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The process of assembling the bearing and crimp ring to the steering pinion shaft is intricate. The bearing is pressed into its position via the crimp ring, which is tipped inward and fully fitted into a groove on the pinion shaft. Only when the bearing is pressed to a low surface on the pinion shaft, the caulking force for the crimp ring is achieved. The final caulking distance for the crimp ring confirms the proper bearing position. Simulating this transient fitting process using CAE is a challenging topic. Key factors include controlling applied force, defining contact between bearing and pinion surface, and defining contact between crimp ring and bearing surface from full close to half open transition. The overall CAE process is validated through correlation with testing.

Metal cutting/machining is a widely used manufacturing process for producing high-precision parts at a low cost and with high throughput. In the automotive industry, engine components such as cylinder heads or engine blocks are all manufactured using such processes. Despite its cost benefits, manufacturers often face the problem of machining chips and cutting oil residue remaining on the finished surface or falling into the internal cavities after machining operations, and these wastes can be very difficult to clean. While part cleaning/washing equipment suppliers often claim that their washers have superior performance, determining the washing efficiency is challenging without means to visualize the water flow. In this paper, a virtual engineering methodology using particle-based CFD is developed to address the issue of metal chip cleanliness resulting from engine component machining operations. This methodology comprises two simulation methods.

In a recent time, which new vehicle lines comes with a huge number of sensors, control units, embedded technologies, and the complexity of these systems (electronics, electrical and electromechanical parts) increases in an exponential way. Considering these events, the expressive generated data amount grows in the same pace, so, consume, transform, and analyze all these data to better understand the modern customer, their needs and how they use the car features becomes necessary. Through that scenario, connected vehicles developed by Ford Motor Company has been generating opportunities to feature’s improvement and cost reduction based on data analysis. This growing quantity of data might be used to optimize feature systems and help engineering teams to understand how the features have been used and enhance the systems engineering design for new or existing features.

Rubber is one of the most used materials currently selected to produce automotive parts, but, for specific applications, some improvement is required in its properties through the addition of some components to the rubber compound formulation. Because of that, mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties are enhanced in order to meet strict requirements of the vast range of application of the rubber compounds. In addition to improving material properties, the combination of different substances, also aims to improve processability and reduce the costs of the final product. Recently, the use of nanofillers has been very explored because of their distinctive properties and characteristics. Among the nanofillers under study, graphene is known for its high-barrier property, thermal and electrical conductivities, and good mechanical properties.

Auto industry has faced constant challenges in the economic, technology and global trend in the recent years. This is changing the corporative mindset to find creative and innovative processes and methods to evolve the product development system to adjust and deliver competitive products that satisfy customers expectations. Integrating the work from different teams in an organization has been moving from simple roles and responsibilities definition with effective communication channels to a new vision where teamwork progresses in harmony and embraces change to satisfy customers as part of the process. The path to evolve work in engineering that relies on several computational tools continues. In this article, it is presented an integration of different tools to manage vehicle program changes using model-based systems engineering, the present work improves the reaction capabilities of the teams and enables to adjust to changes in the development of a vehicle.

Fretting fatigue was observed in standard cylindrical fatigue samples at the regions in contact with the grips of the test frames during fatigue testing for AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy produced by laser powder bed fusion process (L-PBF). The failure of the fatigue sample grips occurs much earlier than the failure of the gauge section. This results in a damaged sample and the sample cannot be reused to continue the test. This type of failure is rarely seen in materials produced by traditional manufacturing processes. In this study, X-ray residual stress analysis was performed to understand the cause of failure for L-PBF AlSi10Mg with the as-built surface condition. The result indicates that the fretting fatigue failure was caused by the strong tensile residual stress in the as-built state combining with the fretting wear between the sample and the grip. A few potential solutions to avoid the fretting fatigue failure were investigated.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a promising and proven technology for achieving sustainable mobility with zero carbon emissions, very low noise pollution, and reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. Global EV sales have been increasing by ~110 % since 2015, with a significant rise in 2021 (~6.75 mils EV registered) mainly led by China, the US, and Europe, amplifying the EV market share to 8.3% compared to 4.2% in 2020. Future developments aimed at designing better batteries and charging technologies that reduce charging time, reduce initial battery cost, and increased flexibility. In India, EVs are emerging significantly due to stringent Carbon di Oxide (CO2) reduction drives, increasing crude oil prices, and the availability of cheaper renewable energy. Leveraging government promotional policies, evolving the entire ecosystem, globally advantageous manufacturing costs, and competitive engineering skills form the perfect blend for India.

Centrifugal pumps are widely used in different thermal fluid systems in automobile industries. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of such a thermal fluid system depends on the accurate component modeling of the system components. This paper presents CFD analysis of a centrifugal pump with two different approaches: Transient (moving grid) and the steady state - Multiple Reference Frame (MRF) methods using a commercial CFD solver Simerics MP+®. In addition, flow and pressure drop data obtained using CFD simulations of a vehicle coolant hydraulic system was compared to results from rig test data. The Transient method incorporates the real motion of the pump blades geometry and temporal flow solutions are obtained for instantaneous positions of the blade geometry. In MRF approach, the flow governing equations for the stationary zone are solved in the absolute/inertial reference frame, whereas flow in the moving zone is solved in the relative/non-inertial reference frame.

Designing an efficient vehicle coolant system depends on meeting target coolant flow rate to different components with minimum energy consumption by coolant pump. The flow resistance across different components and hoses dictates the flow supplied to that branch which can affect the effectiveness of the coolant system. Hydraulic tests are conducted to understand the system design for component flow delivery and pressure drops and assess necessary changes to better distribute the coolant flow from the pump. The current study highlights the ability of a complete 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation to effectively mimic a hydraulic test. The coolant circuit modeled in this simulation consists of an engine water-jacket, a thermostat valve, bypass valve, a coolant pump, a radiator, and flow path to certain auxiliary components like turbo charger, rear transmission oil cooler etc.

This paper presents a method of using CAE to determine the pre-load and torque applied to a U-Bolt rear Spring Seat. In this paper it is review two U-bolt design and the stresses generated by the pre-load torque applied, based in this study a process to determine the minimal preload and the torque is discussed. By this process it is possible to determine the minimum Torque and the correct pre-load in the U-Bolt element and assuring the correct fastening of the components avoiding over stress in the Bar elements.

NVH problems are often the result of mechanisms that originate through complex interactions between different physical domains (flow, structural/mechanical, control logic, etc.). Parallel-shaft spur gears subject to light torque loading caused by the dynamic pressure fluctuation of the oil used in engine accessory or transmission pump drives are likely to exhibit unusual gear whine associated with higher order meshing harmonics, even when the tooth profile has a high-quality grade finishing. Therefore, accurate integrated models are becoming a requirement to solve modern NVH problems.

The ported shroud casing treatment for turbocharger compressors offers a wider operating flow range, elevated boost pressures at low compressor mass flow rates, and reduced broadband whoosh noise in spark-ignition internal combustion engine applications. However, the casing treatment elevates tonal noise at the blade-pass frequency (BPF). Typical rotational speeds of compressors employed in practice push BPF noise to high frequencies, which then promote multi-dimensional acoustic wave propagation within the compressor ducting. As a result, in-duct acoustic measurements become sensitive to the angular location of pressure transducers on the duct wall. The present work utilizes a steady-flow turbocharger gas stand featuring a unique rotating compressor inlet duct to quantify the variation of noise measured around the duct at different angular positions.

Exhaust sensors and actuators used in automotive applications are subjected to wide variety of operating ambient conditions , the performance of these actuators is challenging especially at cold ambient operating conditions, active exhaust tuning valves with position sensors are used to adjust the sound levels, or noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) from a control unit within the vehicle that leads to an improved driving experience wherein the driver selects their preferred sound levels. However, the operating behavior is crucially influenced by the characteristics of the drive cycle and ambient temperature. The study in this paper is intended to evaluate the icing formation at the start of drive cycle and at different ambient temperature conditions. The test data were obtained through real road and chassis dyno testing at different ambient conditions.

A cast magnesium subframe was designed and manufactured for a C Class sedan to reduce weight and improve vehicle fuel economy. The magnesium subframe achieved 5 kg (32%) weight reduction from the equivalent steel subframe and met all the required structural performance targets. All the joints of the magnesium subframe were tested for bolt load retention. The tests were conducted with a temperature profile of 100°C to -30°C designed to investigate the creep behavior of the selected magnesium alloy AE44 under high stress.

This study reports the corrosion performance of three different coating strategies tested on an AE44 high performance magnesium strut tower brace used on the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. The alloy was selected due to its improved structural performance at higher temperatures over conventional AM60B magnesium die castings. The first coating strategy used no pretreatment, conversion coating, or topcoat to gage the baseline corrosion performance of the uncoated alloy. The second coating strategy used a conventional pretreatment commonly used on AM60B alloy. The third used a ceramic-based conversion coating. A textured (stipple) powder coat was then applied to the two non-baseline parts over the pretreatment. All three coating strategies were then evaluated by comparing the corrosion performance after cyclic corrosion testing for 12 weeks using the Ford L-467 test.

Seat strength has increased over the past four decades which includes a transition to dual recliners. There are seat collision performance issues with stiff ABTS and very strong seats in rear impacts with different occupant sizes, seating positions and physical conditions. In this study, eight rear sled tests were conducted in four series: 1) ABTS in a 56 km/h (35 mph) test with a 50th Hybrid III ATD at MGA, 2) dual-recliner ABTS and F-150 in a 56 km/h (35 mph) test with a 5th female Hybrid III ATD at Ford, 3) dual-recliner ABTS in a 48 km/h (30 mph) test with a 95th Hybrid III ATD leaning inboard at CAPE and 4) dual-recliner ABTS and Escape in 40 km/h (25 mph) in-position and out-of-position tests with a 50th Hybrid III ATD at Ford. The sled tests showed that single-recliner ABTS seats twist in severe rear impacts with the pivot side deformed more rearward than the stanchion side.

Innovations in mobility are built upon a management of complex interactions between sub-systems and components. A need for CAE tools that are capable of system simulations is well recognized, as evidenced by a growing number of commercial packages. However impressive they are, the predictability of such simulations still rests on the representation of the base components. Among them, a wet clutch actuator continues to play a critical role in the next generation propulsion systems. It converts hydraulic pressure to mechanical force to control torque transmitted through a clutch pack. The actuator is typically modeled as a hydraulic piston opposed by a mechanical spring. Because the piston slides over a seal, some models have a framework to account for seal friction. However, there are few contributions to the literature that describe the effects of seals on clutch actuator behaviors.

This paper focuses on finding and analyzing the relevant parameters affecting traffic flow when autonomous vehicles are introduced for ride hailing applications and autonomous shuttles are introduced for circulator applications in geo-fenced urban areas. For this purpose, different scenarios have been created in traffic simulation software that model the different levels of autonomy, traffic density, routes, and other traffic elements. Similarly, software that specializes in vehicle dynamics, physical limitations, and vehicle control has been used to closely simulate realistic autonomous vehicle behavior under such scenarios. Different simulation tools for realistic autonomous vehicle simulation and traffic simulation have been merged together in this paper, creating a realistic simulator with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL), Traffic-in-the-Loop (TiL), and Software in-the-Loop (SiL) simulation capabilities.

Selection of the DC-link capacitance value in an HEV/EV e-Drive power electronic system depends on numerous factors including required voltage/current ratings of the capacitor, power dissipation, thermal limitation, energy storage capacity and impact on system stability. A challenge arises from the capacitance value selection based on DC-link stability due to the influence of multiple hardware parameters, control parameters, operating conditions and cross-coupling effects among them. This paper discusses an impedance-based methodology to determine the minimum required DC-link capacitance value that can enable stable operation of the system in this multi-dimensional variable space. A broad landscape of the minimum capacitance values is also presented to provide insights on the sensitivity of system stability to operating conditions.

Recently, graphene has attracted both academic and industrial interest because it can produce a dramatic improvement in properties at very low filler content. This review will focus on the latest studies and recent progress in the swelling resistance of rubber compounds due to the addition of graphene and its derivatives. This work will present the state-of-the-art in this subject area and will highlight the advantages and current limitations of the use of graphene for potential future researches.