U.S. Dept. of Energy funds fuel tank project

The U.S. Department of Energy will fund a project to develop a methodology to produce lightweight sealed steel fuel tanks. The Strategic Alliance for Steel Fuel Tanks (SASFT), the Auto/Steel Partnership and the United States Automotive Materials Partnership will conduct the project. The goal of the project is to demonstrate that tanks can be produced by using thinner high strength steel and advanced high strength steel (AHSS) with reduced mass, and still meet requirements for structural integrity, corrosion, and durability. “To provide a fuel tank in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that avoids vapor purging, but accommodates high internal pressure buildup is the goal, current generation tanks are made of thick steel walls that can add unnecessary mass,” said Peter Mould, program manager for SASFT. The project will utilize computer-forming methodologies and will be conducted in two phases with sealed fuel tanks from current plug-in hybrid electric vehicles providing the benchmark. (August 2, 2011)