Search Results

The automotive industry is continuously striving to reduce vehicle mass by reducing the mass of components including wheel bearings. A typical wheel bearing assembly is mostly steel, including both the wheel and knuckle mounting flanges. Mass optimization of the wheel hub has traditionally been accomplished by reducing the cross-sectional thickness of these components. Recently bearing suppliers have also investigated the use of alternative materials. While bearing component performance is verified through analysis and testing by the supplier, additional effects from system integration and performance over time also need to be comprehended. In a recent new vehicle architecture, the wheel bearing hub flange was reduced to optimize it for low mass. In addition, holes were added for further mass reduction. The design met all the supplier and OEM component level specifications.

Body in White (BIW) torsional stiffness is an important parameter for passenger vehicles, influencing its behavior regarding Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH), durability and handling. A BIW with high stiffness may impact mass and cost since it would be necessary to add reinforcements and/or increase thickness of the panels with more contribution for this parameter. An OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) may have to choose an existing platform to continue a particular vehicle family and this decision will be based on mass and costs. This work aims to study a relationship between mass and stiffness of some platforms, trying to give an auxiliary parameter to help in the OEM's decision, differentiating the stiffness of the lower (platform) and upper body.

The challenge of this project is to make a development of a low cost material and has a high resolution digital film to be applied through a process of injection molding plastic material the surface has an alternative finish in decorative pieces. In the current process is too large is not feasible because of the cost is the cost of being a material of high performance and is on top of plastics engineering. Now the consumer has seen the cars (Popular) with very plastic material inside, leaving the car or with a dark look much lower. This project has to change the main idea that consumer sentiment Popular car, in your pocket without adding the automaker will have a freedom in design for rapid change in appearance or individual customization (geometric patterns, images, etc …) to enhance the accuracy of the finished piece. Expected outcomes (products specific to the program): Research and defines the IMD, the printing process, forming, injection and raw materials.

For many years the knowledge in an organization has been very well treated and protected, by a discipline widely known as Knowledge Management (KM). Despite it can be consider one of the main pillars of any automotive research and development (R&D) department, several companies do not pay attention to it as they should. Who does manage and apply it appropriately certainly has been granted with innumerous business opportunities, maximizing the usage of its resources, reducing development and validation time consumption and minimizing the inherent risks of new projects. This paper covers pure KM concepts and presents several tools and practices that have been proven very good and effective for knowledge identification, storage and usage by R&D departments.

The sheet metal joining through spot welding is the most widely used process for automotive body building, where an average vehicle has around 5,000 spot welding points in its structure. In this sense, the spot welding project is critical to the final product performance and it must be done in a way that can assure both quality and durability of the vehicle, already taking into consideration the fact that the spot weld mechanical properties related to fatigue and rupture resistance are much lower when compared to other available welding techniques like MIG welding for example. These properties have a direct impact in the fatigue durability and crashworthiness properties of the vehicle, as a significant part of the structural resistance goes through these spot welds. With this scenario, the correct application of FEA techniques is very important to assure that the projected joints and spot weld disposition meet the product targets in terms of safety and durability.

The force x velocity graph is the most used tool for suspension damper analysis. This approach hides important information regarding the bleeds / spring / orifice combination. This paper describes the energy analysis, comparing two different damper suppliers, with comfort measurements using B&K Human Response Vibration Meter and MTS single channel Four Post system.