EuroWire July 2015

Transatlantic cable

† Some discouraging data from Autotrader, supplied by Ms Priddle, indicate that the delay may not be noticed – still less resented. The online auto site says that only 61 per cent of drivers say they try to stay informed about recalls; 56 per cent of those who are aware of a recall take the vehicle in for the free repair; and 35 per cent of prospective buyers enquire into recalls when shopping for a car.

wind because seeing is believing,” Bill White, senior director for o shore wind at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, told Climate Central . “It’s going to be a big deal because people can touch it and feel it and see it and understand it. Until that moment, it’s not real.” A similar view was expressed by Je rey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind (Providence, Rhode Island), the developer of the Block Island Wind Farm. Getting policymakers, regulators and utility executives to take a good look at o shore wind will, he said, require “standing up” a project so as to bring o shore wind from theory to reality. “It’s important for the industry to have a success,” said Mr Grybowski. “It’s important to have steel on the water.” † According to the US Department of Energy the o shore wind power potential in the US is huge – totalling more than 4,000 gigawatts (GW) at full development. That is about four times the electric power-generating capacity in the USA today and enough electricity to power some 800 million homes. “As automakers scramble to replace Takata airbags in 34 million recalled vehicles, there is less urgency in Canada. That’s because it’s cold up there.” The reference, by Alisa Priddle of the Detroit Free Press , is to the investigation by Washington into exploding automotive airbags that have been linked to six deaths and more than 100 injuries. It was con rmed on 19 th May that Takata, of Japan, is under criminal investigation related to the airbag issue and the company’s response to the USA inquiry. While teams of engineers have not yet assigned a de nitive cause to the explosions, they are considering heat and humidity as factors. The hypothesis is that these may degrade the propellant and cause bags to rupture with enough force to blow apart their canisters and shoot metal shards. Cooler Canadian climes presumably exert a bene cial retardant e ect. Because Takata had produced only about 3.8 million replacement kits to date – “not nearly enough,” observed Ms Priddle – automakers are prioritising repairs within the United States. (“Canada Protected In Takata Airbag Recall?”, 20 th May) The recall covers vehicles from 11 automakers and multiple brands. Most of the vehicles are from the 2002 to 2008 model years. Regulations require timely notice to car owners of a recall when there is a safety issue; but the reality is that it could take years to accomplish all the Takata xes, Mark Rosekind, the new, proactive head of the National Highway Tra c Safety Administration, told the Free Press . Automotive With 34 million airbags ordered replaced in a US recall, Canadian drivers are waiting their turn

Technology

A new metal matrix composite combines lightweight with heat resistance, promising improved automotive fuel economy While syntactic foams have been around for some time, the rst-time achievement of a lightweight metal matrix syntactic foam has been announced. The work of a team of researchers from Deep Springs Technology (DST) and the Polytechnic School of Engineering of New York University (NYU), in collaboration with the US Army Research Laboratory, the composite is light enough to oat and resistant to heat – which would commend it to automakers seeking to shave weight for better fuel economy. As reported in R&D Magazine (Rockaway, New Jersey), in recent years e orts to replace heavier metal-based components in automobiles and marine vessels have focused on lightweight polymer matrix composites. The new magnesium alloy matrix composite, which is reinforced with silicon carbide hollow particles, has a density lower than that of water (0.92g/cc compared to 1.0g/cc). It thus o ers both substantial strength and the lightness of foams. (“A Metal Composite That Will Float Your Boat,” 13 th May) “This development of very light metal matrix composites can swing the pendulum back in favour of metallic materials,” suggested Nikhil Gupta, an NYU School of Engineering professor and the study’s co-author. Mr Gupta noted that the ability of metals to withstand higher temperatures can be a huge advantage for these composites in engine and exhaust components, quite apart from structural parts. The syntactic foam from DST (Toledo, Ohio) and NYU starts with a matrix made of a magnesium alloy, which is then turned into foam by the addition of strong, lightweight hollow spheres of silicon carbide manufactured by DST. A single sphere’s shell can reportedly withstand pressure of over 25,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) before it ruptures – 100 times the maximum pressure in a re hose. The hollow particles are also said to impart impact protection to the syntactic foam, with each shell acting like an energy absorber during fracture. Adjusting the proportion of shells in the metal matrix can customise the composite for density and other properties. Again according to the developers, who expect to present prototypes for testing within three years, the concept is also adaptable to other non- ammable magnesium alloys. Dorothy Fabian – USA Editor

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July 2015