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By  Janus Onbekend

Because of the industry-wide push toward lighter body weights and better fuel efficiency, auto body repair shops are finding that traditional methods of repair aren’t applicable anymore. Brought about by economics and regulations, new car designs and materials are trending towards the replacement of assemblies or sub-structures when a vehicle is brought in for repair.

Apart from the benefits of fuel efficiency, these new materials like alloyed steel and carbon fiber also enable lighter amounts to be used in manufacturing, while ensuring that safety standards in the event of a collision is maintained. And for manufacturers, this is not an easy talk, using less materials while increasing safety in an accident. Designs are tested and verified by computer simulation and actual crash tests to determine those most suitable for manufacturing and cost efficiency. This is why auto body repair shops now need to understand design-based repair. It is best described as an understanding by collision repair shops of how a car is designed from a repair perspective. Shops also need to be cognizant of the processes and materials that will ensure that the vehicle is repaired correctly and that all safety and performance features are retained after collision repair. For this, the repair shop and the collision repair industry in general should work closely with manufacturers to identify which materials and components (exotic steels, plastics, carbon composites and sensors) are located in a vehicle to facilitate their removal, repair, replacement and disposal.

In terms of procedure, questions like sectioning, replacement or pulling of body structures must be correctly answered. Also, with electronics playing a huge part in today’s vehicles, are there any components, sensors or systems that will be affected when a body part is affected by a collision? OEM data will be very important in these cases to affect a good repair. And in the case of special metals for example, are they heat-treated? Can they be welded? It is now known that the new high-strength steels are not as pliable as the mild steels of the past, and that squeeze type resistance welders are the recommended equipment to effect welds. To add even more complexity, carbon fiber reinforced plastics are now being used, first with exotics and very soon, in commuter cars. What adhesives or composites are required to repair carbon fiber structures? How to detect weakened portions? With the new materials, manufacturers are beginning to design structures as sub-assemblies that are clipped on to the main structure. In the event of a collision, the intention is simply to replace these clips.

All these new technologies don’t mean that auto body repair shops have to retool or reequip themselves immediately. There will still be a significant demand for traditional repair and refinishing methods, and well-managed shops will have their loyal customer base to fall back on.

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