Why Mr. White prefers light

Car manufacturers are using an ever-increasing amount of aluminium to produce their vehicles, especially in the sports car and luxury segments. We caught up with Mark White, who is Chief Technical Specialist for Body Structures Engineering for Jaguar and Land Rover, to talk about the subject. He oversees the development of all Jaguar and Land Rover body structures, including the all-aluminium structures in the latest Jaguar XJ and XK models. Here’s what he had to say:

In the case of aluminium, we are able to use a combination of extrusions, castings and stamped parts. The major benefit with extrusions is that you can create a thinner wall section than with castings which are limited to a minimum of 3mm. We can also vary the wall section along the profile of the part to optimise its shape, function and weight.

Extrusions can also be more efficient to produce; while stampings offer a material utilisation of circa 50%, the versatility of extrusions can enable us to start out with a shape that is closer to the required design, so we waste very little raw material. When ­producing simple shapes and other parts where a constant profile is required, extrusions are an ideal solution. Front rails, cross members, and rockers are all potential applications for extrusions, since they can offer the best cost and weight performance.”