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With the inception of model-based design and automatic code generation, many organizations are developing controls and diagnostics algorithms in model-based development tools to meet customer and regulatory requirements. Advances in model-based design have made it easier to generate C code from models and help software engineers streamline their workflow. Typically, after the software has been developed, the models are handed over to a calibration team responsible for calibrating the features to meet specified customer and regulatory requirements. However, once the models are handed over to the calibration team, the calibration engineers are unaware of how to calibrate the features because documentation is not available. Typically, model documentation trails behind the software process because it is created manually, most of this time is spent on formatting. As a result, lack of model documentation or up-to date documentation causes a lot of pain for OEM’s and Tier 1 suppliers.

Automotive engines are regularly utilized in the material handling market where LPG is often the primary fuel used. When compared to gasoline, the use of gaseous fuels (LPG and CNG) as well as alcohol based fuels, often result in significant increases in valve seat insert (VSI) and valve face wear. This phenomenon is widely recognized and the engine manufacturer is tasked to identify and incorporate appropriate valvetrain material and design features that can meet the ever increasing life expectations of the end-user. Alternate materials are often developed based on laboratory testing – testing that may not represent real world usage. The ultimate goal of the product engineer is to utilize accelerated lab test procedures that can be correlated to field life and field failure mechanisms, and then select appropriate materials/design features that meet the targeted life requirements.

The auto industry has had decades of experience with designing safe vehicles. The introduction of highly integrated features brings new challenges that require innovative adaptations of existing safety methodologies and perhaps even some completely new concepts. In this paper, we describe some of the new challenges that will be faced by all OEMs and suppliers. We also describe a set of generic top-level potential hazards that can be used as a starting point for the Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA) of a vehicle software-intensive motion control system. Based on our experience with the safety analysis of a system of this kind, we describe some general categories of hazard causes that are considered for software-intensive systems and can be used systematically in developing the PHA.

The need for improved emissions control in lean exhaust to meet tightening, world-wide NOx emissions standards has led to the development of selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia as a major technology for emissions control. Current systems are being designed to use a solution of urea (32.5 wt %) dissolved in water or Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) as the ammonia source. While DEF or AdBlue® is widely used as a source of ammonia, it has a number of issues at low temperatures, including freezing below −12 °C, solid deposit formation in the exhaust, and difficulties in dosing at exhaust temperatures below 200 °C. Additionally creating a uniform ammonia concentration can be problematic, complicating exhaust packaging and usually requiring a discrete mixer.

Over the past decade, the automotive industry has seen a rapid decrease in product development cycle time and an ever increasing need by original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. This differentiation is increasingly accomplished by introducing new technology while continually improving the performance of existing automotive systems. In the area of automotive brake system design, and, in particular, the brake apply subsystem, an increased focus has been placed on the development of electrohydraulic apply systems and brake-by-wire systems to replace traditional pneumatic and hydraulic systems. Nevertheless, the traditional brake apply systems, especially vacuum-based or pneumatic systems, will continue to represent the majority of brake apply system production volume into the foreseeable future, which underscores the need to improve the performance and application of these traditional systems in passenger cars and light-trucks.

This work discusses the development of SAE procedure J2747, “Hydraulic Pump Airborne Noise Bench Test”. This is a test procedure describing a standard method for measuring radiated sound power levels from hydraulic pumps of the type typically used in automotive power steering systems, though it can be extended for use with other types of pumps. This standard was developed by a committee of industry representatives from OEM's, suppliers and NVH testing firms familiar with NVH measurement requirements for automotive hydraulic pumps. Details of the test standard are discussed. The hardware configuration of the test bench and the configuration of the test article are described. Test conditions, data acquisition and post-processing specifics are also included. Contextual information regarding the reasoning and priorities applied by the development committee is provided to further explain the strengths, limitations and intended usage of the test procedure.

Since 2000, an Aluminum Cosmetic Corrosion task group within the SAE Automotive Corrosion and Protection (ACAP) Committee has existed. The task group has pursued the goal of establishing a standard test method for in-laboratory cosmetic corrosion evaluations of finished aluminum auto body panels. A cooperative program uniting OEM, supplier, and consultants has been created and has been supported in part by USAMP (AMD 309) and the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to this committee's formation, numerous laboratory corrosion test environments have been used to evaluate the performance of painted aluminum closure panels. However, correlations between these laboratory test results and in-service performance have not been established. Thus, the primary objective of this task group's project was to identify an accelerated laboratory test method that correlates well with in-service performance.

There is an increasing global realization about the need for fuel efficient vehicles. An inexpensive way to accomplish this is through mass reduction, and one of the most effective ways that this can occur is through substituting current materials with magnesium, the lightest structural metal. This document describes the results of a U.S. Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) sponsored study [1] that examines why magnesium use has only grown 10% per year and identifies how to promote more widespread commercial applications beyond the 5-6 kg of component currently in vehicles. The issues and concerns which have limited magnesium use are discussed via a series of research and development themes. These address concerns associated with corrosion, fastening, and minimal metalworking/non-traditional casting processing. The automotive and magnesium supplier industries have only a limited ability to develop implementation-ready magnesium components.

The value of model-based design has been attempted to be communicated for more than a decade. As methods and tools have appeared and disappeared from a series of different vendors it has become apparent that no single vendor has a solution that meets all users’ needs. Recently standards (UML, MDA, MOF, EMF, etc.) have become a dominant force and an alternative to vendor-specific languages and processes. Where these standards have succeeded and vendors have failed is in the realization that they do not provide the answer, but instead provide the foundation to develop the answer. It is in the utilization of these standards and their capability to be customized that companies have achieved success. Customization has occurred to fit organizations, processes, and architectures that leverage the value of model-driven design.

Managing (minimizing and optimizing) the total mass of a vehicle is recognized as a critical task during the development of a new vehicle, as well as throughout its production lifecycle. This paper summarizes a literature review of, and investigation into, the strategies, methods and best practices for achieving low total mass in new vehicle programs, and/or mass reductions in existing production vehicle programs. Empirical and quantitative data and examples from the automotive manufacturers and suppliers are also provided in support of the material presented.

Over the past five years, the US Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) has brought together representatives from DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and over 40 other participant companies from the Mg casting industry to create and test a low-cost, Mg-alloy engine that would achieve a 15 - 20 % Mg component weight savings with no compromise in performance or durability. The block, oil pan, and front cover were redesigned to take advantage of the properties of both high-pressure die cast (HPDC) and sand cast Mg creep- resistant alloys. This paper describes the alloy selection process and the casting and testing of these new Mg-variant components. This paper will also examine the lessons learned and implications of this pre-competitive technology for future applications.

A review of available information on the effect that brake rotor crossdrilling has on brake performance reveals a wide range of claims on the subject, ranging from ‘minimal effect, cosmetic only’ to substantially improving brake cooling and fade resistance. There are also several theories on why brake rotor crossdrilling could improve fade performance, including crossdrill holes providing a path for ‘de-gassing’ of the brake lining material and increasing the mechanical interaction, or ‘grip’ of the lining material on the rotor. This paper reviews three case studies in which the opportunity arose to compare the performance of brake systems with crossdrilled versus non crossdrilled brake rotors in otherwise identical brake corner designs. The effect of brake rotor crossdrilling on brake cooling, brake output, brake fade, wet brake output, and brake wear rates were studied using both on-vehicle and dynamometer data.

Embedded controllers and digital signal processors are increasingly being used in automotive safety critical control systems. Controller integrity is a significant concern in these systems. Over the past decade, several techniques have been published about controller safety and integrity verification. These techniques include: single processor with watchdog, dual processors, dual core processor, and asymmetric processor (intelligent watchdog). Each of these techniques have benefits, however, many new non-distributed safety-critical systems are applying the asymmetric processor technique to help verify controller integrity. This paper discusses an overview of five controller integrity techniques, and then provides a detailed discussion of an asymmetric processor approach. This paper presents two different options within the asymmetric processor approach.

With Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) proven to be a powerful tool for airborne noise analysis, the capability of predicting the exterior sound field around a vehicle at high frequencies (the load case in the SEA analysis) is of particular interest to OEMs and suppliers. This paper employs the High Frequency Boundary Element Method (HFBEM) to simulate the scattered exterior sound field distribution due to a monopole source. It is shown that the proposed method is able to efficiently predict the spatial and frequency averaged sound pressure levels reasonably well up to 10 kHz, even at points in the near field of the vehicle body.

Advances in wireless communications, model-based diagnostics, human-machine interfaces, electronics and embedded system technologies have created the foundation for a dramatic shift in the way the vehicles are diagnosed and maintained. These advances will enable vehicle diagnosis and maintenance to be performed remotely while the vehicle is being driven. There also has been recent strong consumer interest in Remote Diagnosis and Maintenance (RD&M). As a consequence, RD&M is drawing increased attention in the automotive industry. This paper provides the current status of vehicle remote diagnosis and maintenance, analyses the potential features of RD&M and their significance, and discusses how next generation automotive products could benefit from research and development in this area.

The complexity of vehicle-pedestrian collisions necessitates extensive validation of pedestrian computational models. While body components can be individually simulated, overall validation of human pedestrian models requires full-scale testing with post mortem human surrogates (PMHS). This paper presents the development of a full-scale pedestrian impact test plan and experimental design that will be used to perform PMHS tests to validate human pedestrian models. The test plan and experimental design is developed based on the analysis of a combination of literature review, multi-body modeling, and epidemiologic studies. The proposed system has proven effective in testing an anthropometrically correct rescue dummy in multiple instances. The success of these tests suggests the potential for success in a full-scale pedestrian impact test using a PMHS.

Since its very beginning in 1953, Corvette has been a pioneer in light weight material applications. The new 6th generation corvette high performance Z06 model required aggressive weight savings to achieve its performance and fuel economy targets. In addition to aluminum body structure and some carbon fiber components, the decision to use a magnesium front crossmember was identified to help achieve the targets. An overview of the Structural Cast Magnesium Development (SCMD) project will be presented which will provide information on key project tasks. Project focus was to develop the science and technical expertise to manufacture and validate large structural magnesium castings, which provide a weight reduction potential of 35 percent with respect to aluminum. The die cast magnesium cradle is being produced from a Mg-Al-RE alloy, designated AE44, for high temperature creep and strength performance as well as casting ductility requirements.

In recent years, the automotive industry has seen a rapid decrease in product development cycle time and a simultaneous increase in the variety of vehicles offered in the marketplace. These trends require a rigorous yet efficient systems engineering approach to the development of automotive braking systems. This paper provides an overview of an objective process for developing and predicting vehicle-level brake performance through an approach using both laboratory subsystem testing and math modeling.

This paper is intended to give a general overview of the key aerodynamic developments for the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06. Significant computational and wind tunnel time were used to develop the 2006 Z06 to provide it with improved high speed stability, increased cooling capability and equivalent drag compared to the 2004 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06.

As automotive electronic control systems continue to increase in usage and complexity, the challenges for developing automotive diagnostics also increase. Reduced development cycle times, the increased significance of diagnostics for safety critical systems, and the integration of vehicle systems across multiple control systems all add to the tasks of developing diagnostics for the automobiles of today and tomorrow. Addressing automotive diagnostics now requires the Tier 1 supplier to utilize a formal diagnostic development methodology. There are also opportunities for Tier 1 suppliers to add value by developing vehicle-level supervisory diagnostic strategies, in addition to subsystem and system-level diagnostic strategies. There is also a prospect to provide strategies and tools to enhance service at the vehicle level. This paper proposes an approach for Tier 1 suppliers to address diagnostic and service issues at the component, system, and vehicle level.