The Role of Powder Materials in Energy Efficiency in the Transportation Industry

The transportation of people and goods is a very important requirement in all human societies and accounts for one quarter of the global energy use with by far the largest share of global oil consumption, using 51.5% of the oil worldwide in 2003. The fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from transportation is currently at approximately 30% with the next main user and producer of emissions being the metallurgical and materials industries. Global mobility, a measure of the distance people travel in a certain period of time, has increased dramatically over the last five decades and is expected to triple by 2050 with an associated rise in greenhouse gas emissions and consequent environmental impact. This increase is associated with the rate of increase in wealth of the appropriate global societies. Thus, energy in the transportation industry is and will be a major subsystem of the global energy system, and its role is expected to continue increasing very rapidly. In the short term, an urgent focus needs to be placed on achieving energy efficiency and on harvesting alternative and regenerative energy. Energy efficiency in the transportation industry consists of providing the same type of services with lower total integrated life-cycle costs and/or better performance. Energy efficiency should lead to the use of less fuel, reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and local air pollution, better consumer welfare, stronger energy security, increased global competitiveness, and stronger economies. Materials in general have always played a crucial role in societal evolution, progress, living standards, and even survival, and they have often provided effective answers to societal challenges. The current challenges are new and unique, but the opportunity for an effective materials response is equally expected. There are several ways that powder materials can contribute to energy efficiency in the transportation industry: developing materials with higher performance and/or lower lifetime costs; direct energy savings by enabling similar functions with better performance and/or using less energy; and using a system design and manufacture approach that integrates materials and functions with better performance and/or energy savings. It is equally important to consider that in the calculation of the integrated lifetime costs, the value added through environmental and societal benefits should be included. Considerable achievements have recently been obtained in the development of powder-processed metallic alloys, including refractory materials, ceramics, metal matrix composites, intermetallics, and carbon fiber composites, which resulted in their introduction to the transportation industry in a wide variety of components with significant impact on energy efficiency in all types of transportation modes. In addition, a significant number of nano, nanostructured, and nanohybrid materials systems have been deployed and many others are currently being developed with considerable promise. The four articles assembled here explore typical examples in these domains covering fundamental discoveries, applied research, typical applications, and outstanding deployments. The article by F.D.S. Marquis shows that the current and expected future major energy users in the transportation industry are the automobile and aircraft industries, and it discusses typical examples of the application of powder materials to these industries resulting in considerable energy efficiency. The current and potential role of a nano, nanostructured, and nanohybrid materials system for energy efficiency in the transportation industry is summarily presented. In addition, the article shows how airplane design and manufacture using a materials and functional systems integration approach resulted in considerable system improvements and energy efficiency. It also discusses the expectation that a similar materials and functional systems integration approach soon will be adopted in the design and manufacture of other advanced aircraft and will be extended to the automotive industry and then to the marine transportation industry. Advanced powder materials, such as superconductors, and magnetic and friction materials are also playing a major role in the development of JOM, Vol. 64, No. 3, 2012