The Hindu Business Line : Quantech Global working on auto design solutions

QUANTECH Global Services, an engineering design and technology solutions provider for the automotive industry with design centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore, is working on a project for the automotive industry that seeks to better body structure using advanced high strength steel (AHSS) and safety measures for sports utility vehicles.

The President of Quantech Global, Dr Mukesh Gandhi, told Business Line ``this is an unchartered terrain where as a design solutions provider we have been mandated by leading automotive companies to work on advanced materials for design optimisation methodologies. These initiatives are aimed at bringing down costs and also enhance the safety standards. This project has been conceptualised by a consortium of US steel companies and automotive manufacturers and majority of the project is being handled out of India centre.''

``The designers at Quantech worked together to develop unique design of automotive body structures using advanced high strength steel (AHSS) by employing innovative design optimising technologies. This project was carried out for the US Steel Partnership that could result in a weight saving of over 22 per cent and a cost reduction of $69 per car while conforming to crashworthiness norms.

The design had to meet stringent stiffness, model and crash performance criteria and had to be manufacturing feasible," Dr Gandhi explained.

After optimisation of body structures using advanced steel as a proof of concept, Quantech has been given the task to accelerate the introduction of the higher grades of steel into vehicles and consequently reducing the vehicular.

With regard to bumpers, the effort is towards making them about 50 per cent lighter while having the ability to absorb 20 per cent more energy at high speed, he said.

Mr Gandhi said that this advanced steel solution for automotive sector would provide choices and consequences faced in the vehicle development process. "We expect to leverage similar design-related partnerships in the region and are in parleys with automakers."