich NR14 8EZ, UK. Tel: 01953 608000; Fax: 01953 608300. Plate 1 The Elise bonded aluminum chassis weighs half as much as the equivalent one of welded steel Plate 2 Adhesive and rivets are used to join the aluminum components Figure 1 The interlinking structure of the aluminum extrusions used to create the Elise chassis Assembly Automation Volume 16 Number 4 1996 pp. 19-21 (C) MCB University Press ISSN 0144-5154