RAWTENSTALL, UK, July 17, 2026 – A UK-led collaboration has demonstrated a major step forward in lightweight vehicle engineering, revealing how advanced aluminium casting and digital engineering can significantly reduce the weight of key structural components for future vehicles. The PIVOT consortium unveiled its latest innovation during the “Casting the Future of Aluminium” event at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), highlighting the potential of new manufacturing techniques to improve vehicle efficiency and performance.
Developed for a demonstrator vehicle commissioned by a leading British automotive manufacturer, the cast aluminium subframes are currently 17% lighter at the front and 35% lighter at the rear compared with the components they are intended to replace.
The subframes were created using advanced casting design methods developed by PIVOT lead partner Sarginsons Industries, alongside topology optimisation technology from Siemens, including Simcenter™ Optistruct® software and Simcenter™ Inspire™ software.
Using a proprietary database built from more than two decades of mechanical testing and microstructural analysis, Sarginsons can accurately predict how aluminium will perform throughout the casting process. This capability enables structural components to be validated in virtual crash simulations before any physical casting takes place.
Replacing traditional conservative design assumptions with material-specific performance data reduces the need for over-engineering, allowing manufacturers to produce structural castings that are lighter, more cost-effective and higher performing.
The findings were presented during PIVOT’s session at “Casting the Future of Aluminium”, an invitation-only event bringing together senior representatives from the automotive, aerospace, defence and metals industries, along with funding organisations, to discuss collaboration in advanced aluminium manufacturing.
Sarginsons Technical Director Gavin Shipley delivered the keynote presentation outlining the project’s latest achievements.
He said: “A physical crash test can cost up to £1 million every time you run one. For decades, the only way to be safe was to over-engineer, adding mass and material to compensate for uncertainty.
“What we’ve demonstrated today is an alternative. By combining virtual engineering, AI and advanced casting expertise, we’re able to understand precisely how a component will behave before any metal is poured, giving manufacturers the confidence to design for real performance rather than worst-case assumptions.
“For decades, engineers have been forced to design around the limitations of casting. We’re now turning that thinking on its head, unlocking entirely new possibilities for lighter, stronger and more efficient vehicle structures.”
With the virtual development programme now complete, the front subframe will progress into the next stage of development, with production tooling due to begin shortly. The components will also undergo physical durability testing before being installed in demonstrator vehicles for track evaluation, providing real-world validation of the virtual engineering methods used throughout the project.
PIVOT (Performance Integrated Vehicle Optimisation Technology) is a £5.8 million programme supported by the Advanced Propulsion Centre. The consortium brings together Sarginsons Industries, Aston Martin, Siemens, Brunel University and GESCRAP to accelerate innovation in lightweight vehicle manufacturing.
